EB Basses

[AndrewB]

I’ve been checking out some used PRS Basses on reverb lately. A few of the early 2000 EB4 Basses have caught my attention. Can anyone enlighten me a little on them. Some info on the customer support but not a lot. Does anyone own one? How do they play, any tonal comparison you would make? Anything to look out for buying one used?
thanks
Andrew

 

[AndrewB]

Sorry was looking for info on the PRS Electric Bass (EB) that was the core bass from 2000-2005. Not to be confused with the Ernie Ball Music Man or the Gibson EB’s

 

[shinksma]

I’ve been checking out some used PRS Basses on reverb lately. A few of the early 2000 EB4 Basses have caught my attention. Can anyone enlighten me a little on them. Some info on the customer support but not a lot. Does anyone own one? How do they play, any tonal comparison you would make? Anything to look out for buying one used?
thanks
Andrew

Sorry was looking for info on the PRS Electric Bass (EB) that was the core bass from 2000-2005. Not to be confused with the Ernie Ball Music Man or the Gibson EB’s

We have a Bass-5 from 1987, and an SE Kingfisher bass (4 string, obviously). They both play remarkably well. I can't imagine an EB from the 2000s playing any differently.

Tonally I am a bit at a loss, bass-wise - I tend to use EQ to get to the tone I want, and I don't necessarily comprehend the nuances of the Jazz Bass vs P-Bass vs whatever tones. I really need to edumacate myself on such things...

 

[AP515]

I owned one for a while, till I learned a guy's son was selling off his guitar collection for drug money so I sold it back to him for what I had in it.

I had great fun with it while it was in my possession.​

Some are active pickups and some are not so look for the battery compartment on the back if that interests you. Mine was not so I can't tell you anything about that side of things. All in all, I'd like to find another. I don't play bass enough to justify the expense except for just wanting my bass to be a PRS.

 

[AndrewB]

Thanks for the replies so far. From the PRS Customer Support Model History Page

ELECTRIC BASS: 2000 - 2005 . Alder, optional swamp ash body, optional inset curly maple top with alder back, bolt-on rock maple neck, rosewood or maple fretboard, 34” scale, 21 fret, 10” radius, 20 to 1 low mass tuners, optional gold hardware, 2 PRS high inductance passive pickups (v/v/t with high end switchable audio pre-amp), optional LR Baggs Piezo bridge system with 3 band active EQ, & selector switch for Piezo (piezo option discontinued in 2001).

This made it sound like they were all active but it looks like there may be a few passive floating around. So they would have come in 3 flavors of electronics if I'm following this right, Passive, 3 Band Active w/ the Piezo (2000 and 2001 only) and the switchable preamp. Guessing the easiest way to tell them apart is the extra knobs on the piezo/3band, the totally passive would be 3 knobs and no toggle and what seems to be the majority of the ones out there would be the 3 knobs and toggle on the switchable preamp. Wonder if Shawn@PRS or someone can provide some more info on the preamp, usually engaging the preamp on a bass allows shaping with bass/mid/treble boost/cut (or some combination of that). Does the tone knob still provide shaping when the preamp is on?

One of the reasons Fender basses (and the P and J configurations) have been so popular is their ability to go from warm, smooth musical tones to muted thumps to punchy and growling just by adjusting the volume and tone. The P tends to maintain a rounder tone and punch while the J adds more high end and growl from the bridge pickup while the next on its own lacks a little of the punch that the P gives... Some basses that use other configurations seem to be lacking a little at the far ends of the spectrum on their own and need additional aids in shaping to get the growl or thump. So wondering if the PRS basses from this era cover the more vintage spectrum with the growl at the volume and tone dimed or they maintain the more modern 'musicality' throughout the range of the volume and tone and what effect the preamp has on this.

In an ideal world I'd be able to find one close enough to me to go an try but they're somewhat rare birds...