Gibson EB-3L

I bought this EB3L from new in 1976 and have since changed the back , smaller pick-up to a large twin coil DiMarzio with toggle switch. I installed a pre-amp and a brass nut. The bass is Cherry Red with Rosewood fret board. Usual two volume , two tone and 4 way selector.

There is only one bass and that is the Gibson EB3L. Just listen to jack Bruce with Cream or Free. Great "farty" sound which is ideal for blues/rock. Fast , straight neck , no Fender taper.
Played through a 200 watt Peavey with 2x1by12 black widow peavey stack. Best sound ive every had , loud and punchy.

Cant really remember the bass as standard as I changed it a lot over the years.

great fast live instrument with great sounds and fits well with good strap position.

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Ive been playing the bass for 35 years covering everything from blues , rock , standards , country and pure crud music. If it was lost , so would i be without my Gibson. Always wanted one since I saw Jack Bruce. I also owned a Gibson Ripper and a Gibson T/Bird.
Still prefer the old EB3.

My EB-3L has the slotted peg head. Apparently this would ean it is a 67 - 72? It is a 20 fret model, very long sleek neck. Orginal tuners (Gibson) are protruding at the back of the headstock.
I have owned this base for over 20 years. I bought it for $150. (CAD) dollars. I put a set of "Jazz Bass" Rotosounds on the bass and tried to adjust the truss rod. It broke (the truss rod I mean)! I tried repainng the bass, however, the first "test pilot" was a friend who took a blow torch to the fret board (to remove it). No luck and no money at the time so it went back in the case. Stored for about 12 years.
I had the truss rod replaced 2 years ago along with a new rose wood finger board and new frets. The body and neck are refinised in the standard Gibson cherry finish.
The base never had the combo switch it has a three position standard model. The bridge is Badass.

The bass has a unique sound. I feel that the neck pickup is too powerful and the bridge isn't. It is hard to get a good balance.
I use the bass for Who and old Alice Cooper songs. For these it sounds great.
I use a SVT with an 8x10 bottom. This combo blows things off the table (wall,cieling etc. I find my Jazz and "P" bass have more tonal range. However, I do like the bite and throaty sound of the Gibson.

Plays well. Is fairly easy to set up. I would not recommend installing high tension strings as the neck is very thin and unable to withstand trussrod offset for the torque.

This bass had a crack in the headstock when purchased. I assume that this is caused by someone dropping it or falling from a stand. The thin neck looks a little fraile so I pay a lot of attention to the bass. I don't think I would use it on the road without a backup.

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My bass was never original so I do not have the experience to judge true Gibson EB-3L quality. I do like playing the bass and I enjoy the nostalgic sounds. I have never seen another musician using one so it brings some recognition when using it on stage.

I plan to keep the bass just because it is rare and I like the versatility of having it for specific songs.

not sure of year, probably early 70s. Solid (not slotted) headstock. has mini Humbucker at bridge and Huge Humbucker at center (NOT by neck like earliest examples) with volume and tone for each and a 4-way switch for combinations.
Should have good range of sounds with all this but it is not the most versatile bass I've come across.

Fender basses have outsold Gibsons since day one, and sound is a big part of the "WHY". Jack bruce notwithstanding, this bass really only has one GOOD sound in my opinion - the front pickup jacked through a low volume, old school, moderately powered amp. I prefer my Hiwatt 100watt head through a modern cabinet, preferably a 15" or 18" speaker. Played with the thumb, you can get GREAT Reggae tones. Picking is a bit harder as there is not much attack as with say, a Fender p-bass. and despite fantastic thumb anchor points (same spots as on a Jazz bass' pickups) due to the big pickup mounting rings, finger style plucking is less satisfying than on a fender.
If anything, the long scale probably lessens the typical strong point of a Gibson bass - one would probably get more boom from the short scale models, while the 34.5" length here gives a nice tight unplugged tone, through an amp it is not going to compete with a good Fender.

The neck is a slender, fast three piece maple that seems pretty stable. I adjusted the truss to take a BIG bow out and lower the action. I do like the narrow nut, seems in between a P and a Jazz. The tuners and bridge are replacements, no problems there. The 4 way switch is now a 10-way, no idea which setting is what. Pretty useless, and I would suggest replacing with a standard 3-way toggle.
worst thing about this bass is the horreendous balance problem, the SG body is uncomfortable enough sitting down; standing , the weight of the neck fatigues your left hand too easily and makes strap position a nightmare.
In the end, while there are some nice features here, this bass seems to have been designed more as a visual attraction with little consideration for player comfort.

Seems fairly sturdy but the typical Gibson angled headstock requires constant attention - DON't lay this down on a flat surface!!

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While it has its own cool vibe, it's just too uncomfortable ergonomically speaking without a great enough single sound or versatility to redeem it. I'd stick with the typical Fenders or go with a 30" EB3/EB0 for that Gibson vibe - and there are other bass choices, obviously.

I reacently piced up this bass through a friend of mine. It is a 1971 Gibson EB-3L bass. It only cost me 400 bones. I think that is a steel.

This bass is sweet. It was made in the good old USA. It has 19 frets and 4 strings. It features solid mahogany body, mahogany neck with rosewood fret board. It features 2 volume pots, and two tone pots. Also Gibson threw in a cool 4 way switch that acts as a bass boost. On setting number 1 the bass is low and sub like, with absolutly no highs at all. And as you flick the switch the sound is changed until you reach 4 where it is mostly mid's. The bass has 2 Humbuckers, which give incredible crunchy sound. The bass is brown unfortunatly, I was hoping it was the cool red that Gibson made in those days.

I love the sound that this bass gives me. I play alot of the Blues, and need that crunchy mid sound. This bass gives it to me without having to use pedals. I play this bass with a 1969 Traynor bass head, paired up with one EV 15 in a custom enclosure. It sounds sweet. The 4 way switch is the so handy. With a flick of the switch you can go from normal sounding bass to a in your face all out sub bass sound. Totally versitile.

Well the bass is 30 years old. So I don't have any idea how it was from the factory. I had to do some minor adjustments to the intonation. The Neck needed no tweeking at all. I raised the pickups a tad to get a richer sound. The guy before me had them cranked all the way down. The bass is in very good condition for its age, Who cares anyways its vintage.

It has lasted 30 years, I am sure it will last 30 more.

Uhhhh....I think the warrenty has expired may moons ago.

I love it!!!

Build year 1970
Solid Mahogany SG style body
3 piece laminated 21 fret long scale mahogony neck
Bound rosewood finger board with MofP dot inlays
Currently frettless with nylon tape wound strings
Original neck and bridge postion humbuckers
2 volume and tone controls
Badass bridge

If someone is willing to pay me I will turn my hand to just about any style. For this reason I have a number of Amps and Basses and I am not afraid to experiment. When I purchased the EB-3L in 75 most people thought I was nuts. This was in the days you could buy a seconhand thunderbird for $450 Australian dollars because anything not Fender P bass was crap. The EB-3L was VERY cheap.
A unique sounding instrument given its current configuration. Not for everyone but in the right setting will deliver an astonishing rang of tones. Very useful in an orchestra setting or jazz combo if you don't have access or room for an upright. Rather than competing with other instruments it delivers a sweet wash in the lows with a hint of growl in the mids. Sustain is not fantastic by modern standards but adequate.
It very much requirs a punchy amp setup to squeeze out some usable mids and highs as the fundimentals can dominate
I use it with a 410 box and old Sound Works mosfet amp. Does not work well with a high power rig. The real delight was how well it records. The unamplified wood sound is very sweet with a dominating fundimental and subtle overtones (bit like a complex red wine). This is evident in the amount of information it lays down on tape. In my humble estimation its about as close as you can get to an upright with out an upright. I don't want to wax to lyrical about this thing but I am now of the opinion, after 25 years, that a good player with a bit of imagination can get a good sound out of just about any reasonable quality instrument.In this case the EB-3L is very good in a limited number of applications.

A generaly high quality finish as you would expect from an old Gibson.
Possibly the best neck geometry of any bass Ive played. Very Jass like across the nut and very slender right to the heel. Completly unlike the short scale EB's. The distinctive barouque head stock with rear mounted Grovers is very cool.
The cross section is rounded rather than eliptical right up to the heel.
Set up as a fettless the action is very fast. Althought the strings are very close together over the body.You must plan in advance what finger is going where with the right hand other wise you foul on fast passages. It also requies you to realy pluck the string up and away rather than laying the hand down across the deck.
The pickups are a bit of a problem. The front humbucker, big as it is,will light a 40watt bulb while the rear mini humbucker is quite flat in output and sits close to the stings. As bad as the front pickup is the Dimazeo replacment for the front is not worth the money I will be doing a bit of remedial wiring in the near future to fix this. I can still tweek the pair of them together and get a very usable mix. The rear pickup on its own because of the setup is actualy improved by the flat nylon strings. With round wounds its very nasaly. Unfortunatly the front pickup on its own is not usable in any real sence. It think it was origanly designed to drive valve amps with low input sensitivity.
To concluded. If you have one of these basses and your not to fussed abuot retro fitting stuff to it Badass bridges work a treat. The original Gibson bridge has nylon saddles and is generaly awaful

Before I got it sombody decided to strip the cherry finsh. This was not a bad thing as the mahogony looks great. I intend to oil it again as the current surface would apear to be composed entily of human secreations
This old girl has nothing to prove.

The man who built it is probably dead.