The Last Bass Outpost
Gear Discussion Forums => Gibson Basses => Topic started by: ilan on March 12, 2017, 10:15:08 AM
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I kinda like this one and entered a lowball bid. Yeah, go ahead and make fun of me... What would be a fair price to pay? Also - is it a refin? Never seen one in white before.
Never played one but I saw a demo of an SB300 on youtube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWCvMCyOf4c) and liked the sound. The long-scale SB400 should sound even better, right?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/182484325085 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/182484325085)
(http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/sTMAAOSwXYtYwtEp/s-l1600.jpg)(http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/WjgAAOSwXYtYws-T/s-l1600.jpg)
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Cool bass! I don't think I'd go more than $300. ???
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Only one in the sold listings recently went for $899. Way more than I would pay, but worth it to someone.
The SB400 is long scale, despite what he says. The SB300 was short scale. Bridge placement on this one indicates it's an SB400.
They were only offered in cherry and walnut. A custom order is always possible, even on a budget model, but probably a refin.
The body wood was never specified. Supposedly it was alder, with a maple neck. Buy it, strip it down, and maybe we'll find out for sure. :)
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Isn't that one natural vs white? Thought I'd seen a few naturals before... was that just the 350/450?
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Isn't that one natural vs white? Thoiught I'd seen a few naturals before... was that just the 350/450?
Just the 350/450, AFAIK. I've only seen one 450 in natural, and the finish didn't look painted like the one in the auction.
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I think this is the best looking SG style bass around. I love the Tele-style control panel and the single coils with chrome surrounds.
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Funny thing, the listing includes a complete SB350/450 control plate.
I think the 300/400's were available only in cherry and Walnut, but who knows. I've been on the lookout
for a 300/350 to make a fretless SG bass, as my experiments with EB0/maho body/maho neck turned out to be no good. But the few Project SB300/350's I have found have been too clean or too expensive.
I think the ones I've seen have sold for about $900-1000, but they don't pop up too often. There is one locally (Norway) available for $1300 but he's dreaming.
If this auction was for a shortie, I'd be all over it. Good Luck!
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There is this one too, $620 BIN but with make an offer option.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-1973-Gibson-SB400-Bass-Guitar-Faded-Wine-Red-Worn-In-Cool-SG-200-/302219615454?hash=item465db15cde:g:h8cAAOSwax5Ym-Jt
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Yeah, the price of these has gone up due to people being crowded out by the much higher prices of the 'better' Gibsons (price disparity between these and almost any other Gibson model creates a bit of a vacuum), and also because they've been recently featured in a few vids/TV performances; not many, but just enough for people to notice and to legitimise them. Kinda like what happenned with Melody Makers 2 decades ago and LP Jrs in the punk/post era.
I agree that the 300/400 look cool with the control plate and pickups (the 50s look fine but the larger boxy black humbuckers just don't work as well for me on that body shape.... and natural on a light wood is a hard sell for me to begin with), but the hardware isn't chrome is it? Seems to tarnish/rust to a greater degree and more often than any other model of the era (this could also just be down to who owned them and how they treated them; lower end budget stuff in the hands of kids will get more trashed).
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I think this is the best looking SG style bass around. I love the Tele-style control panel and the single coils with chrome surrounds.
Uwe likes the 300/400s too. That must mean it's the shape preferred by German lawyers and moffenhoers. :mrgreen:
Yeah, the price of these has gone up due to people being crowded out by the much higher prices of the 'better' Gibsons (price disparity between these and almost any other Gibson model creates a bit of a vacuum), and also because they've been recently featured in a few vids/TV performances; not many, but just enough for people to notice and to legitimise them. Kinda like what happenned with Melody Makers 2 decades ago and LP Jrs in the punk/post era.
And yet I bought my slothead EB-0 for less than the SB400 that recently sold on eBay. Go figure.
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Dave has been very, very diplomatic in his judgement of SBs in this thread - growing mild with age, huh? :mrgreen:
Actually, within the SB family, the SB-400 is the best one, followed by the SB-450, followed by the SB-300 - and with the SB 350 coming in last.
Those Melody Maker pups have a very rich full frequency sound - single coil "halo" in the upper frequencies/harmonics, yet not anemic at all in the bass department. If a Ric sound that is not just "clank!' and a Jazz Bass sound make you happy, you won't be disappointed with an SB-400. I have so far only seen cherry and walnut SB-300s and -400s, but it was finish everytime, the wood of the first generation SBs is almost white and shines through as the fin wears off. Might very well be alder, it is kind of soft too.
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I think i wants me an sb400.
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And yet I bought my slothead EB-0 for less than the SB400 that recently sold on eBay. Go figure.
OK but is that a fair comparison (was it on ebay/when/condition) - I don't recall this but maybe I missed it or forgot? There are, of coarse, exceptions to all trends or rules.
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OK but is that a fair comparison (was it on ebay/when/condition) - I don't recall this but maybe I missed it or forgot? There are, of coarse, exceptions to all trends or rules.
This was a few months ago. It had been on Reverb for two years (!), also on the store's website, don't know about eBay. It had been listed at $1250 with a Make Offer button. It had been two years, they dropped the price to $1095, so I thought why not offer less? They obviously wanted to move it, and I couldn't have afforded it otherwise. It's in excellent condition.
It almost always pays to research and be patient. $899 isn't impossibly high for that SB400 but it's not that rare or sought after that a person can't wait for another or make an offer.
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Yeah, biding one's time certainly does pay off. It's worked for me the odd time.
That does sound like a pretty good deal. 900 is too much for an SB IMHO, but I understand why the odd person would pay that much.
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Already $375 and 3 days to go!
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I just knew that one day I would witness the meteoric resurgence of this particular model family. That heals some of the wounds of the derision heaped upon me when I admitted here to buying my first "banana bass" (SB-450 as it was) many moons ago - sigh! Being a prophet is sometimes a lonesome occupation.
Now with Ilan - who (given his location) should know all about lonesome prophets or how you still have to wait for them - showing interest, SBs have been anointed and the naysayers of yore have gone into a hiding of shame and guilt somewhere in the Minnesota mountains. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
And a certain George C. :-X has still - to this day - not repaired the broken truss rod of his SB-300. :-\
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"That must mean it's the shape preferred by German lawyers and moffenhoers."
:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
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I just knew that one day I would witness the meteoric resurgence of this particular model family. That heals some of the wounds of the derision heaped upon me when I admitted here to buying my first "banana bass" (SB-450 as it was) many moons ago - sigh! Being a prophet is sometimes a lonesome occupation.
Now with Ilan - who (given his location) should know all about lonesome prophets or how you still have to wait for them - showing interest, SBs have been anointed and the naysayers of yore have gone into a hiding of shame and guilt somewhere in the Minnesota mountains. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
And a certain George C. :-X has still - to this day - not repaired the broken truss rod of his SB-300. :-\
:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
(still laughing derisively)
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What an ugly bunch you all are. :-X
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And a certain George C. :-X has still - to this day - not repaired the broken truss rod of his SB-300. :-\
Ha ha! That's because it sounds good as is. If I ever get around to refinishing it I'll get the rod fixed. I agree that the pickups in these make them special.
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Yup, they look like rubbish, but aren't.
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The bottom of the truss rod cavity is painted white, so either it's the original finish or someone removed the acorn nut and truss rod before refinishing. But if it's original, why is the headstock logo missing?
The bridge seems to be missing the white nylon saddles. So I found this page (https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/Replacing_Saddles_on_a_1971_Gibson_SB_300_Bass), explaining how to mod Tune-O-Matic saddles to fit the SB type bridge.
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Did Gibson use decals rather than inlays at this point, and is it possible that the wrong cleaning products were used and simply dissolved the decal adhesive?
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Did Gibson use decals rather than inlays at this point, and is it possible that the wrong cleaning products were used and simply dissolved the decal adhesive?
It looks like a decal to me, but hard to tell for sure from the pics.
(http://www.flyguitars.com/graphics/1971-SB400-walnut-6.jpg)
and a 450:
(http://www.flyguitars.com/graphics/1973-SB450-natural-6.jpg)
edit: Hmmmn:
(https://reverb-res.cloudinary.com/image/upload/s--N4NfBUD0--/a_exif,c_limit,e_unsharp_mask:80,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_south,h_620,q_90,w_620/v1450634221/hn2yo1oi73ra5ielby09.jpg)
That's from this reverb listing (which sold for 1.2k despite not so great condition!). The video demo by a popular youtube channel, probably helped, as well as the rising popularity of related guitar models (as even we have discussed recently).
https://reverb.com/au/item/1467877-video-demo-gibson-sb300-bass-guitar-hardshell-case-1971-walnut
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWCvMCyOf4c&feature=youtu.be
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The bottom of the truss rod cavity is painted white, so either it's the original finish or someone removed the acorn nut and truss rod before refinishing. But if it's original, why is the headstock logo missing?
The bridge seems to be missing the white nylon saddles. So I found this page (https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/Replacing_Saddles_on_a_1971_Gibson_SB_300_Bass), explaining how to mod Tune-O-Matic saddles to fit the SB type bridge.
I can't see anyone painting a headstock without covering the nut/truss rod at least, it not too hard to get paint in there. Not saying it's not original finish - but I would not make a judgement by the painted truss rod cavity.
It is supposed to have a black decal, and those decals are pretty tough. Unlikely to 'wash away' by accident, it's more likely sanded off before headstock was painted.
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Another question - This SB400 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/1971-Gibson-SB-400-Bass-Walnut-All-original-/182390896656) doesn't have the body edge bevel - so did some have them and some didn't? Odd for a model that was made for just one year.
(http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/qjwAAOSwEzxYVASp/s-l1600.jpg)
Here's another plank body (http://www.bass-guitar-museum.com/bass-10639-Vintage-1972-Gibson-SG-SB-400-Longscale-Bass)
(http://www.bass-guitar-museum.com/uploads/bass/6/220135234243-1.jpg)(http://www.bass-guitar-museum.com/uploads/bass/6/220135234243-9.jpg)
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This SB400[/url] doesn't have the body edge bevel - so did some have them and some didn't?
I think that all of the SB300 listings I've followed have had a bevelled body. When thinking of it, I have seen a non-bevelled SB400 before. Maybe they got feedback on the longscale SB's that they were neck divers, and tried to solve it by removing less wood on the body?
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I think those are decals, as the 'i' is attached to the 'G', which suggests the whole thing was installed as a single unit. I saw a similar decal on a modified early '70s EB-3L on Talkbass, with a lot of TB know-alls chiming in that it was a fake Gibson. They dug up pictures of '60s EB-3s to prove their point. https://www.talkbass.com/threads/did-i-just-buy-a-fake-vintage-gibson.1264417/ (https://www.talkbass.com/threads/did-i-just-buy-a-fake-vintage-gibson.1264417/)
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Sold for $430. Not to me... someone must have wanted it more than me.
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Jules posted about it on FB. I wonder if he bought it.
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I did this(http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d138/shadowcastaz/sb400_zps1nbday7d.jpg) (http://s34.photobucket.com/user/shadowcastaz/media/sb400_zps1nbday7d.jpg.html)
then this (http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d138/shadowcastaz/IMG_0987_zpssyi4shtb.jpg) (http://s34.photobucket.com/user/shadowcastaz/media/IMG_0987_zpssyi4shtb.jpg.html)
(http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d138/shadowcastaz/IMG_0986_zpswnx5tgkn.jpg) (http://s34.photobucket.com/user/shadowcastaz/media/IMG_0986_zpswnx5tgkn.jpg.html)
for my cousin
(http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d138/shadowcastaz/9c1ab58f-088a-4419-a550-afb330731761_zps5fi6fkrz.jpg) (http://s34.photobucket.com/user/shadowcastaz/media/9c1ab58f-088a-4419-a550-afb330731761_zps5fi6fkrz.jpg.html)
:mrgreen: 8)
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:mrgreen:
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Very tasteful.
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Do we like this one?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/201888400607 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/201888400607)
'73 shortie. $700 BIN.
(http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/s4oAAOSw4CFY7V-f/s-l1600.jpg)(http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/LrwAAOSwU8hY7V-h/s-l1600.jpg)
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:) love it!
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:mrgreen:
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That's a reasonable price.
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More than reasonable. Downright cheap!
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It's cheap compared to the others that were mentioned earlier. I don't think they were worth what was paid. That's why I think this is reasonable but not cheap.
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When I tried to hit the BIN I got an error message - "the seller does not ship to Israel".
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Time to discuss with the buds on the other side of the pond, methinks... ;)
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Time to discuss with the buds on the other side of the pond, methinks... ;)
By the time I wanted to do that, it was sold.
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Excrement happens... Shabat shalom... ;)
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That's too bad. When the only info in the shipping details says US, then bidding would be restricted. You'd have to contact the seller and see if an exception could be made.
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Many sellers specify local shipping only, and I always respect that. I have just had a '65 Hofner Senator shipped to a friend's London address, since the seller specified UK shipping only. My friend will send it to Israel. But this seller has apparently blocked non-US bids. If eBay enables that option, I have to respect this too. Of course I could have asked if someone can please hit the BIN for me and then I will transfer the payment, but I didn't.
It was a nice bass, though.
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Yes, that's exactly what the seller did. With the three I've sold on eBay in the past year and a half, that's what I did. If a blocked buyer had contacted me, I might have worked something out depending on the circumstances. That's preferable to having a possibly sketchy buyer on the other side of the world hit the BIN and then having to deal with it. As it happened, each of them sold so fast it wasn't an issue.
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The only time I asked someone in the US to buy a bass for me was years ago with the $650 Shadow on craigslist... it was too good to pass, so a friend in the US bought it for me and her mom who was visiting her took the Ric with her back to Israel.
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Ric and backer... :mrgreen: