The Last Bass Outpost
Gear Discussion Forums => Gibson Basses => Topic started by: Grog on February 09, 2020, 08:25:37 AM
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A member of the Gibson Forum posted this bass. It doesn't look to be altered at all, at least to me. The pot code is 1376934. I wonder if it was an early attempt to reposition the Mudbucker to get more treble. EB-0's during this time were slotheads. I asked the guy to peak under the pick guard between the neck & the pickup to see if it was covering up the original pickup cavity, it was not. Has anybody else seen anything like this?
(https://i.imgur.com/4Vrlj8e.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/1sY6lUn.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/peVvwR7.jpg)
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The owner sent me these pics too.
Looks legit as far as I can see from these pics.
The bridge and headstock plus tuners would have been correct for a Les Paul Bass for the period of 1969/ 1970.
But the dotted i in the logo puzzles me. And I haven't seen that extension to the pickguard plus location of the mudbucker before on an EB-0.
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I pulled out my '69 EB-3 for comparison. It doesn't look like the pickup position is changed much (maybe a little). The body where the neck is mounted has been extended possibly to get access to all off the frets. Still a bit odd...…
(https://i.imgur.com/lxN1aDI.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/isSkWQf.jpg)
The heel on my 1970 SG Special looks closer to the one on his EB-0
(https://i.imgur.com/kSiYLYU.jpg)
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What an interesting bass, and it seems to be in great shape as well.
Having said that, I could see why Gibson would give up on this concept. A lot more stress on the neck joint - something that adversely affected Series I SG guitars - and likely a significant neck dive to boot.
Very cool looking, nevertheless. Thanks for sharing.
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A lot more stress on the neck joint
There is plenty of the neck that goes into the body. I don't see any problem on that part of this bass
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There is plenty of the neck that goes into the body. I don't see any problem on that part of this bass
Well, you're a luthier and I'm not so I'll bow to your experience on the subject matter.
Having said that, my personal experience with pre-67 SG guitars still leaves me with an uneasy feeling when I look at this bass.
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The 1970 Gibson bass catalog (https://www.vintageguitarandbass.com/gibson/catalogues/1970_bass_index.php) shows both the slothead and solid heaadstock types, so there must have been some overlap, maybe if only to fill existing orders.
The difference between this one and the catalog version is more than just the position, it also has the larger cavity, height adjustment mechanism, and black plastic pickup surround that hadn't appeared before. I've never seen these earlier than the slotheads. So I'm guessing that this is a legit transitional model.
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That is interesting! I've never seen anything like that.
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The 1970 Gibson bass catalog (https://www.vintageguitarandbass.com/gibson/catalogues/1970_bass_index.php) shows both the slothead and solid heaadstock types, so there must have been some overlap, maybe if only to fill existing orders.
The difference between this one and the catalog version is more than just the position, it also has the larger cavity, height adjustment mechanism, and black plastic pickup surround that hadn't appeared before. I've never seen these earlier than the slotheads. So I'm guessing that this is a legit transitional model.
Sure seems like it. I do like the pick guard design myself.
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The neck joint looks like that of an old SG Jr - total fret access by "pulling" the neck away from the body, and the bridge is moved accordingly towards the center of the body.
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The heel on my 1970 SG Special looks closer to the one on his EB-0
The heel on my 1970 EB-0L looks the same, at least the body part of it. That experimental bass (I assume that's what it is?) looks like it has two neck heels.
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Also, the pick guard material is thicker than an EB-3 pick guard of the same era. Usually an EB-0 had the thinner cheaper material.
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Does it have a standard serial number? Or any kind of odd stamping?
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The neck joint looks like that of an old SG Jr - total fret access by "pulling" the neck away from the body, and the bridge is moved accordingly towards the center of the body.
It also has a 20 fret neck instead of 19 like the slotheads.
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It also has a 20 fret neck instead of 19 like the slotheads.
If the fretboard went as deep into the body as slothead boards, it would have had 21-22 frets.
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This IS interesting. Just when you think there is nothing more to see. :)
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The bridge and headstock plus tuners would have been correct for a Les Paul Bass for the period of 1969/ 1970.
But the dotted i in the logo puzzles me.
My solid headstock 1969 EB-3 also has the dotted "i", potcode 1376934 and original Schaller tuners as this one.
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A few more photos the owner posted...…
(https://i.imgur.com/Ruq66VE.jpg)(https://i.imgur.com/K617KHA.jpg)(https://i.imgur.com/AXAXILn.jpg)
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A few more photos the owner posted...…
That is cool. Looks legit. They coulda lined up the pickup a bit better. No pics of the serial?
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No shielding pan in the cavity, but I have no doubt that it's legit.
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The picture without the pickguard that shows the area between the fretboard and the pickup doesn't seem to show any sign of a neck joint tenon. Which makes the remark of ajkula66 about the stabilty yet very valid!
I had expected the neck tenon to run deeper into the body even under the pickup. But there's no sign of such a deep joint. :o
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The picture without the pickguard that shows the area between the fretboard and the pickup doesn't seem to show any sign of a neck joint tenon. Which makes the remark of ajkula66 about the stabilty yet very valid!
I had expected the neck tenon to run deeper into the body even under the pickup. But there's no sign of such a deep joint. :o
That is strange..
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No shielding pan in the cavity, but I have no doubt that it's legit.
None in mine either:
(https://i.imgur.com/xoi6DFJ.jpg)
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Construction, routes etc. look spot on Gibson.