Stock EB3 With Toggle Switch Instead of Varitone?

[Polkahero]

I just recently emailed Bob Daisley who played an EB3 on Ozzy Osbourne's Blizzard Of Ozz album.  He says that his EB3 had a toggle switch instead of the varitone and that it was stock, no modifications.  Does anyone know on here when these would have been produced?  Pictures of the bass are on his website and the neck pickup is right up against the fingerboard and it's not a slothead so it must be pre-1970.  Would this have had the tonechoke circuitry and if so how would have it affected the sound?  Unfortunately, he no longer has this bass anymore.

[Rob]

[http://www.flyguitars.com/interviews/bobdaisley2.php]

If it's this white one it is identified as an early 60's?

[Dave W]

(bump)

Anyone know?

[Hornisse]

It could be possible on the very early ones.  My old '61 Newport Deluxe bass had a 3 way toggle switch as well.  According to Walter Carter Epiphone only did a run of 10 in 1961!

[doombass]

I think the one in the auction pic looks right though the pic seems to be out of proportion in some way.

[Basvarken]

It could be possible on the very early ones.  My old '61 Newport Deluxe bass had a 3 way toggle switch as well.  According to Walter Carter Epiphone only did a run of 10 in 1961!

Can you post a pic of yours?
I have a Newport with three way toggle switch (plus bridge pickup) But I assume it's not stock on mine.

EDIT: Oh yeah now I see the Deluxe was a totally different animal (2 by 2 headstock, different pickguard, controls lay-out)

[uwe]

I thought Jack Bruce played on on the last Cream US tour and that was especially made for jim and it was a later (69) model? There were Gibson adverts with him playing it, they might even have been from the West, Bruce & Laing area.

[dc10bass]

Some good info about Jack Bruce's EB-3 with Toggle Switch.


http://gpatt.customer.netspace.net.au/cream/basses.htm

1961 Gibson EB-3, 3 way toggle switch, cherry red (EB3#1) [presumably the 1st as it was an older model]. This is an unusual model as it has a 3 way toggle switch (like the 2 pickup EB6), rather than the 4 way knob, and a string damper indicating that it was probably an early production model.  The switch selected each pickup or both with Jack preferring the the mini-humbucking bridge pickup which was heavily overdriven, producing the growling sound. The humbucking neck cover is lipped and is actually silver painted plastic.  An unlipped chromed metal cover was introduced from 1963. The Gibson EB3 is a short scale bass of 30.5" vs standard 34" and has 20 frets. Jack continued to use light gauge strings - La Bella brand.

[eb2]

Among famous rock stars, EB-3s with stock toggles instead of varitone switches are very common, right up there with the many 66 and 67 Les Pauls that left the Kalamazoo factory.

[Dave W]

Among famous rock stars, EB-3s with stock toggles instead of varitone switches are very common, right up there with the many 66 and 67 Les Pauls that left the Kalamazoo factory.

Along with the many one-offs and prototypes with no serial numbers.

[Droombolus]

http://gpatt.customer.netspace.net.au/cream/basses.htm

Don't you just love the bottom pic ?

Phil Lesh of the Grateful Dead took it up in 68-69 and, notably, is heard on the classic "Live Dead".

After which it shows Lesh playing his Guild JS-II 

[Hornisse]

I believe that is his (heavily modified) EB-3. 

[clankenstein]

i always liked the look of that modded eb3.

[EvilLordJuju]

I just recently emailed Bob Daisley who played an EB3 on Ozzy Osbourne's Blizzard Of Ozz album.  He says that his EB3 had a toggle switch instead of the varitone and that it was stock, no modifications.  Does anyone know on here when these would have been produced?

I personally have seen no evidence that Gibson produced EB3s with three way switches. The commonly held theory is that these were the first few. That almost certainly isn't the case. The EB3 was launched to the public at the Chicago NAMM show July 24-27 1961.

I have a letter a month older than this announcing it to dealers  (at this stage the EB3 was so new that Gibson hadn't had a chance to put a pic in the Gibson Gazette of that quarter).

In this letter it clearly states the bass to have a 'new 4-position toggle switch'.

So the EB3 started with the four way

So could Gibson have produced a few with a three-way toggle? maybe, but IMHO these would have been custom ordered, or possibly due to a build up of orders and a lack of switches for a brief period.

I am fairly confident Gibson never purposefully produced EB3s with a three way switch. But you can never be 100% sure with Gibson!