The Last Bass Outpost

I'm gonna guess the second guitarist (the guy who looked like The Edge meets Joe Satriani) was Pete's son?

I guess this won't be popular but I'm gonna have to go with I like the original much better.

The three point plus tail piece is, as UWE put it so eloquently, a "cluttered affair".

Appears the bridge pieces are all at the maximum back of the bridge chassis. Does it actually intonate perfectly with the three point? Looks like lots of needless metal hangin' out down there.

I'm a fan of Scott's retro replacement bridge...old but new ;-)

I have two Embassy's currently.

OK...the re-finned EB-2 sold for $2750 + shipping.

That's the most expensive EB-2 that's not a late 50's/early 60's version...unbelievable.

I was joking above when I said I was having my 66 EB-2D re-finished in gloss black...now I'm not kidding.

I've taken my stock 1966 sunburst EB-2D I've been trying to sell for $2250 to the refinisher...I'm having her stripped and having a nice new black finish applied. Then maybe she will sell.

Amazing the price on this black refin. Just amazing!

Also heard that U.S. Customs agents raided Gibson USA a week or two ago and confiscated their entire inventory of rosewood! Gibson is segregated into different companies each with their own resources and manufacturing. Epiphone and the Custom Shop were not raided.

I spoke with the seller of this black EB-2 and he said he thought it WAS a refin. He never indicated to me that it was in any way stock or original to the bass.

There is one documented stock black EB-2...I believe it's in a Duchosoir bass book or something similar. #A27955 registered on July 22, 1958. But it is a banjo tuner, black plastic cover, etc. late 50's version. I talked with it's current owner at an Arlington Guitar Show. His bass had a broken peghead at some point and was expertly repaired...you cannot see the repair! Beautifully done! He loves his bass and will not currently sell. It has some provenance and is noted in some Gibson paperwork somewhere...shipping totals or something like that.

You are correct about the Epi JC Bass case...and there is ALLOT of extra room up top. They get really wide up there as well and are really a pain to carry around.

I bought one of these:

http://cgi.ebay.com/CASE-FITS-GIBSON-EB-2-EPIPHONE-RIVOLI-BASS-ES335-12_W0QQitemZ160365911477QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar_Accessories?hash=item25568d9db5&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

Nice English gentlemen in Wisconsin. They work well but are really thick...much like a hardcase for a Guild B-50 acoustic bass...he's padded them well and they fit nicely. I guess the best part is they are available now.

Good luck...might be worth a shot. I would e-mail/call him and chat before you jump to make sure it's what you want/need.

The really cool Newport Basses are the 2x2 peghead, early 60's versions. The most desirable and the highest order of those are the Epiphone Newport Deluxe basses...basically the coolest EB-3 going. if you believe what you read they only made 89 of these...ah but they sound sooooo good!

In some ways the Epiphone Newport Deluxe is better than an old EB-3 in that there is no rotary switch. It is a simple toggle switch for pickup selection. Problem is these early Newports, in any configuration, are generally all pricey.

Here's a recent cool old 1962 Newport:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300335495288&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_500wt_1115

Info on Newport Deluxe basses:

http://www.flyguitars.com/epiphone/bass/1962EpiphoneNewportDeluxe.php

Scott Silver owns Chicago Music Exchange and his prices are generally top of the top of the top. maybe it's a place to start negotiating. Since prices are shifting so much and so quickly some high end/volume dealers of vintage gear are resorting to super high asking prices so they don't get caught below a price surge. That being said...'Yeah Right...$7K for an Embassy...you are dreamin' ;-))

Maverick Music has had what they call a 1962 Epiphone Rivoli (actually it is a 1964) for $5995 for months & months. Too much money plain and simple...then again he almost sold it for that. Key word being 'almost...didn't happen. The again, I have not seen a solid clean 1964 or earlier Rivoli for sale publicly for quite a while.

I think really highly of 60's Embassy basses and so I think they are worth between $3-4K. I think they sound better than Thunderbirds and are clearly somewhere in the vicinity of half the price. They have TONE! But I'm prejudiced having discovered them when I was 18 years old...had one since 1970...they are great basses & I am old!

Thanks guys...just checking ;-)

Am I missing something here...you got a problem with my comments about Embassy Basses?

If so...speak up!

If you don't know or haven't seen/played or heard one...these Epiphone Embassy basses are amazing!

Fun to play and the tone is to die for!! All mahogany construction and the same pickups/bridge/tail-piece/electronics as a T-Bird from the 60's. I think they started making these in 1963 and went until 1967 or 68...and ultimately they cost way less than a T-bird. I became aware of the Embassy bass in 1970 and still have that bass...would never sell it. One of my main go to basses. Records superbly and still plays beautifully to this day...good wood! Most of the Embassy's I've played have a slightly different shape neck from a T-Bird...extremely comfortable.

The biggest downside is they can feel a tiny tad top heavy...you have to learn how to adjust to that but once you do it's no problem and away ya go.

I guess it is sort of the old 'urban myth' realized. As you say...'Little-old-lady-never-played-under-the-bed' etc.

Apparently there were 11 of these Rivolis shipped in 1960...rare bird indeed ;-)

The 'CHOKE' is actually a small canister (rectangular) that houses a coil of wire. It is located under a rectangular piece of plastic with rounded ends just under the two-point bridge. The plastic cover is usually sealed down with a sort of gooey wax...no screws etc. When the 'Baritone' push button is 'OFF' it is the single humbucker (mudbucker) almost alone and the pickup has the huge robust sound we know and love.

Fact is on Gibson EB-2's & Rivoli's with the CHOKE feature the stock wiring never truly isolates the pickup from the CHOKE...even when the pushbutton is OFF and the sound is at it's mudbucking best. There is residual bleed from the Choke circuit that colors the sound of the humbucker. There are mods that some of us do that truly eliminates the CHOKE completely from the circuit for a 'third' sound. I have it on a 1963 Rivoli and it is truly a great sound...the humbucker has more mids and growl...kind of like a wide open mudbucker and 'choked' sound combined...great low end with a touch of midrange growl...very, very nice! And louder than either of the stock sounds alone. It is the actual sound of a mudbucker.

When the 'Baritone' pushbutton is in the 'ON' position the coil of wire (the CHOKE) is inserted in the circuit (along with a cap or two that is part of the CHOKE circuit) and it rolls off the low end, at first listen relative to a open mudbucker as useless. Fact is if you EQ properly the CHOKED sound is super useful and it IS the sound of many of the 60's best British Invasion groups.

Here's a link to a couple live videos with a 1964 Rivoli using the CHOKED sound:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4Tcs8LhOm4&feature=channel_page

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyCeru5UihI&feature=channel_page

Dave is right...most folks call the little bakelite pushbutton canopy switch a 'bass boost' button...quite the opposite, as Dave points.


Regarding The Raving Animals...we decided to take on doing the best set we could of the best Animals songs of the early period. I'm actually learning and playing all the Alan Price parts on a great Vox Continental. It has a sound that for what we are doing is THE sound!Of course the 64' Rivoli works perfectly for The Animals stuff as Chas Chandler was, besides Paul Samwell-Smith and couple others, the other huge officiendo of Rivoli's & EB-2's at the time. We did our debut gig A SLIM's in SF just this last Friday and from all reports on the money. Being I'm so new to this style of keyboards I'll take that as a successful gig ;-) Once we really gel it will kill.[/url][/url]

The bass is cool. The neck is not thinner per se...I consider it big medium. I have a couple 50's EB-2's and they are all a tad different but nothing remarkably different in terms of neck shape...all feel a bit beefy in a good way.

This bass belonged to a little old lady in Virginia who bought it to learn to play bass way back when...she never did and it went under her bed and never came out again until recently. Wasn't cheap but I look at it as a keeper as well. Nice side bar is it really plays amazingly well and the pickup just Rocks! very even on all notes...nothing gets thin (well with a mudbucker NOTHING gets thin) even in the choked mode.

With The RaveUps and our Animals tribute the Raving Animals it's all choked Rivoli all the time and this 1960 has a remarkable evenness.

Here's a really clean 1960 Rivoli.

Exceedingly rare as well.

Sunburst front & back, banjo tuners, Epiphone 'New York' logo, black plastic covered mudbucker.

Case is near mint as well.

Only issue is the broken bakelite Choke pushbutton switch. The switch works...just broken off.

She plays and sounds great!