Gibson Bass history?

[eb2]

Fascinating story, I think.  I guess with all the parts floating around, this is plausible.  Anyone have an opinion? 

http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/dak/msg/1562316277.html

The text, in case it dissapears:
I bought these items a couple years ago from a fellow you found them in the old Gibson factory in Michigan. He wrote a letter detailing the story of how he came across them. He had them for about 15 years before selling them to me. What you get is a very nice HEAVY upright bass, outside mold. It's made of many pieces of maple. You also get front and back templates, a work board, and some other fixture that I honestly don't know what it is. These are vintage pieces and are in good shape. If you are looking to build an upright bass, or if you are a collector of vintage instrument artifacts then these are for you. If you have questions please let me know. Don't ask me to sell you one or two pieces as I will not do that. You need to buy the lot of items. The price I'm asking is the price I paid for them so I won't take less. If you are a builder, the amount of time you'll save from having to make your own molds and patterns is well worth the price for these. Thanks for looking. Oh and sorry that the pictures aren't amazing, I might be able to try and get better shots if necessary but

[hollowbody]

I remember seeing these on eBay a year or two ago from a seller in the Kalamazoo area.  I believe that they were listed several times before someone bit.  The asking price is about what they paid for it, minus the shipping which would be more as these things would have to be shipped by freight.

[ramone57]

I seem to remember seeing these a few years ago on the bay, iirc.

[Grog]

I still wonder if it could be the origional Epiphone bass tooling, that's why Gibson bought Epiphone in the first place, to get their bass tooling. They were surprised to find all of the guitar tooling in the lot also. That would have been over 53 years ago!

[Rhythm N. Bliss]

Gibson Bass History began in 1953 & that is the year my EB was made & it also happens to be the year I was born. 

This upright stuff would be a very cool score for a builder or someone who'd wanna hand 'em over to a builder.
As a lefty who's about to come into some money I'm considering it....

[Grog]

THE UNION OF EPIPHONE AND GIBSON

While Epiphone's problems got worse as the 1950s progressed, Gibson was going from strength to strength. Its main competition now came from the California-based Fender Company, creator of the Telecaster and Stratocaster models that had been released earlier that same decade. If Gibson had a weakness, it was that their upright bass production had stopped before the war and never started again. So when Gibson's general manager, Ted McCarty, received a call from Orphie asking whether he'd be interested in buying out the Epiphone bass business (still a hugely respected division of the company, despite its troubles), he didn't need asking twice. McCarty paid the $20,000 asking price and Gibson took control of Epiphone in May 1957.

Gibson's original intention was to harness the reputation of the Epiphone bass line. By 1957, this plan had been scrapped. Instead, McCarty wrote in a memo that year, the Epiphone brand would be revived and a new line of instruments created. These Gibson-made Epiphones would then be offered to dealers who were keen to win a Gibson contract, but still earning their stripes (the right to sell Gibson models was hotly contested between dealerships at this time). It was the perfect solution. Dealers would get a Gibson-quality product, without treading on the toes of the traders who already sold the real thing. The Epiphone operation was relocated to Kalamazoo (the same city as Gibson HQ) and work began.

[Dave W]

Gibson Bass History began in 1953 & that is the year my EB was made & it also happens to be the year I was born.  

Gibson solidbody bass guitar history began in 1953.

Gibson made an electric upright bass in the late 30s and mandobasses as early as 1910.

[Denis]

Fascinating story, I think.  I guess with all the parts floating around, this is plausible.  Anyone have an opinion? 

http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/dak/msg/1562316277.html

The text, in case it dissapears:
I bought these items a couple years ago from a fellow you found them in the old Gibson factory in Michigan. He wrote a letter detailing the story of how he came across them. He had them for about 15 years before selling them to me. What you get is a very nice HEAVY upright bass, outside mold. It's made of many pieces of maple. You also get front and back templates, a work board, and some other fixture that I honestly don't know what it is. These are vintage pieces and are in good shape. If you are looking to build an upright bass, or if you are a collector of vintage instrument artifacts then these are for you. If you have questions please let me know. Don't ask me to sell you one or two pieces as I will not do that. You need to buy the lot of items. The price I'm asking is the price I paid for them so I won't take less. If you are a builder, the amount of time you'll save from having to make your own molds and patterns is well worth the price for these. Thanks for looking. Oh and sorry that the pictures aren't amazing, I might be able to try and get better shots if necessary but

Those jigs are works of art in their own right! I'd love to have them just to have  'em!

[Grog]

Did anybody buy these?