Epiphone EB-1 resto-modding.

[Alanko]

My last few projects, the Tokai EB-3 and Fender P Bass with neck pickup, have gone to new homes. I still wanted a mudbucker-only thumpy bass, so I bought a used but not abused Epi EB-1 from Ebay.



These things aren't really perfect. Bolt-on neck, weird Hofner shape, etc. If you are an EB-1 historian or purist then you will spot the issues a mile away. Chrome mudbucker, one F-hole, no pinstripe around the body. Its a facsimile of an EB-1 realy.

I didn't want an Epi EB-0 though as this seems a bit too... obvious? Not sure. I've had an Epi EB-0 before, so this is something new.

I plan to refinish the bass. The original finish it heavily worn, and being a satin finish it has turned glossy in some places. Like I've seen on some other Epi basses, the neck is maple but stained red. The body is mahogany of some flavour, with a black grain filler and red lacquer over the top. This looks almost purple for whatever reason. Red neck, purple body filled with dents = no good.

I've started stripping the finish and the body looks like decent wood rather than a veneered chunk of pallet-grade wood. I think the grain might be real!

[Dave W]

Weird Höfner shape? The Gibson came first, in 1953.

Looks to be in good shape. I never did like the finish on those, you can turn it into something nicer.

[amptech]

If it plays well, it would not be too hard to make it look decent?

I have made a couple of mudbucker pickup covers from old bakelite radios (they sell for nearly nothing) both brown (single coil)  and black. The bar bridge is not as hard to get either, that guy in Argentina makes those now at a fair price. Kluson makes good banjo tuners, at least the metal knob ones are ok.

I guess the hardest part is to get authentic brown knobs! The China ones does not look good. You can always buy a Gibson Tal Farlow guitar on ebay and take the knobs off it

[Alanko]

Weird Höfner shape? The Gibson came first, in 1953.

Looks to be in good shape. I never did like the finish on those, you can turn it into something nicer.

The Gibson basses had a shape that is truer to real violins and violas. The Hofner outline has droopy shoulders and smoother waist cutaways in the sides. Epiphone used the body profile of Hofner basses rather than the original Gibson EB(1) outline.

[Dave W]

The Gibson basses had a shape that is truer to real violins and violas. The Hofner outline has droopy shoulders and smoother waist cutaways in the sides. Epiphone used the body profile of Hofner basses rather than the original Gibson EB(1) outline.

I know what you mean, but the Epi isn't a clone of the Höfner. The shoulders on the Gibson are more like a true violin shape but not really close.

[4stringer77]

Gibson should reissue the EB-1 again but with Busseto corners. 
   In terms of the Hofner, having what are called Gamba corners on a bass is also a traditional feature of upright string basses. Flat backs are also common on uprights and the most obvious feature setting the Hofner apart from the Gibson is that it's also hollow body like an upright. In either case, they are electric instruments versus their acoustic inspirations. Pretty sure Hofners don't have sound posts anyhow. I get that the Epi is a far cry from the Gibson but that's what you get from a cheap import knockoff. I wouldn't worry about the chrome pickup. The post 69' EB-1's had them too. Good luck with the refin. Looking forward to seeing the results.

[Grog]

As far as the Hofner shape, I bought an Epiphone case for my first Gibson EB-1 because I didn't like the case that came with it. I was amazed at how different it was. The Gibson body was longer & thinner than the Epiphone. I had to alter the case quite a bit to get the Gibson to fit properly. Epiphone had been making the Hofner copy for some time. I assumed that they made their EB-1 the same shape to share the hard shell case between models.

[Alanko]

I assume that Epiphone just used the same basic outline as their violin bass.

I got the bass stripped at the weekend, using a hot air gun and a palm sander. The body is made from two pieces of some sort of mahogany. The treble half has absorbed more red stain than the bass half, but this might be okay with enough grain filling and staining.

First I hand sanded an area to make sure it was real wood under there and not a veneer.



Then broke out the heat gun, mechanical sander etc.




After about six hours of sanding...




I'm going with a darker mahogany grain filler, lighter mahogany stain and then Rustins plastic coating on the body. Probably just Danish Oil on the neck. I want the body to be browner, and lighter, than the original purple-red factory colour.

[4stringer77]

Good looking wood there. Surprised to see a solid chunk and no veneer. Those corners aren't the squarest, especially the lower ones. If you choose to add the imitation purfling line(s) on the perimeter, that could help bring out the pointiness more.

[Alanko]

I had a bit of a think about this. I added a bit of a smooth roundover on the bass side, in part because I had to sand out quite a lot of stain from the wood there so it made sense to keep going.

My thoughts now are to preserve the squared corners where they have survived (the wood wasn't especially squared off to begin with, and the lacquer had built up more on the edges), smooth some other bits, and make the thing feel a wee bit more organic and less like a violin shape cut out with a bandsaw!

[Dave W]

That sanded body looks nicer than I expected.

[BTL]

Looking good!

[ilan]

weird Hofner shape

That's just an upright bass silhouette, Gamba style, the most common upright shape. It was like that 300 years before Hofner. The Gibson shape is a bit like 16th century Panormo-style basses, wide-shouldered and violin corners.

[Alanko]

I've made some progress!

Firstly I plugged that hole in the bottom! Mine didn't come with the screw-in extension, and the strap button used is just another bridge pin. I want to use normal strap buttons, not something that can unscrew itself easily, so I whittled down some hardwood dowel and bashed it in.




I used Gorilla glue, because I never said I was a luthier! 

then onto the grain filling. I watched some Youtube videos from people building Les Pauls. As I'm not spraying anything I don't really have a chance to either seal the wood prior to filling or use a tinted lacquer on top. My compromise is to grain fill then sand that back level with the wood. Then apply stain and lacquer over this.





That is my office chair in the background. This is week 46 of working from home. It doesn't look like this is going to change any time soon either.

I went outside to sand the grain filler back back:



Then a wee bit of staining:



Our cats knock those plant pots over every time we go outside, so I've given up righting them.




Looks like a piece of wood now! I've used a mix of teak, mahogany and oak woodstains. I want the bass to be red-brown rather than a lurid cherry red, and light enough that you can see the filled grain. I don't want it to look like light wood with an unusually dark grain marching over it, so this is a nice middle-ground.

[Basvarken]

Looking good.
I'd maybe make it a little bit darker, to make it look more like a dark mahogany?