Early 60's EB-3 Thumbrests

dc10bass · July 30, 2009, 08:32:43 AM

Group...

What material were these thumb rests?
I thought all 60's Gibson bass thumb rests were ebony... were any rosewood?

Thanks!

godofthunder · August 01, 2009, 09:38:31 AM

I believe all of them are rosewood. I have been looking at my Gibsons, They all look to dark to be rosewood, maybe stained ? The grain looks to open to be ebony but I could be wrong.

Dave W · August 01, 2009, 10:27:06 AM

I thought they were all ebony, but I can't say for sure.

EDIT: I see nothing in the Gibson catalogs at Jules' site but both the '61 and '62 Epi catalogs say the Newport has an ebony "finger support."

Lightyear · August 01, 2009, 10:49:59 AM

For some reason I thought that they could be either as they were made from "tailings" or scraps from fret board production.

chromium · August 01, 2009, 10:59:50 AM

It looks kinda like stained rosewood, if I compare the grain of the tug bar and fingerboard on my EB-3. I don't know the answer for sure, though. Lightyear has a good point about scrap reuse.

FWIW I had an EB-0 that had a homemade tug bar made of rosewood. You can kinda see it in this pic... That's how it looked when I got the bass.

I reshaped it a bit, and darkened it with some leftover black stain from another project - got it looking close enough for me!

godofthunder · August 08, 2009, 08:04:17 AM

Greatdealz1967 on ebay has both rosewood and ebony for sale. According to him the rosewood are for the EB series and the ebony for the Tbird. Well what you know about that. http://shop.ebay.com/greatdealz1967/m.html?_trkparms=65%253A12%257C66%253A2%257C39%253A1%257C72%253A2197&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14&_pgn=2

dc10bass · August 08, 2009, 09:58:38 AM

Quote from: godofthunder on August 08, 2009, 08:04:17 AM
Greatdealz1967 on ebay has both rosewood and ebony for sale. According to him the rosewood are for the EB series and the ebony for the Tbird. Well what you know about that. http://shop.ebay.com/greatdealz1967/m.html?_trkparms=65%253A12%257C66%253A2%257C39%253A1%257C72%253A2197&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14&_pgn=2

Yes, I saw that on ebay... that is why I originally posted the question... to me they all looked like Ebony.
Thanks...

Dave W · August 08, 2009, 10:04:44 AM

I don't know where he got his information. I don't think he's right.

Lightyear · August 08, 2009, 10:46:12 AM

Wow! $30 for a thumbrest?! Original or not that seems a lttle high to me - Greatdealz usually has really competivie pricing but this seems a bit high. For that amount of money I could turn out a dozen in a couple of hours.

godofthunder · August 08, 2009, 11:49:12 AM

I agree he seems a bit off on the price, tug bar or Tbird pup cover lets see........................ I only have 30 bucks to spend what should I get ? The pup cover is a way better deal.

Lightyear · August 08, 2009, 11:59:38 AM

My thought exactly. I was thinking that perhaps I should buy up several sets as they are a finite commodity. Who knows they may very well have 5000 covers.

The main problem I have is spending any money right now. It's not that I don't have any to spend but the economic outlook does come into play

uwe · August 08, 2009, 12:36:34 PM

One innocent question: Do you actually use that thumbrest?

?

godofthunder · August 08, 2009, 12:37:13 PM

Use it ? Naw but it sure does look cool !

dc10bass · August 08, 2009, 12:41:31 PM

Quote from: godofthunder on August 08, 2009, 11:49:12 AM
I agree he seems a bit off on the price, tug bar or Tbird pup cover lets see........................ I only have 30 bucks to spend what should I get ? The pup cover is a way better deal.

Uhhh... now I feel like a bit of a turd!

I had seen several on ebay that looked pretty used go for around $50.00...

Oh Well... at least I have one now for my 1962 EB-3.
I don't do woodworking, otherwise I guess I could have just made my own... Live and Learn.

godofthunder · August 08, 2009, 01:13:58 PM

Oh man don't feel bad I am more than tempted by those bits of wood, I just have to be careful where I spend my $. I can't stamp out pup covers in my basement but I sure can make tug bars if I felt like it. If I really wanted or needed one of those bits of wood I'd pop the 30 bucks in a second.