Minty EB-4L - shame about the pickup

[godofthunder]

 I think the bigger thicker body with less bevel is clearly a effort to compete with F****r, same wit the maple long scale necks.

[doombass]

Also, less bevels means less effort.

[Grog]

Back to the pickup...................... This was the last ebay listing I was watching not too long ago...........

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Gibson-EB4-Bass-Pickup-Very-Rare-/270737864455?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item3f093bf707

[Aussie Mark]

The EB-4L pickups are excellent, so I don't understand why people would swap them out in the first place

[uwe]

They have a nice sound but their magnetic fields are so narrow that bending becomes a volume pedal effect!

[ilan]

They have a nice sound but their magnetic fields are so narrow that bending becomes a volume pedal effect!

I thought only Ric button-top pickups (high-gains) did that ;-)

[Dave W]

I thought only Ric button-top pickups (high-gains) did that ;-)

The Rick hi-gains are typical for steel polepiece pickups with fairly wide separation.

The EB4-L pickups are a completely different design with one coil per string. I'm not sure why this makes the field so narrow but it does.

[FrankieTbird]

I have a Mudbucker in my EB-4L.  I don't think the original P/U was in there for more than a week or so after I bought the bass.  To me, it sounded extremely crapulent.

[Grog]

The coils were wound individually to allow for different tonal possibilities with the selector switch.
Here is some info I copied from Jules web page......



The EB4L super-humbucker actually contains 4 coils, one around each pole. Externally the difference can be seen in that the top two pole pieces are nearer the bridge, the bottom two nearer the neck. This design seperates the top two strings (coils) from the bottom two, and allows them to be heard in (i) series, (ii) series/parallel, (iii) series/parallel plus tone choke. The concept of this pickup is described in the 'Bass Place' flyer: This revolutionary new pickup design seperates the top two strings completely from the bottom two. You get more tonal response than ever, for a full, natural sound. And Gibson's new Super Humbucking Pickup design delivers more highs and "overtones" for a new sound thats packed with cutting power.

[the mojo hobo]

Apparently the "cutting power" was applied to wire nippers as the pickups got replaced.

Actually I find this bass attractive, I have long been a fan of Model 1s; I'd probably have bid on it if it had started lower.

[uwe]

Except for the narrow field thing (but who except Jack Bruce did much bending on bass back in the early seventies?), those EB-4L pups sound closest to a Les Paul Signature pup. Very much harmonic detail.

[clankenstein]

its really subjective but i thought the eb4l pickup was arse (ass in some other places)

[sniper]

first one i have seen in awhile

http://cgi.ebay.com/GIBSON-PICKUP-1972-EB-0-EB-2-EB-3-BASS-FULL-POWER-/140574786744?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item20bae904b8&BackToListReferer=http%3A%2F%2Fmy.ebay.com%2Fws%2FeBayISAPI.dll%3FMyEbayBeta

i just made an investment on a 52-53 goldtop bridge or i would have kept my mouth shut and bid on this

[Grog]

I need one of these like I need a third 20/20, but I will most likely bid on it. It would look good in my Whitman Sampler of Gibson bass pickups........... Uwe mentioned that it sounded similar to a Les Paul Signature pickup. Didn't Bill Lawrence help design both of these pickups? Looks like Hankeroo doesn't know it's for a EB-4L, or he thinks it might sell better if buyers think it's a mudbucker. I've emailed him on several items he's been off on, but this one, I'll let it go............

[Dave W]

That could backfire on you if someone wants a mudbucker badly enough.