Solid mahogany one-piece body. Set mahogany three-piece neck. 19-fret rosewood fretboard. Gibson EB humbucking pickup. 30 1/2 inch scale.

The slotted-headstock EB0 bass came at the peak of the models popularity, so despite the short production period (very late 1969 - very late 1971) they are not hard to find

Short scale strings suitable for the EB3 bass Fender 5250XL Short Scale Bass Extra Light Strings (Fender short scale Nickel Steel roundwounds) Ernie Ball 2837 Slinky Silhouette 6-String Short-Scale Bass Strings (Ernie Ball 2837 Slinky Silhouette 6-String Short-Scale Bass Strings) D'Addario EXL220S Electric Bass Strings XL Nickel Super Light Short Scale (D'Addario EXL220S Nickel Super Light Short Scale) Rotosound RS88S Trubass Standard Gauge Short Scale Strings (Rotosound - Bass Strings - RS88S - True Bass (Black Nylon)) Thomastik-Infeld JF324 Jazz Flatwound Short Scale 4-String Bass (Thomastik-Infeld JF324 Jazz Flatwound Short Scale) Rotosound RS77S Jazz Bass Strings Short Scale (Rotosound - Bass Strings - RS77S - Jazz Bass) D'Addario EXL160S XL Regular Short Bass String Set (D'Addario Bass Strings Nickel Wound Short Scale - Regular) This is an early-seventies slotted headstock EB0. Notice the thin neck (on the back of the headstock), inlaid Gibson logo, and of course, the split headstock. The pickup (70s spring mounted EB humbucker) has a black plastic mount and is height adjustable for the first time. It is situated right up against the neck. Other early seventies features include the two point bar bridge with cover, backward facing Schaller M4 classic tuning keys and old style pickguard with no finger-rest. The neck is a three-piece mahaogany laminate - is was the last EBO to feature a mahogany neck; later models used maple. The lack of 'MADE IN THE USA' on the back of the headstock suggests a 1960s vintage, whilst the potentiometers are dated January 1970. To compound matters further the serial number suggests 1968 or 1970. Gibson instruments take months to build, and necks were usually stamped with a serial number, before attaching them to a body. In this case the body was probably manufactured in '69, with assembly and shipping occuring in 1970. Or perhaps it was made in 1970, yet, early on stamping instruments as 'MADE IN USA' may not have been universal. This split headstock model never quite made it into a Gibson catalogue, but some similar EB3s can be seen in 1970 bass catalogue. Anyway, its got a fantastic tone, pure melting butter, have a listen!

More about the Gibson EB0