Bought a 65(?) EB-3

[bobyoung]

I'm sure all you guys are waiting with baited breath for my next installment. Shorting the cap did nothing that i could hear, so I clipped the inductor out of the circuit and that did it, the neck is on full boom in pos 3 with the bridge pickup. I also took off the Labellas, way to boomy and dead on this bass for my tastes and put on some old round wounds that had some life left that I had lying around and it sounds pretty damn good now. The bridge volume is very touchy though, I have to fine tune it to get a good blend, but at a certain point the things sounds great, plenty of bottom with a good clear top end. I scrubbed the black mark with Murphy's and a lot of it did come out but so did the sealer and some of the stain, it looks a lot better though and I kind of like the color the way it is. I would like a clear coat on it though but I want the black out of it first. I think I'm going to have it looked at at the Guitar Garage, I can drive there in about an hour. SG Moritz does some nice work but I don't really want to ship it and at this point I don't want a total restoration just maybe get it cleaned up with a clear coat, maybe not even the clear. When my wife gets back from S America I'll have her take some pictures and I'll post them. I even got it pretty closely intonated with the little Allen screws in the bridge. I haven't tried it through the SVT yet, I've only been playing it through my little practice amp in my bedroom, so I'll check that out tomorrow, i expect to rattle things off the shelves.

[Dave W]

Bob, I'm following your installments but since I've only owned EB-0 variations, I can't offer you advice.

[bobyoung]

Bob, I'm following your installments but since I've only owned EB-0 variations, I can't offer you advice.

I was just joking Dave, I'm grateful for the advice I already got, to me it now sounds like a EB-0 with an added bridge pickup which is the way I've always wanted them to sound. To me it's getting into T-bird territory, I may get shot for that remark though, huh?

[bobyoung]

Well i think my bridge pickup volume control is shorting out right near the end, it jumps from partial volume to full. Anyone know where I can locate one for sale? I believe it's a 500K pot.

[4stringer77]

You sure about that Bob? I'm guessing it does that with both pickups on but works fine when you solo the bridge pick up. Blending the two pickups is still a tricky proposition even without the choke in the circuit.

[bobyoung]

I just bought a new CTS 500K pot on ebay, it's supposed to be for Gibsons, if it doesn't fit I'm only out about 8 bucks.

[bobyoung]

You sure about that Bob? I'm guessing it does that with both pickups on but works fine when you solo the bridge pick up. Blending the two pickups is still a tricky proposition even without the choke in the circuit.

you know I didn't try that and should have thought of it, I'll do it now, thanks but as you can see in the preceding post I already bought one but I'm only out 8 bucks if I don't need it.

[bobyoung]

You sure about that Bob? I'm guessing it does that with both pickups on but works fine when you solo the bridge pick up. Blending the two pickups is still a tricky proposition even without the choke in the circuit.

I just checked it and it also does it with the bridge soloed so I guess I'll be putting that CTS pot in, thanks though I should have thought about that first as I've read a lot of the past posts about how hard it is to blend them.

[bobyoung]

So.... I went through 3 sets of string on the bass, adjusted the truss rod a few times tried to intonate it the best I could, the bridge is all the way forward and the lower strings are still a little flat when played way up the neck so I'm wondering if there is a bridge that will bolt right in from a later EB-3 with individual adjustments. It's not too bad though so I'm not sure if I would want to do that. But the good news is that with the inductor out of the circuit the things sounds great. I finally put D'Addario super brights on it and have been playing it mostly with a pick through my SVT. I got a lot of compliments the past two nights at gigs, even from the soundman, can you imagine that, a soundman liking a Gibson mudbucking bass? That I didn't expect. I'm real happy with this bass. I still haven't decided whether to refinish it or not though. I find the key to getting a good sound out of it modded like that is by dropping the bridge pickup volume down to around 9 and leaving the neckbucker on full. It cuts through the mix and also has a nice bottom end which everything else floats on, sounds great with the kick drum too.

[Highlander]

No refins Bob... looks fine as she is...

[Granny Gremlin]

So.... I went through 3 sets of string on the bass, adjusted the truss rod a few times tried to intonate it the best I could, the bridge is all the way forward and the lower strings are still a little flat when played way up the neck so I'm wondering if there is a bridge that will bolt right in from a later EB-3 with individual adjustments.

Not sure if a 2 point is the same spacing as a bar bridge, but the Schaller 460 (NOT the 460L) will fit.  If you measure the post spacing I can confirm that for you. Don't think the Badbird (by our own godofthunder) will work due to the stud spacing being different, but it's worth confirmming to be sure.

[bobyoung]

Not sure if a 2 point is the same spacing as a bar bridge, but the Schaller 460 (NOT the 460L) will fit.  If you measure the post spacing I can confirm that for you. Don't think the Badbird (by our own godofthunder) will work due to the stud spacing being different, but it's worth confirmming to be sure.

The post spacing is about 3 1/4" or 3 5/16ths, still not sure about a changed bridge either but just checked it out and the Schaller looks pretty cool, would look right at home on the bass. I found a sold one one that said it measured 3 11/32nds so I think it will fit but let me know what you think. I found one on ebay, 200 bucks!

[Granny Gremlin]

Yeah - my 460 is 3 5/16ths (could be 9/32s, but I wouldn't say 11/32s... some people and rulers tho.... also this is why metric is better FYI ;P)



And just another warning - watch out and do not accidentally buy a 460L as I did years ago  - the one on my 65 EB3 (which came to me stripped to the bare wood with the parts in a plastic bag, so I did not feel bad about redrilling) is 3 1/2" give or take a 16th (pic perspective makes it look more off, but IRL it looks almost bang on 3.5).  The seller won't even necessarily know the difference - always ask them to check the spacing - basically one is closer to 3 1/4 and the other 3 1/2 so it's easy.

[Dave W]

Here's an old thread from Jules' forum where some guy named Granny Gremlin says the 460 is 3.25"

What about the Hipshot? The two point Supertone (.pdf) shows 3.265" -- and yet two of the three customer reviews for it mention using it on '71s. I'm confused.

At any rate, there's the issue of the bar bridge posts, which aren't quite on a parallel. Didn't someone here a few years back mention using a two-point Supertone on those posts?

EDIT: Found the old thread, it was Chris S. a/k/a MARICOPAA, with a pic on the posts. No idea whatever happened to the idea of a "vintage" Supertone to fit the offset posts or if Dave B. at Hipshot ever developed plans.

Chris hasn't been here for several years, I see he's still playing lead guitar with his Yardbirds tribute band and teaching guitar.

[Pilgrim]

I spoke with hipshot once about the offset of the bar bridge.  I believe they developed a version with a set screw that allows use of the bridge with the level or offset bolts.  Call them -  they will clear this up for you.