Jack Bruce and his EB ONE

[dexter]

UWE  ,am i right in assuming then , . . .  that it seems that only you , (and Terry ) on this board are the lucky owners of one of these basses ...!!          man !  ,  and a Pappalardi owned one to boot !   ........ do you gig with it Uwe ?   i wanna see yours big time UWE....pictures please  !

any other guys got at least 70's models ?

you gotta post some pictures please , so us other wanna be / wanna haves , can drool and fantasize ! ...please !
it seems like a few guys here used to own them ,  why did you get rid of em 
...actually i can see why , when all those nice shiney sprarkling basses with the fancy pups and switches were coming out in the 80's , those old things would have seemed like some prehistoric monsters ,
different story now ,  seems RETRO is back in a big way .....
well ,it is for me anyway ! 

dexter

I am guilty of mounting the Schaller - ugly as it is - in tribute to JB even though the orignal bar bridge intonated alright. Of course now - Vorsprung durch Technik! - intonation ist perfekt and, mind you, this little bass has fine upper register access ...  To my defense: My fifties model was refinned to (a wonderful) cherry by allegedly Herr Pappalardi himself (he didn't do it, but asked Gibson) so I thought, what the hell, why not some JB influence as well? Unforgiveable, I know.

And yes, the neck of the fifties version is chunkier, I never noticed that consciously, but now that I gripped both necks in short sequence ...   

[Rhythm N. Bliss]

Ok. First, here are the photos that made me push the Buy It Now button for 12k:




'53 Gibson EB~Electric Bass. The first year they made an electric bass. The year I was born.

Now here's some pics of her made lefty:



Thanks to Bruce Johnson for making the lefty bridge & nut & settin' her up Southpaw.
I think he charged me 3 hun or maybe 4.

"Is that a Beatle Bass?" people ask.
I tell 'em, "No, she's a Zep Bass~ a Mountain Mama!"  & a CREAM bass.

Here's the old strap peg hole, as yet Unplugged:



Banjo tuners:



Ain't she a beaut? I was surprised to find out the "soundholes" are stickers.
It's a big thick block of first class mahogany.



I've dialed in the sound so she's playable now, but she hums a bit.
Don't play her a lot. Got her for the MOJO mostly.

If we can make it thru this Recession/Depression together I'll have Doc Dolan move those knobs South & make her forever Southpaw.

Beans & rice get boring after awhile tho. heh 10k would probly be enuf to make me sell her.

Got the original telescoping stand that is 15" long for sitting & playing like an upright & extends to 30" for playing like an upright standing up.
Saved the original bridge if Dex or someone wants to change her back to righty.
Original hardshell case tooo

Please call me Terr. Dropped the y.
Pronounced like Tear It Up!

[uwe]

Mine isn't as Terr-ific (hey, it was "only" 5,000 bucks at the time!), but Herr Pappalardi had it refinned in a nice cherry, allegedly it's a 53 (but sans serial number which never existed or was sanded off over time you can't tell for sure):




That pic was before the Schaller mount. Pappalardi wasn't obsessive about keeping it original either: The tone knob is notched and works different in the first half of the turn than in the second. In the first half it cuts the mids and emulates a mudbuckish sound with the singlecoil (though sans the mudbucker's archaic might), bit like the filter on EB-2s, in the second half it cuts what treble there is. I heard from the seller (Mark Discordia, a Pappalardi- and Nintendo/Super Mario-nut, with a Mountain website at the time) that that was a speciality of Pappalardi on all his EB-1s. Mark (who had an uncle work at Gibson in the fifties and had some background knowledge from there too) at one point must have bought three or four EB basses from the Pappalardi estate (after the "gun accident"): a 69 RI, a 55 (Pappalardi's main playing bass which he also had in Woodstock with him, and which now graces the Toronto Hardrock Café, I've seen it there behind glass, you have to pass it when you go to the loo, Mark sold it for 20,000 US bucks to them he said) and the cherry refin 1953 (?) that is now mine. There might have been another one, I'm not sure.

Here's my Pappasomething and 69 RI side by side.




And to confuse everyone a bit: My 69 is much lighter than my 53, the wood on it sounds a lot more porous when doing the recommended "knock test". In comparison, the 53 sounds thick and dense, almost as if it were a chunk of maple (it isn't).

Ironically, the 69 also feels a lot more vintage. The neck is worn off to the sheer maho all over with only a few islands of residue fin remaining and the body has crazing like hell, it's a real relic (though surprisingly few bumps and scratches, it just peels like an old reptile!), but totally playable and even more subwoofish than a slothead EB-0 or -3 would be. The 53's refin is still pristine otoh and it feels like a well-kept 15 year-or-so bass though I've bumped it a couple of times already. Yup, I play them. Would be no good to have them if I didn't. 

Actually, this thread has now inspired me to take both EBs out tonight for the rehearsal (together with my Sting P Bass and the Dimebag Darrel "assless chaps"   extra-longscale monster Dean Razorback Flying V for some variety).

[Dave W]

Real mahogany does vary a lot in weight, whether Cuban or Honduran. I don't think any of us have ever sampled enough of these basses to be certain if there's a real weight difference between eras. Sound difference, yes, and the wood is probably part of that but so are the hardware and pickup.

[eb2]

I got rid of mine because it had Schaller pegs.  It was in VG shape - some buckle wear and the finish worn off where the arm hung over the top, and the peg was missing.  I paid $300 for it, and sold it for $600.  They were running less than $1500 in nm (around 1989 I recall) at collector shows, so I dumped it.  It was a great playing bass, and recorded wonderfully.  Also, I preferred 50s EB-2s with the single coil.

[Highlander]

I'd love to own one, but I'd refin in some (tastefully) bright colour...

I can never see myself ever being able to afford one... 

[Rhythm N. Bliss]

Surprised Dex didn't respond to our photos.
Maybe he drooled all over his keyboard & it doesn't work now. haha

[dexter]

 Your right Terr ,
i been busy wiping away the drool and slobber off the keys , last few days ! 
Man ! they are some beautiful basses you guys have got, i'm so envious 
Terr, yours really is something special, i doubt if you could find another bass of this vintage in such good condition ,  more of a keeper than a player really ,
whilst your Pappalardi is absolutely gorgeous UWE
....I just love the cherry finish on it , looks real cool.
  ... well , you guys have just got me on the look out for one these , ......one day i'll get my hands on one ! 

dexter

Surprised Dex didn't respond to our photos.
Maybe he drooled all over his keyboard & it doesn't work now. haha
[/quote

[Rhythm N. Bliss]

Get yourself a BIB, man! lol

Good luck gettin' yourself a fine EB tooo
10k seems like a lot in a way, I know, but good bassplayers make that it one night, right?
One of these lifetimes maybe we'll be that good if we just keep swingin'...
Jack inspired me to get mine, but Felix even more so.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iN5tGfXldKU&feature=related

[Nocturnal]

One just popped up on Ebay for a realtively low BIN:

http://cgi.ebay.com/1956-GIBSON-EB-1-ELECTRIC-BASS-W-OHSC-FELIX-EB1-VIOLIN_W0QQitemZ190333717999QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar?hash=item2c50c60def&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

[Dave W]

There are multiple reasons for that BIN, starting with the "restamped" s/n (the original would have been inked). I wouldn't touch it, period.

[Aussie Mark]

Here's one on Gbase for $5900

http://www.gbase.com/gear/gibson-eb-1-1957-natural

[Nocturnal]

There are multiple reasons for that BIN, starting with the "restamped" s/n (the original would have been inked). I wouldn't touch it, period.

You're right Dave, I didn't bother to read the entire listing. This would fall into the "buyer beware" catagory.

[Rhythm N. Bliss]

I'd love to own one, but I'd refin in some (tastefully) bright colour...

I can never see myself ever being able to afford one... 

The $2250 '56 could be cool for ya.
How 'bout CAR? Sunburst? Arctic White?
Moonburst (Electric Blue & Midnight Blue)?

Make the seller an offer of 18 hun maybe.

The '57 ain't TOO bad. Maybe that seller would accept an offer tooo

In either case, you'd appear to have a fine looking ax from a safe distance!!

[Highlander]

Terr... with my present financial constraints I'm looking forward to delving through the loft for eBay items to fund pretty much anything I wish to do...!

I'm willing to risk the "curse" of being a lottery winner, though...