Minty EB-4L - shame about the pickup

[uwe]

That ought to be okay, then. No idea what the readings are supposed to be, but should be well below mudbucker territory.

Those EB-4L pups aren't very loud at all, nor where they intended to be, Gibson was searching for an un-mudbucker at the time, something that would not color sound that much. Hence comparatively little output for depicting all frequencies evenly.

[Grog]

Wasn't this pickup designed by Bill Lawrence? 

[Dave W]

I don't think so.

[uwe]

It gets mentioned again and again, but I never heard him confirm or deny it. He was involved with Gibson on and off, the G-3 pup set-up is his design and he also had a hand in the RD Standard stacked humbuckers in single coil format. One of his disciples, PJ Marx (probably only a distant relative of Karl M.!), would a decade later provide the pups for the Q-90. By then Bill Lawrence's occasional presence in Nashville was seen more as a curse than as a blessing by the newer generation of luthiers there.

[Grog]

I don't know if this article is correct, but this must be where I read the Bill Lawrence connection. On a second note, the guitar that was used for this article is my actual guitar. I was researching for info on the EB-4L after I bought it, came across this article in a back issue of the VG. It was my guitar, right down to the serial number.  Being a bit anal, I had to replace the speed knobs with the correct witch hat knobs right away. I bought it from Guitars ETC so it must have bounced around a bit.

http://www.vintageguitar.com/3406/gibson-eb-4l/

[Dave W]

Could be true, although I certainly wouldn't take Willie G. Moseley's word about anything. When I wrote him a few years back to point out an error -- and I had pics to prove it -- I got a rude, snotty response and the info was never corrected.

When I talked to Bill some years ago, he did not mention the EB4-L as one of his, but I didn't specifically ask about it.

[uwe]

It's certainly something he could have come up with engineering-wise. There was always say that Bill Lawrence was involved with the mudbuckers of the seventies EBs - an effort of Gibson to produce a clearer sound. I wonder whether people claiming that were not just referring to the EB-4L pup, mistakenly believing it was a modernized mudbucker rather than a completely new and radical design.

Anyway, the EB-4L failed to resurrect Gibson's flagging SG shape bass sales and the introduction of the Grabber by 1974 was then its death knell.

[Dave W]

Bill told me he wasn't involved in the mudbucker redesign. Or the original design, for that matter.

[drbassman]

It's back and I think I want it.  I do have a reconditioned mudbucker that would fit nicely.  Someone talk me out of it!!!!

[Highlander]

Finished all your old projects yet, Bill...? 

[the mojo hobo]

It's back and I think I want it.  I do have a reconditioned mudbucker that would fit nicely.  Someone talk me out of it!!!!

Well, if you would buy it that would stop me thinking about it. I wouldn't even have to change the pickup; I like Model 1s.

[drbassman]

Finished all your old projects yet, Bill...? 

Damn, you're cruel!!!!!!!!!  Never skip the opportunity for a good flogging, right?      I deserved it.

But I still think I want it................

[drbassman]

Well, if you would buy it that would stop me thinking about it. I wouldn't even have to change the pickup; I like Model 1s.

I agree, the pup isn't an issue for me.  I'd be tempted to drop my recon mudbucker in if I didn't like the Model 1 tone.  I'd also try to pick up a proper pup just for backup if I were to sell later.

[Grog]

In this photo, it almost looks like a neck crack just below the volute. All of the other pictures avoid that area. Has anybody questioned the seller about a neck repair?
If the case has a broken handle & needed repair, the bass might have been in it when it was damaged.

[drbassman]

Good point on the neck.  I asked him.