An old friend resurfaces

[eb2]

This is the EB6 I passed on 20 years ago.  It is in the same shape now as then.  Last time I saw it, the price was less than a grand.  The celeb mods mystified me then and still do.  Ish.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Gibson-EB6-6-string-bass-guitar_W0QQitemZ270242976320QQihZ017QQcategoryZ64402QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[EvilLordJuju]

Yeah, shame that link (in the listing) doesn't work. Any idea who had this?

[MARICOPAA]

You have to copy/paste the link. Seems to work AOK.

It was actor David Carradine and/or his brother Robert who owned the EB-6D.

Strange 'Cavern" spacing of the two pickups with only one volume and tone control. Claims i to be stock...hmmmm...interesting.

[Chris P.]

Link works!

I like the pick up placement.

[JimmyBond8]

I saw this the other day (and am still watching it to see if it'll sell at that price). I didn't even know Gibson had made such a beast (other than the newer baritone LPs). Once again, the eBay takes me to school and teaches me something new.

[Chris P.]

Gibson made two EB6 models. A 335 shaped (Uwe has one and so does Joe Bonamassa, he told me) and an SG shaped.

[EvilLordJuju]

You have to copy/paste the link. Seems to work AOK.

Thats odd - the link redirects me to http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/

Is that right? Is that what you are gettiing? (and I am copying and pasting)

Is that a headstock repair/crack or just an unfortunate image?

Two pickups yet one set of controls?

And whats up with that bridge?

When will people learn that you can't sell $7k basses with tiny pictures. I may be wrong, but when someone tries, I have no confidence in that auction at all.

[Chris P.]

I just gte the eBay link.

I certainly looks like a neck break.

[Dave W]

The eBay auction link works, but the link (in the auction description) to the Gibson page doesn't work. I copied and pasted, and it redirects me to the same page Jules mentions.

[Chris P.]

I get this immediately:

Carradine Brothers pick Gibsons for upcoming film 

Actor David Carradine, famous for his TV roles in "Kung Fu", "Lone Wolf McQuade," "The Long Riders" and, more recently, Kung Fu again, has spent the past few days at RCA's famous Studio B.
Carradine was co-writing (with Thom Bishop) and recording tunes for the soundtrack of the film American Reel, a movie about the life and career of a songwriter. The film also stars Mariel Hemmingway and Carradine's fiance' Marina Anderson. The project is being engineered by Amplifier columnist Fred Bogert.

Playing the role of a musician is familiar territory for Carradine, who was a music major at San Francisco State and also starred in Bound For Glory, playing the role of folksinger Woody Guthrie. He is also an avid guitar player and collector.

David's younger brother Robert was also on hand to lay tracks, shown here using a rare semi-hollow Gibson EB-6. The EB-6 was billed as a six-string bass but more commonly used as a baritone guitar. Only 34 were made in 1960 with the ES-335 type body before they switched to a solid SG-style body.

The two visited Gibson's Custom*Art*Historic Division earlier today to borrow some axes for use in the recording and the movie.

David's personal arsenal of guitars includes a '76 Les Paul Recording model, a '76 Les Paul Standard, an ES-175, a rare Les Paul-style EDS-1275 doubleneck and a well-worn J-50. While Carradine was an expert classical piano player (he studied with Dave Brubeck), his interest in guitars didn't surface until he was 31. But he says that it didn't take long to figure out what guitars he dug.

"Right away, I got into this passion about Gibsons," Carradine said, adding that his first "real" guitar was a J-45, which you can see in the movie Bound For Glory.

[Chris P.]

http://www.gibson.com/WHATSNEW/PRESSRELEASE/1997/Oct31a.html

Just copied and pasted this link.

[Dave W]

http://www.gibson.com/WHATSNEW/PRESSRELEASE/1997/Oct31a.html

Just copied and pasted this link.

That's what I did, and just did again, in both Firefox and IE. I still get redirected here: http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/

But thanks for copying and pasting the text you found.

[chromium]

It redirects me to the main page too.  Good ol' Internet wonkiness.

And whats up with that bridge?

If I squint really hard, it almost looks like a wraparound tailpiece (ala LP Junior) with the exposed choke peeking out from underneath.  Maybe that explains why there was that loose (no bass attached) EB-6 bridge  floating around on Ebay a while back 

[eb2]

This is absolutely NOT stock.  This was a one pup EB6 until it was modded by its celeb owner - back then it was Ry Cooder.  And that is ok because Ry Cooder could get away with that because he is fairly cool.  Apparently he is not celeb enough anymore, but Kung Fu is.  The only reason I did not buy it is because I called Gibson in Kalamazoo and they had sold their last EB6 tailpiece a year or so before I called, and back then an extra grand could get a mint EB6 from Jay Levin in PA.  As I recall the original pup was still in it, but Ry added another.  I can't remember if he had swapped out the bridge or not, but it played kind of in tune with the later jr bridge.  Larry Briggs had this at Strings West in OK when I passed on it somewhere around 1983.  That is 25 years ago - yeesh.  I do still have a pic of it around somewhere in my moldy Gibson bass piles.   

[EvilLordJuju]

somewhere in my moldy Gibson bass piles.   

Well what are you waiting for?