Epiphone Embassy

In body shape at least, this new Embassy is a replica of the original 1963-69 instrument. That bass’s slightly ungainly four-in-a-row headstock was replaced by a smoother, beaky effort in the Japanese reissue from the Eighties, and again from 2004 to 2008; it now comes with a two-by-two headstock which, it must be said, serves the vintage look admirably.

Talking of the 2000s reissue, that bass came with long horns, presumably in an effort to fix the pesky headstock dive; those have quite rightly been banished permanently, leaving us with a friendly-looking bass that oozes Sixties-ness. You can gaze at the beautiful finish, with its slight sparkle, for hours, and the playability and tones are faithful to the original design.