Butchered EB-2

[Nocturnal]

http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-GIBSON-EB-2-BASS-GUITAR-WITH-FENDER-JAZZ-PICKUP_W0QQitemZ220494319532QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar?hash=item33567c4fac

Just in time for Halloween. I'm sure it is more versatile now, but is that a good thing??

[eb2]

I doubt it is versatile at all.  Check out the 3 point that takes the intonation completely beyond where it needs to be.  Normally I think people who f up old Gibson basses need a dope slap or 10, but at least this one has a broken neck repair.  Still, ripping up the poor thing for Fender pups is in a way redundant after swapping out for a Model One.  This poor thing is only good for the tuners, or if someone needs a fretboard and inlays. 

[TBird1958]

Sad.........That "was" a beautiful bass.


Perhaps some "pup routs' for the master luthier's forehead are in order.

[Dave W]

This poor thing is only good for the tuners, or if someone needs a fretboard and inlays. 

That's about it, I'm afraid.

[clankenstein]

it kind of begs the question- why?i dont think that jazz pickup by the bridge would be all that usefull either.is the 3 point bridge crooked too?its a shame really.

[patman]

Could something like that be saved by removing Fender pups and a solid refin?

[Grog]

It could be refinished in Sparkling Burgandy. That finished was used at the time to cover up repaired cracks in the tops due to improper kiln drying of laminate wood. (I'm pretty sure anyway??) Regardless, it was an option at the time & even though it was to cover up a screw-up, those guitars are worth more in most cases than the ones that were done properly. 

[Dave W]

It wouldn't be worth my time to rehab it with all those holes and on an arched top to boot, plus there's the bridge situation. And after all that work you'd have a bondoed solid color refin with a neck repair and a Model One. No thanks. At the current $213 IMHO it's already way too high.

[Highlander]

Beauty is a thing to behold...

Why would you hold a rose in your hand, and crush it... 

[eb2]

Grog, you're right on the sparkling burgundy/crack thing.  But to fill holes like that and then try to blend it in would be brutally hard.  Even if you were successful, you'd have witness lines within a year or so.  You would have to re-laminate the top to do the correct job.  Then after all that time, which is money, you would have to go buy at least a bridge (old version so no Hipshot yet) and maybe a pup or not.  All of that and you would still have a neck crack.  Shake that money tree, kids. 

Great for someone who needs tuners,with a missing fingerboard or headstock inlay and knobs.  And strap buttons?

[Highlander]

Had a "Model One" in my Peter Cook... nasty thing... 

[EvilLordJuju]

Thing is, I like to play EB2s out. A repaired beater stops you spending the whole night worrying that it will get stolen or broken. We often leave our gear and collect the next day. There is definately the case for having players to use.

I'd certainly go higher than it is now. The days of cheap EB2s are well and truly over, and who wants to risk a minty?

[Dave W]

Jules, I understand what you're saying, but it's hardly even a real EB-2 with three non-Gibson pickups and a non-original bridge that looks screwed up. You'd have to spend a lot of money to even make it a real Gibson beater.

[Grog]

Might be a good bass for someone who would like to give the front a fancy paint job, like Clapton's SG. I saw a mid sixties EB-2 with a refin front (red white & blue) & a big peace sign painted on it. It kept popping up all over the country for years. I called it the Buck Owens EB-2. Ugly but unique.

[Dave W]

I saw that one! In St. Paul, about 1995. It was about $600 IIRC. It was a beater but it had the original pickup, bridge and tuners.