I have mentioned here before that my first bass was an Epiphone Newport. It was a great bass to begin on at age 13 due to the short scale, but as I got older I wanted a "full sized" bass and a punchier tone than what I could get out of it's single mudbucker.
The only Gibson bass that I had heard where I really liked the tone was a buddy's Thunderbird. It was reversed, of course, so it had nasty neck-dive.
It has seemed to me since that the best of both worlds might actually have been an Epiphone Embassy, like this:
Like the Newport it has a horn up-top for better balance, and is relatively light weight since it is thin like an SG and made of mahogany. It has the same pickups, bridge and wiring of contemporary t-birds, and also has the same 34" scale. It also has my favorite of all Gibson/Epi headstocks: the batwing. (Not to take anything away from T-birds--that's my 2nd favorite)
Embassy basses were made between about 1963 and 1969, but I think that less than 600 of them were ever sold. A few years ago Epiphone reissued an Asian-made version (the originals were made in Michigan), but for some reason used a 2x2 headstock instead of the batwing (why, Epiphone?)
They are already beginning to shoot up in price. If you can find one on Reverb it'll already cost you like a pre-CBS Precision. Out of reach for me! I suspect it'll go up even faster when bass players discover that it sounds the same as a T-bird.
I am surprised that this did not get more love, since I think it's one of the best Gibson/Epiphone basses ever made. Much better balanced than the T-bird, with the same electronics. Better stop tailpiece and bridge than the 3-point. Lighter than a T-bird or any stock fender because it's thinner and the neck and body are mahogany. My favorite all-one-side headstock. Big chrome TB pickups. Neck width splits the difference between P and J basses...essentially MM width at the nut. It was re-issued by Epiphone for a few years recently with a less desirable 2x2 headstock. I could not pass one in a shop without pulling it down for a try. Am I really the only one who thinks these are cool?
Eastwood is now making a redux of the Newport, the little brother of the Embassy. I always thought the 34" scale Embassy was the one to have...even back when I had a newport ;-)
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