Gibson EB-1

1969, The rest as described before
Unfortunately I asked the shop to add a second bridge element,
so it's not original and it looked like a woodpeckers work.
Later switched to Bartolini's.
A stand was added, so you can use it as an up-right.
Without second element my rating would be 4

With the original humbucker it sounds as a steammmachine,
outdated, boomy and undefined (modern benchmarking)
With the two Bartolini's almost every sound sounds is accessible.
Sustain is almost unprecedented.
(Always used it with tube amplifiers, an EV180b together with 2 10")
No shielding, hence a bit sensitive for noise and the environment

Factory set-up was more then outstanding.

Construction is rock-solid. Finish is to thick and brittle,
so it rather easily cracks. In time tunability degraded and
it was very difficult to find the proper strings. Tried everything to maintain to keep it tunable (e.g. new bridge) but everything failed. Finally I had to protect my public and swithed to a Tobias Classic.

no contacts with the company,
a life guarantee on the neck, but the shop doesn't exist anymore.

I bought it in 1972, played ?? 15 years on it with great satisfaction.
Maybe I would buy a second one, original, if I had the money, but for emotional reasons only. When you play (classical) guitar, the short scale makes it very easy to switch. The stand was an absolute winner on
stage (remember the Marx Brothers). Now it's history, but a great history.

1969 Eb-1, made in Kalamazoo, Michigan
20 frets, solid mahogany body and neck, violin shape
simple controls- volume and tone
one huge gibson mudbucker right at the neck.
Natural brown, woody finish
Set neck
Short-scale
Not amazing features but that does'nt really matter
ITS SO HEAVY THOUGH!!!!!!

It suits roots, reggae, old rock (Felix Pappalardi style) and Blues!
Amazing sound for blues if you turn the tone & volume to full and play with a pick right up against the bridge. No noise at all too. Warm, round tone (dont expect to play jaco licks with this thing!)

Bought the bass second-hand, but i got it set up at the shop and they did an amazing job, the action was perfect, as was the intonation. No problems here!

The bass has been worked since the sixties and is still going strong. The hardware is great and although the bridge is a bit archaic it is a solid piece of hardware. The finish is rock hard (polyurethane methinks)
and the truss rod is in surptisingly good condition. The bass has never needed a repair. I wouldn't jump on it like i would a p bass but it's damn reliable.

GIBSON!!!!
I sent these guys an email just about rpelacing the knobs( as they weren't original) and they still haven't replied. That was 6 months ago.
ARRGH all i wanted was some knobs.

Been playing a few years, I also own a 70s Ibanez jazz bass copy, a cort A4 fretless. Never heard anything like this bass. If it was stolen I would track down the theif, shove them in a hardcase, gaffer tape it shut and throw them off a bridge. I love how unique it is. If you can find one, buy it immediately and thank the lord you found one.

1969/70 EB-1, Violin Shape, reissue: Laminated mahogany neck, mahogany body, rosewood fingerboard w.pearl inlaid dots and original case (heavy!). This has been my main bass ever since we met (more than 20 years). Original humbucker pickup is replaced with Bill Lawrence's and the bridge is from SG model. Featured with the original telescopic stand for upright position playing.

The sound is amazing! Small but huge, especially with traditional hot tube amps like old Marshalls, Ampegs... together with larger cabinets... :) You can hear that old mahogany hum down there combined with powerful Bill Lawrence Humbucker, that misses nothing...

OK

More you play it, more you'll fall into it... Live and home, studio ? wherever!

No need to call Gibson. Kitarapaja.com is absolutely great! Thanks Pusa.

I bought this baby from Kitarapaja in 1981-82. She's so easy! I'll never give her away! I've played all those Fenders and others but she's the one.

1969 Gibson USA EB-1 bass...Commonly refferred to as the SG bass for obvious reasons. 1 giant chrome humbucker, short scale (30"). 1 volume, 1 tone. Really straight foward (the way a bass should be in my opinion!)....no frills, high quality american manufacturing.

This bass is a one trick monkey, and that trick is a huge, fuzzy, booming bass sound. The one humbucker (at the neck) emits a loud booming bass tone (or lack of tone). This is the anithesis of modern jazz basses. If your looking to slap or play a funky, treble toned, bouncy bass line, this is not your bag. If your into raunchy blues/garage (think Howlin Wolf and Captn' Beefhart Tone), early hardrock (Jack Bruce used one of these in Cream), or grunge (whatever that is?) this may be the bass for you. The short scale and the pickup position really limits the variety of tones you can get out of this model....The later Eb-3 model added an additional humbucker at the bridge and was offered in a 34" scale model which provided slightly improved tonal versatility,...but if you want that I'ld go for a vintage jazz bass, not a vintage gibson eb-1. Play this through a 1967 Fender Bassman head through a 2-12 vintage fender cab (this is great for guitar)...the pickup is so strong that at mid volume levels the tone sounds like it is being driven through an overdrive/fuzz pedal....truly amazing. Through more modern technology, the sound is cleaned up a bit. Love the short scale model for fast runs. A fantastic bass (got it for free) for what it foes but I would not recommend it as an only bass if you are looking for something versatile.

This bass has held up over thirty years without any problems. The bridge that this model came with was pretty lousy...hadle plastic saddles and one of those old Gibson mutes....changed it to a Badass-2 which helped the tone and resonance a little bit (again, nothing you do will ever "clean" the sound of this thing)....Aside from that, this is built like a tank.....finish id beautiful cherrywood and the action is nice and low (impossible to slap)....this will last til the next millenium.

A TANK

A beautiful bass with a booming sound....I own a 1970's jazz bass as well which is used for recording and live gigs where I need more tonal range. This bass has great sentimental value and is a wonderful player. Would actually recommend one of these for a younger player or a player with smaller hands...they are easy to play and the short scale neck can be a real plus...These are pretty available and much cheaper than any older j-bass (though they are begining to get more collectible). Would like to try an EB-3 with a slotted 34" neck to see if it has improved tonal range.....Note: I would avoid the Epiphone reissue of this bass...It cant hold a match to the original and 1970's EB-1 models can be had in fair condition for couple hundred more.