I am of two minds on these. Thinking of them as a late EB-3, they are horrendous. I hate the spring loaded mid position mudbucker with testosterone drop, the mutant body contour and shape, the weeny pickguard, and the zenith of ish - the three point: all bad times. Now, if I think of them as a different thing entirely, say an EB-3.75, then I like them for what they are. They are not a refinement of the original EB-3, but they are wandering of thought from the center. I like them almost as much as an EB-4, or those goofballs with control plates and black pups. But the other problem for me is that for most of my bass-hoarding life span the venerable pre-slothead EB-3 was a $300 or less bass - mostly less. A 70s example, even in rare white, was no more a "can't give it away" Gibson bass, but far less desireable. At the same period that was being peddled new, a really fun new thing like a Sting Ray bass was more hip to me and most people. A more Fender-like Ripper or Grabber was in the same cheap used ballpark, and a 50s EB-1 or EB-2 was less, so why bother? Now, these things may be going for a couple of thousand now, and that may seem cheap compared to other things, but I just don't pay or play that way, so the stigma remains. In the Gibson bass world, for me, 70s EB-3s are like fat girls and AMC Pacers - fun but you wouldn't want any of your friends to see you riding one.
