The mudbucker's last hurrah

[4stringer77]

I'm going to head over to the shop selling this 1975 EB-0 today. I've always wanted to check out an EB-0 with a mid positioned pickup and a maple neck. I like that this one has a three point instead of a tilt-o-matic two point. I noticed the pick up's pole pieces don't line up the best with the strings in the pictures. I'll know for certain later today but I'm wondering if the crowd here thinks that's an issue.

https://reverb.com/item/454383-1975-gibson-eb0-cherry

[Granny Gremlin]

Nice. Those later ones have much better tuners; the 60s ones are a bit of a pain.

The thing with the poles shouldn't matter much; that's one strong magnetic field.  Bring a scrwdriver with you, cause I find you really need to crank up E and D and lower A and G (the screws are super long) to get a good string to string balance; adjusting the poles can also compensate a bit for the misalignment.

[Dave W]

There's no straight-on photo, so don't assume there's any misalignment until you see it.

IMHO $1249 would be overpriced for a new listing on a '75, this one has been listed for over 2 years.

[bassilisk]

I had a 76 EB-3 with that pickup position - it still bucked mud with the best of them.

[slinkp]

Geez. I sold my '69 for wayyyy less than that.
Granted it was modified with an added EB3 bridge pup, but I can't see paying $300 more for a '75.
http://bassoutpost.com/index.php?topic=10007.msg169678#msg169678

[4stringer77]

The alignment of the poles wasn't a problem. The bass sounded great so I acquired it. I threw in my Epiphone Jack Casaday to bring the price down some. With the exchange I still have seven basses which is plenty. A few hundred here or there doesn't bother me much when I want something and it's convenient enough to get without having to deal with shipping.

[westen44]

So convenient to do it that way.  Congratulations on the purchase. 

[Granny Gremlin]

That price isn't (wasn't - congrats) that high.  I mean, we remember when they were cheaper (even me) , but you can't expect to get a clean EBX for <1K anymore (I mean, it happens, but you can't expect it).  Prices also vary considerably by location - even within the US.

[Dave W]

Congrats on the new bass.

The final price was obviously right for you, whatever it was.

[slinkp]

Yeah, can't argue with that!

[godofthunder]

   Congratulations!  These are great basses though often maligned. A few years ago I bought a '73-'75 EB3 and it's a beast!  One of my favorite EB3s ever!

[westen44]

I can think of one place in particular where they're often maligned, too.  That can get old and tedious after a while. 

[4stringer77]

It may be the best EB-0 out of the whole production. It has much better tonal balance compared to my EB-1 or my 67' EB-3 with the neck pickup soloed. I could actually imagine showing up to a jam and being able to play it without people looking at me sideways like I'm trying to remove their fillings or shake their pictures of the walls. 

[uwe]

Congrats, I prefer the 70ies EB-0s and -3s to the early and late 60ies ones. Yes, the mudbucker sound makes more sense with those.

Gibson faded out the two point evertilt in 1973 when it became clear that there were delivery issues with the long anticipated separate string holder which - as Dave never fails to point our - would have made an already very good bridge concept near-perfect. Alas!, the best-laid plans, but then those missing stringholders, must have been down to the metal shortage due to the Vietnam war effort, so essentially the Vietcong is to blame for that too.

By late 73 and further onward, the stringholder delivery issues had forced Gibson to settle with the three point bridge which was, of course, nowhere near as good and a major step backward.

[Dave W]

But I LIKE shaking the walls and loosening fillings!