Gibson EB1 for restoration

tore00 · August 22, 2016, 05:32:06 AM

I have found a battered EB1 that colui be good to restore.
http://www.ebay.it/itm/GIBSON-EB1-EB-1-VIOLIN-BASS-RARE-VINTAGE-/131872558274?hash=item1eb4378cc2:g:YXwAAOSwRJ9XgPEU

She is missing most of the hardware and has a very ugly cut (maybe relocation of the bridge). What do you think about difficulty of restoring?

And what is a fair price?

Alanko · August 22, 2016, 06:19:17 AM

There was a big brouhaha about this bass on Talkbass.

Most seemed to have a problem with it being an EB-1. My stance is that those guys love it when John Kallas or whoever brings back an old pre-CBS or early '70s Fender with horrific mods. They praise luthiers that rebuild missing horns, plug a litany of routes and veneer over said plugs to make a full visual restoration possible. They love it when a dead blocked 'n' bound Jazz bass neck is brought back from the dead. I think this appreciation starts and ends with Fender instruments, in most cases. This EB-1 could be restored in the same manner, but most folk (at least on Talkbass) don't see past the prejudices. It might be expensive to do, and some of the parts may be hard to find, but the bass isn't firewood by any means.

Basvarken · August 22, 2016, 06:28:17 AM

It won't be that difficult to find the missing parts. It is a reissue EB1. Which needs a chrome mudbucker and a two point bridge with nylon saddles.
I don't think anybody is going to miss the endpin.

But the scar will remain a nasty one. No matter how skilled the craftsman is going to be. Unless it would be covered up with a veneer. And of course the painted on purfling will have to be redone.

Alanko · August 22, 2016, 08:15:54 AM

I missed the reissue part, and figured OP would have to track down one of those brown Bakelite jobbies. I would push for a veneer job, personally.

66Atlas · August 22, 2016, 08:34:54 AM

Reissues recent sales (not ridiculous listing prices) in good condition in the low 2k to 2500 range. Ive seen them go for as little as 1800 with headstock repairs but no modifications. Given the amount of work, parts left to source and ultimate resale value of maybe 1500-1750 I wouldn't even consider it at the asking price. You'd be better of saving that money for the next live auction one to come along.

Alanko · August 22, 2016, 09:36:44 AM

I think the seller has re-listed this at a lower price once already as, from memory, it was nearer the $2k mark previously.

Trying to make sense of Ebay pricing, I can see a modded 1969 EB-1 from Japan at the moment for £4,344.70. This has a bridge pickup and a third knob rather ungracefully grafted in. There are cleaner examples, also in Japan for £5,233.24 and £4,520.87 (no pickguard but a stand). There is one 1968/69 in the US for £3,060.13 with OHSC.

I was in London last week, and one shop was selling a Kalamazoo KB for North of £600 ($788.18 as of just now). The price is also slowly increasing on even the crappiest of Japcrap instruments.

Dave W · August 22, 2016, 10:00:48 AM

IIRC Grog bought a near-mint reissue for $1300 locally about 15 years ago. It was pristine.

66Atlas is right. The only two recently sold reissues actually sold for $2225 and $2500. You have to ignore what's being asked, especially from Japan, where some collectors are trying to recover the overinflated prices they paid in the mid 00s for vintage American guitars and basses.

This one is restorable but I wouldn't pay anywhere remotely near that for it.

Alanko · August 22, 2016, 10:08:19 AM

Probably explains why the basses are on Ebay and not sold. I do like the conspiracy theory that there is a raft of instruments on the 'bay purely so that some dude can show his wife "look honey, I'm ready to take a big hit on this thing but nobody is biting".

There has been the same Steinberger XP-2 on there since I was in short trousers.

tore00 · August 24, 2016, 04:26:27 AM

I think that I will not offer more than 200 eur, just for the tuners

Basvarken · August 24, 2016, 05:48:14 AM

I've been looking for a Gibson or Epiphone project for quite a while. And this one has been on Ebay for quite a while. The price is way too high to be anywhere near interesting for me. Especially since there is also the additional shipping costs and import taxes.

Grog · August 24, 2016, 03:44:11 PM

Quote from: Dave W on August 22, 2016, 10:00:48 AM
IIRC Grog bought a near-mint reissue for $1300 locally about 15 years ago. It was pristine.

Good memory Dave........... I had to dig it out to see what the receipt said; 03/05/99. Nate had it listed as a 1967 though. I bought the first one for $475 + tax, 11/22/93. I just about doubled my money when trading it in on the better one six years later. Nate had that one listed as a '68.

Dave W · August 24, 2016, 10:40:02 PM

Quote from: Grog on August 24, 2016, 03:44:11 PM
Good memory Dave........... I had to dig it out to see what the receipt said; 03/05/99. Nate had it listed as a 1967 though. I bought the first one for $475 + tax, 11/22/93. I just about doubled my money when trading it in on the better one six years later. Nate had that one listed as a '68.

Back then Nate was sometimes a couple of years off on dates from the late 60s-early 70s era. It's understandable considering all the quirks of Gibson serial numbering, and the instruments could have had older pot codes. In the past 15 or so years more information has been published, old catalogs, price lists etc. so it's easier to get a closer idea of the year.