53 EB Day

[66Atlas]

Iv always wanted one of these and couldn't believe it when it popped up on Guitar Centers site last week at a great price. According to them it came in from a construction worker who was gutting a building before it was razed.  It was left in the basement in a pile of stuff that mostly got thrown in a dumpster.  Luckily he decided to make a buck off it rather that throw it in too.



The case hadn't been opened in at least 30 years I'd bet.  As you can see the metal bits were fairly corroded and case was covered in a light mildew.  Unfortunately no post, instead the case contained all the last owners tools, fuses, notes, some rusty razor blades, tape and cable that was being consumed by growing green grime.



As far as the bass itself it was well played but also cared for.  Some buckle rash through the finish but the frets don't show a bit of wear from the rotosounds it had on it.  Two of the tuners are missing the plastic buttons but the owner had a nifty little key that could be used to turn the bare posts.  The output jack plate had been replaced with a piece of white plastic that was spray painted brown. It crumbled to pieces when I tried to remove it.  The great thing is the pickup is in perfect condition and the original electronics all worked great after a little cleanup.



The bass was built prior to the introduction serial numbers in 1953 so with the help of some early LP gurus we were able to estimate that it was probably assembled in sometime in March/April.  Unlike the later models with inlay logos these early ones got the same silkscreen logo (with the dot connected to the G) that various acoustics got.



& After about 6-7 hours of inspection, cleanup, testing and tuning it's back to its former glory...Minus two peg buttons and post...

[Dave W]

Wow! What a score and what a story! Congratulations!

What city did it come from?

[Rob]

Great find!

[Grog]

Unbelievable! Beautiful for a 65 year old bass! On my '59 EB-2, I bought four original Firebird tuners & stole the nickel knobs off of them. I seem to recall having to remove a bit of material off of the post, but they worked great & did a better job of stabilizing the tuner than the old plastic knobs did.   

[Denis]

Holy crap, that's amazing!!!! Congrats on the great score!

[clankenstein]

Wow ! Sweet !

[4stringer77]

Fantastic find. Glad to hear a rare bass was pulled from the brink of disaster and brought to a loving home. Any preference for you between this bass and your EB-0 either way?

[Pilgrim]

Great story!

[amptech]

Wow, what a great find! Looks beautiful!

Remember, there are knobs/buttons for firebird (both metal and plastic) for firebird/kluson keys sold on ebay separately.

[ilan]

Great story, great find. Sweet bass.

[Granny Gremlin]

Score!  Lovely fat ass coil.  That the same as the DC EB0's?

[tore00]

Envy! Envy! Envy!
Love her

[Chris P.]

Great story!!

[Grog]

Score!  Lovely fat ass coil.  That the same as the DC EB0's?

The single coil never made it to the first EB-0's. The '58 & early '59 EB-2's had the massive single coil pickup, then the coil was split in two to make the first mudbuckers. The pole pieces were moved from the outer edge to the center of the pickup but the cover was still bakelight.

[66Atlas]

Thanks guys, it really is a incredible bass and I couldn't be happier with it! 

I'd say the pickup is fuller sounding than the mudbucker in the ebo, surprisingly rich and clean.  It came through a store in the Pittsburgh area, it would be interesting to know what else they pulled out of that basement. I wouldn't be shocked learn that the original post was one of the things pitched since I doubt they would have realized it went with bass.  I've got some tuners on the way to serve as donors for their buttons and I may try making a post just for the fun of it-from the pictures they don't seem too complicated