Kalamazoo KB1

Kalamazoo was Gibson's budget brand from the 1930s to the 1970s. This particular bass was made sometime bewteen 1966 and 1972 in the Gibson factory in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

It's a four-string, short-scale 20-fret bass with a maple neck, rosewood board and a wood laminate body. The headstock resembles a Fender Telecaster, and the body is a Gibson SG design. The neck could easily go nine innings at Shea Stadium---it's a pretty big old chunk of wood that is quite comfortable for a short-scale bass.

Electronics are pretty basic. One BIG humbucking pickup ala Gibson EBO in the neck position, volume and tone pots. The hardware is also pretty primitive--- four-in-a-line individual tuners that do a decent job of keeping in tune, and (shades of the EBO again) that awful, die-cast one-piece two-bolt bridge that Gibson used on most EB series basses. It's adjustable for height only, but it does keep the strings anchored to the body.

The finish in Pelham Blue, which was Gibson's take on Lake Placid Blue. It's held up pretty well over the last 30 years, with some wear and minor finish checking.

I bought the bass with medium-gauge flatwound strings. I plugged it into my silverface Princeton Reverb practice amp, and here's how it sounded: THOOOOOOMMMM.

I replaced the strings with Rotosound Swing Bass roundwounds, and it sounded like: THOOOOOOMMM.

I plugged into my Nemesis NC 112P combo, played with the EQ and compressor, and got some very usable, organic, finger-on-strings sounds.

You either love it or hate it. It sounds very much like an EBO, with slow attack, heavy on bass and midrange, light on the high end and MY GAWD does it put out. The pickup is so hot my Princeton was distorting with the volume set on 2.

It would be a wonderful bass for dub, reggae, or backing acoustic instruments when you don't want to intrude too much in the mix. If you're looking for a bright, aggressive, modern tone, you won't get it here.

I bought this bass for twenty bucks at a pawnshp in Winchester Bay, Oregon, it's 30+ years old, so I don't think factory adjustments are an issue.

The neck was pretty warped (hence the low purchase price)so I took it to the repair guy at Lake Music (Lake Oswego, OR, phone 503.636.3666)who put it right. The truss rod was ineffective, so he pulled the neck, shimmed it, all for a whopping $40. He was really conscientious, and did a nice job of putting the bass back in playing condition. If you live in the Portland, OR area, check these guys out for your repair needs.

Overall, the bass is very well-made and the level of craftsmanship is quite high for a budget instrument. The bridge is pretty useless, the knobs are cheesy, but as a whole it's very nicely put together.

It's not a professional-grade instrument, and I wouldn't want to rely on it as a main bass. While the overall build quality is pretty high, it is 30+ years old and I don't think it would hold up under heavy use.

Two hardware issues:

1)the bass REALLY needs an aftermarket string tree to pull down the G and D strings down closer to the headstock. Without it, the string angle from the nut to the tuners is too shallow, and the G and D strings keep popping out of the nut slots.

2)If you're an active player (i.e, if you play standing up), you need Strap Loks. The upper button is moounted on the neck plate and will either pop off or get in the way while playing upper-register riffs, tho' I can't imagine too many players going up the neck on this particular bass.

Gibson dropped the Kalamzoo line a long time ago, so company support is a non-isue.

I've been playing part-time since 1977. The Kalamazoo is currently rubbing elbows with a '62 Jazz reissue (now fretless), a '79 Frankensein P-Bass, a '90s T-Bird, '60s Harmony H22, '68 Hagstrom 8-string, and a '70s Epiphone solidbody. I play through a Nemesis NC-112P as my main amp, and have a blackface Bassman 2x12 combo and silverface Princeton Reverb for a practice amp.

I like this bass, but I'm not madly in love with it. If I lost it, I wouldn't rush out and replace it. Having said that, it's an absolute hoot to play, and I would take it to a pick-up gig just for the heck of it.

Kalamazoos are a bit under-rated, and I would recommend this bass as an alternative to the absolute crap being cranked out in Asian sweatshops and foisted off on players by musical megastores like "MF." It''s a nice piece of American guitar history, and fun to play, too.

It is my pleasure to tell you all about my Kalamazoo bass. Kalamazoo is to Gibson as Squire is to Fender. It was Gibson's lower end instrument. The difference here is that these basses are made in Kalamazoo, Michigan...USA. The bass that I am describing is a 1969 model KB-1. It is very much like a Gibson EB-0 in that it is a 4-string, short scale (30.5")with one fat humbucker just like the Gibson and located in the same position as the EB-0, which is smack up against the neck. It has one tone and one volume control. The input jack is on the front...like an EB-0 as is the SG shaped body. The differences are as follows. The body is not stained but painted. Mine is almost fire engine red. The finish is slightly "orange peel" but shiny. The neck is not "set" but bolted on like a Fender. The tuners are not "side by side" but "in-line" ...like a Fender. There are MOP fret markers. The name "Kalamazoo" is not a decal but rather branded into the wood (headstock)in script. The headstock is shaped like on a Telecaster bass. The bridge is the same as on the older EB-0's. It does not have individual bridge saddles but does allow for string height and intonation adjustments. The strap buttons are plastic but securely screwed on. Still, I replaced them with strap locks. The red bass has a white pick guard and white knobs. The whole package is very retro looking. The neck is slim and plays fast. Not a baseball bat like most EB-0's I have played. The finger board is rosewood but is a coarse grain. There is a rest on the pickguard ...just like on an EB-0. There is also a "palm rest" also like on older EB-0's. It came with the original cardboard case...cute but it caused more damage than protection due to the cheap construction and rough inside finish. I got a case for an Epiphone long scale EB-3 for it. I am rating this section as an 8. Back in 69 this was an average bass as far as features go. If it had 2 pick-ups and 4 knobs it would get a 9.

While this bass is supposed to be the cheaper version of an EB-0, I like the sound MUCH better. The tone control goes from "subsonic with no chance of any highs leaking in" to a really nice double bass sound. My EB-0's had less variation. I have roundwound GHS Boomers on her and with the treble up I get a nice usable blues/jazz tone. Vintage all the way. I have several Ampeg amps and have been using an older 3Pro with an Ampeg BXT-15 cabinet. I like the sound much better than the Gibson. It can give you the thick, muddy Gibson sound but passes up the Gibson by being able to give brighter fretless double bass tone and even approach a P-bass tone as well. She gets a 10 because she is very good at what she was designed to do... give a bassy sound with some variations.

This bass is almost like new. The chrome has stood up very well. There is very little checking on the neck and head stock which by the way is clear coated (varnish?). No flaws. Everything still works and adjusts including the bridge and truss rod. Yes...it has a truss rod. I read in another review somewhere that they didn't. This one does. The fit and finish even when new were of a lesser quality than the Gibsons but I give her a 9.... remember we are talking about a 35 year old bass and it still shines.

It is a solid bass. I did add the strap locks but I do with all of my basses. I couldn't gig with only this bass because of the limited sound variations. I like to use my Alembic Essence short scale for gigs. I will take the Kalamazoo along too for some select songs like the Animals "Don't Bring Me Down" and "It's My Life". I get the perfect sound for those songs. OK...the bass is 35 and like new...hmmmm I would give this baby a 10 for sure.

I have not asked Gibson anything on this bass yet so ... I have no opinion on this one.

Playing a long, long time. I have an Alembic Essence short scale, an Ampeg AEB-1 short scale bass ( the newer one...not the scroll top)with an added active tone circuit and I have the Kalamazoo. In the past 12 months I had and sold a Kramer Duke, a Musicmaster Tone Vista, an EB-3, a Univox U-1970 Viola bass... I like short scale basses. In the past few years I have had a Ripper, a few EB-0's, and a Gibson SB-350. I use all Ampeg amps. I have two 3Pro's and an SVTII. I have two SVT Classic 15 cabinets and two Classic 410's plus the one BXT-15. The Kalamazoo is a nice old vintage "niche" bass. If I lost it I would definately look for another. They are cheaper than EB-0's, play better and sound better in my opinion. Check out my band, MediaCrime, at www.mediacrime.com. You can link to CD Baby and preview our CD too...for free.