It's back... (Don't you all want to know how George's SG long scale sounds?)

[OldManC]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Gibson-SG-Long-Scale-Bass-possible-1-of-a-kind_W0QQitemZ330231553511QQihZ014QQcategoryZ2384QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I WANT THIS!

[TBird1958]

 That's really cool, if you're going for it George I'll stay away.....there's a couple of Grecos out there right now that I'm likin' alot too.

[Chris P.]

Strange. The headstock and SG-trussrod cover look a lot like the SG Reissue Bass. But it has 70s T-bird pick ups and it's longscale.... Any idea about what year it's made?

[Darrol]

Strange. The headstock and SG-trussrod cover look a lot like the SG Reissue Bass. But it has 70s T-bird pick ups and it's longscale.... Any idea about what year it's made?

From what I can see as the serial number, the Guitar Dater Project puts it as January 24th 1997.

[Basvarken]

Cool! Good luck George

[Stjofön Big]

Hey, these pickups can't be 70's? Looks like 60's to me. What's the story behind that? Who's in the know?

[uwe]

Well George, this is an old love of yours, so go for it (and let me know once you're out of the game bidwise, because then my predator will no doubt come to life!!!).

To me, this looks like an SG-Z prototype (before they made the endversion of it so ball-less) or a custom shop one off at special request. Those pups are most likely neither sixties nor seventies, but plain Jane TB Plus pups in chrome (which Gibson also produced in small numbers). Not that there is anything wrong with those, they are what's in my gunshot EB-0L and they sound great there.

Good luck!

Uwe

[Dave W]

That's what I think too, although I wonder about the SG truss rod cover since the production model was originally announced as an EB-Z before it became the SG-Z. We do know Gibson occasionally came up with chrome covered TB Plus versions, that's what these could be, or even early SG-Z pickups in chrome covers. But the EB-Z was announced in '98. Since this is a '97, it fits the time frame of a prototype.

[Barklessdog]

I personally have trouble not seeing any EB-0/3 without a Mudbucker in its place of worship - against the neck.

To me its kind of wrong looking to me. Maybe a Tbird pup with a mudbucker, might have been a better choice, strictly from a visual perspective. To me, two Tbird pickups comes off the same as two mudbuckers on a Tbird- out of character.


Just my first impression.

[ramone57]

I like it a lot but I'll settle for some high res pics.     
good luck George!   big props to Uwe for being uber cool (again); you da man!

[uwe]

Didn't Sheryl Crow play something like this? I remember a pic of her posted at Jules' Fish & Gibs. pub and what she played seemed to fit that same mold. We wondered at the time what it was.

I think the SG trc has little meaning for the EB-Z or SG-Z theories, that is probably just a trc from an SG guitar and might have been added later. The pup positions look - again - much like Phil Jones' handwriting even though he was no fan of the SG shape for bass saying "it would never balance right long scale". In the early nineties he actually fought Gibson's marketing department who wanted an SG long scale bass introduced when he wanted (and eventually was allowed to conceive) the LP basses.

[chromium]

Didn't Sheryl Crow play something like this?

Is it that Farm Aid bass you are thinking of?



This must have been just before the SG bass hit the streets.  Looks like her version was now short scale, and you can see the contol layout taking form.  Can't tell what kind of pickups are in her's - Barts?

[Chris P.]

I only saw Ms. Crow with Kay and Guild Bluesbird basses.

[uwe]

Is it that Farm Aid bass you are thinking of?



This must have been just before the SG bass hit the streets.  Looks like her version was now short scale, and you can see the contol layout taking form.  Can't tell what kind of pickups are in her's - Barts?

That's the one, danke. You're right, that is more an SG-RI prototype than an SG-Z - it looks short scale given the bridge position. Pups might be TB Plus guitar size humbucker versions which I've also seen in black though they never offered them officially that way.

Uwe

[OldManC]

This one was up a year or two ago and the consensus (for what that's worth) was that it had a couple of those chrome TB Plus pickups like the two I put in my black LE bird (that Bill has now). I would lean toward Uwe's guess about the EBZ origins. Either way, I LOVE the way it looks and think it will compliment my other 'EB Bird' quite nicely.

 

Uwe, I am going to go for it, but I will definitely let you know if it goes out of my price range. I haven't bid yet, but that's only because bidding early just encourages other bidders to peck at it until they're the high bidder.