EB3,EB0,newer SG bass any owners on forum

wrinkleygit

Gas is a strange thing, for some inexplicable reason the thought of owning one of these has popped into my head, over the years I’ve owned a fair selection of basses but never anything with Gibson on the headstock.
Any past or present owners care to offer any guidance.

Schnozz

I had a late 60s / early 70s EB3 made by Hoyer and it was an amazing bass for the money (£500-£600).

The chickenhead switch could create 4001 tones as well as those of an EB3.

I sold it because the 30" scale with flatwounds didn't sound as good as my Bravewood '55 Precision replica.

If I had more funds at the time I would have kept both, but I was a student and could only afford the one bass.

If you're going Gibson then I would try to find one where the owner has already bought the Hipshot replacement bridge, but I'd still want the 3 point in the case. 

Funkfingers

Tried an SG Bass last year. It played nicely but its simplified NV, BV, T control layout seemed pretty restrictive compared to the traditional 2V, 2T and rotary selector arrangement.

wrinkleygit said:

anything with Gibson on the headstock.

Thunderbirds have a following. The Gibson bass guitars that I fancied were the RD and Victory. The former is now hugely expensive. The latter does not come up for sale very often.

ICBM

Funkfingers said:

The Gibson bass guitars that I fancied were the RD and Victory. The former is now hugely expensive.

Not sure why, because all the ones I’ve played have also been hugely heavy and a bit clunky.

In fact apart from the Thunderbird (I had a ‘76) and the earlier EBs (a ‘61 EB-2 was the best), most of the Gibson basses I’ve owned or played have been a bit clunky...

The original design EB-0 and EB-3 are nice, before they made the bodies thicker and set the neck in deeper in the early 70s - the later ones are physically stronger but also lumpy and dead-sounding by comparison.

The long-scale EB-3 is great-sounding but even more unbalanced, sadly.

Funkfingers

ICBM said:

Funkfingers said:

Gibson bass guitars

lumpy and dead-sounding

/thread

ICBM

Funkfingers said:

ICBM said:

Funkfingers said:

Gibson bass guitars

lumpy and dead-sounding

/thread

Not all of them. The EB-2, EB-0 and Thunderbird are pretty good. The original EB-1 is a bit weird and possibly lumpy, but far from dead-sounding.

And actually the Les Paul Triumph I had wasn't bad either. The less said about the G3 I briefly owned the better though... a sort of very inferior version of the Ripper, itself best known for explaining the law of gravity to Krist Novoselic, rather than its qualities as a bass! (Novoselic seems to be the main reason for the RD's inexplicable value, too.)

JezWynd

I've been wanting to try one of the EB2013 models. They were quite unusual for Gibson at the time. It's only the 5 string version that ever comes up for sale though, which might indicate that the 4 is a good bass (or that they didn't sell many).

An EB-0 was the first good bass I ever owned - they're quite limited in sound palette, that single PU at the end of the neck has little treble on offer. The later version moved the PU back toward the bridge which is said to improve things. The neck on my EB-0 was very nice - slim and not clubby at all. Unlike the SG bass I had a year or two ago - that had a much broader range of sounds but the neck was a bit too deep and rounded for my taste - but then, any bass neck feels wrong after trying a Ric.

wrinkleygit

Thanks for all the replies, I’m going to have a look at an early ‘70s EB-0, the thicker body and deeper neck joint sounds appealing. I appreciate the comments on sounds available but a lot depends on how the neck feels too me, I already have a ‘72 SG std that I’ve had since 1974 it’s the best sounding guitar I’ve owned but sadly now the narrow nut width makes it uncomfortable to play these days, Will let you all know what happens next, Mike 

StageStruck

I've got a Tokai EB3 style bass (SGB-43 I think). It has a 2 volume, 2 tone with 3 way toggle switch for the pickups. It's a 32" medium scale rather than the usual 30.5" short scale. The body doesn't feel too much thicker than my SG guitar. As an occasional bass player, it's fairly easy to switch between the two, the neck is fairly decent without being too "clubby". There's a decent amount of tones on offer with it having two pickups, but it works well at what the EB type basses do best, those thick Jack Bruce & Andy Fraser early 70s rock tones! It's well worth a look for an EB3 type bass on a budget if you can find one

PhilKing

I've got a 63 Thunderbird, which sounds great but is always a worry because the headstock is massive and the neck is really thin at the nut.  It has had a repair, which is really well done, but I still worry about it.  I also have an Epiphone Embassy bass  from the mid-60's, which is like the non-reverse Thunderbird, but with the Epiphone batwing headstock.  The other one I have is a @WezV double cut fretless EB with a 34" scale and Thunderbird and DiMarzio Model One pickups.