New EB2 in 2014

Chris P. · April 13, 2013, 04:55:37 AM

I believe this deserves a new topic. David Winters, head of the Memphis Custom Shop was very proud of the 335 Bass and how it sounds with '59 guitar humbuckers. And an EB2 is next! They're now busy with the pickups, so I think it won't have a SG Bass pickup...

Basvarken · April 13, 2013, 05:08:40 AM

You mean they're busy figuring out what they put in the SG bass and that will take until 2014

drbassman · April 13, 2013, 05:23:14 AM

I have used the guitar hum buckers before and they do sound good in a bass. I doubt mine were 59s, but they do work well in a bass. I can't believe the 335 still isn't anywhere on the Gibson web site that I could see.

Well, if they do improve on the SG pups in a new EB2 model, I'd be tempted. Of course, if they introduce mud it might be a show stopper for me. I wouldn't mind a true EB 2 remake as long as the pup was a little clearer. I've got plenty of mud in my old ones!

Man, I'm gonna have to start saving now. This is one early gas attack.

So, who finally built a fire under the Gibson guys regarding hollow bodies? I thought we'd never see them again?

amptech · April 13, 2013, 08:21:07 AM

Quote from: drbassman on April 13, 2013, 05:23:14 AM
I have used the guitar hum buckers before and they do sound good in a bass. I doubt mine were 59s, but they do work well in a bass. I can't believe the 335 still isn't anywhere on the Gibson web site that I could see.

Well, if they do improve on the SG pups in a new EB2 model, I'd be tempted. Of course, if they introduce mud it might be a show stopper for me. I wouldn't mind a true EB 2 remake as long as the pup was a little clearer. I've got plenty of mud in my old ones!

If i send Gibson my prototype EB-6 neck pickup, maybe they will reissue that one too

I really like guitar humbuckers on bass guitars, too. For my recent EB-6 project (I´ll make a thread for it) i put
a leftover 1978 T humbucker in the bridge position. Beautiful chord sound, good balance and correct spacing.
But for the neck PU, i couldn´t find humbuckers with such narrow spacing. I even filed my nut with uneven spacing,
giving a tad more room for fingering the lower 4 strings. The test pickup that was closest, lost most it´s tone while bending strings.

I dreamed up this ultimate EB-6 neck pickup, with both screws and iron bar for the upper coil to suit bending,
really tall coils with somewhat thicker wire, and alnico 5 bar. The goal was a 10K output and a strong but clear
sound - and custom spacing.

I spent most of my spare time this week, but it turned out really good. I had a hard time finding a proper slab of iron for the upper coil, so I ended up hammering an old iron tube flat and shaping it with a file. The lower coil bobbin is just
a 5 mm iron rod (curtain weights) glued directly into the bobbin material. I´ll post soundclips if I ever learn myself how to do it...

Dave W · April 13, 2013, 08:59:37 AM

The 335 Bass is already out as a modern-sounding EB2-influenced bass. If they're going to put out something actually called an EB-2, wouldn't it need to have a real mudbucker, for better or worse? If it just has the mudbucker-looking TB-Plus neck pickup from the SG Bass, then it wouldn't be a real EB-2.

Re guitar pickups in a bass: IMHO a magnetic pickup is a magnetic pickup. It either sounds good to you or it doesn't. If a 6-pole pickup's magnetic field covers 4 bass strings without dropoff, then it will work as a bass pickup. The only question is whether or not you like the tone.

eb2 · April 13, 2013, 09:07:51 AM

Boz Scaggs thought the original mudbucker made a good guitar pickup. Gibson used a PAF as a 6 string bass pup. I wish they would offer the Hipshot bridge instead of that 3 point thing.

Chris P. · April 13, 2013, 10:05:16 AM

Duesenberg, Dano and Fender (Musicmaster) use(d) guitar pickups for bass. And isn't the mini-humbucker of the EB2/3 just a mini-humbucker?

drbassman · April 13, 2013, 12:30:05 PM

Quote from: Dave W on April 13, 2013, 08:59:37 AM
The 335 Bass is already out as a modern-sounding EB2-influenced bass. If they're going to put out something actually called an EB-2, wouldn't it need to have a real mudbucker, for better or worse? If it just has the mudbucker-looking TB-Plus neck pickup from the SG Bass, then it wouldn't be a real EB-2.

Re guitar pickups in a bass: IMHO a magnetic pickup is a magnetic pickup. It either sounds good to you or it doesn't. If a 6-pole pickup's magnetic field covers 4 bass strings without dropoff, then it will work as a bass pickup. The only question is whether or not you like the tone.

While the 335 is more modern, it is not over the top growly like the EB650. It is definitely in between that bass and a vintage EB2. Maybe I should have said just a little mud is ok by me. A total recreation of the original mudbucker would be ok, I guess. I was thinking they were not going to do an authentic reissue anyway. Maybe they will prove me wrong. They missed the mark on the NR, so I wasn't going to get my hopes up too high on an EB2.

4stringer77 · April 13, 2013, 12:41:33 PM

Quote from: Chris P. on April 13, 2013, 10:05:16 AM
Duesenberg, Dano and Fender (Musicmaster) use(d) guitar pickups for bass. And isn't the mini-humbucker of the EB2/3 just a mini-humbucker?

I think you mean Fano. They have Lollar Firebird pickups in this semi hollow and it also sports a hipshot bridge. High priced and a bolt on though.
http://www.fanoguitars.com/altdefactoGF4.html

ilan · April 13, 2013, 01:22:04 PM

Quote from: Chris P. on April 13, 2013, 10:05:16 AM
Duesenberg, Dano and Fender (Musicmaster) use(d) guitar pickups for bass.

Don't forget Rickenbacker toaster-tops.

Basvarken · April 13, 2013, 02:00:35 PM

The Allen Woody Rumblekat has two Firebird mini-humbuckers.
Plenty of lows coming out of that little hobbit.

drbassman · April 13, 2013, 03:31:57 PM

As Dave said, any pickup will work as long as the magnetic field is appropriate to the string width/spacing. How it sounds depends a lot on its construction and in the 335, they come off strong and sound really clean with a nice balance of low, mid and high tonality. It's nothing like an EB2 or any other hollow body I own.

Dave W · April 13, 2013, 11:09:59 PM

I'm not expecting an authentic reissue of the EB-2. Just wondering what will distinguish it from the 335 bass.

ilan · April 14, 2013, 12:16:39 AM

My guess is EB2D-lookalike pickup covers with TB+'s underneath. But what do I know.

amptech · April 14, 2013, 04:09:14 AM

Quote from: Dave W on April 13, 2013, 08:59:37 AM
The 335 Bass is already out as a modern-sounding EB2-influenced bass. If they're going to put out something actually called an EB-2, wouldn't it need to have a real mudbucker, for better or worse? If it just has the mudbucker-looking TB-Plus neck pickup from the SG Bass, then it wouldn't be a real EB-2.

Hear hear.. If they start thinkin ´bout tweaking the great mudbucker to fit more modern tastes,
who knows - it might look like the ´new´ VW beetle.

The ultimate goal would be something that really captured looks, sound and feel of the original, wouldn´t it?