SB400

[ilan]

Already $375 and 3 days to go!

[uwe]

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. 

And a certain George C. has still - to this day - not repaired the broken truss rod of his SB-300. 

[Chris P.]

"That must mean it's the shape preferred by German lawyers and moffenhoers."

[Dave W]

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. 

And a certain George C. has still - to this day - not repaired the broken truss rod of his SB-300. 

(still laughing derisively)

[uwe]

What an ugly bunch you all are. 

[OldManC]

And a certain George C. 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.

[uwe]

Yup, they look like rubbish, but aren't.

[ilan]

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, explaining how to mod Tune-O-Matic saddles to fit the SB type bridge.

[Alanko]

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?

[Granny Gremlin]

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.



and a 450:



edit: Hmmmn:



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

[amptech]

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, 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.

[ilan]

Another question - This SB400 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.



Here's another plank body

[amptech]

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? 

[Alanko]

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/

[ilan]

Sold for $430. Not to me... someone must have wanted it more than me.