The completed bass, 2 1/2 years after starting! More details, photos and soundclips of the finished bass can be found here 1971 EB3L

Gibson EB bass restoration project

part 1 - overview

This project started in 2004 when I bought an EB3L custom bass on ebay from a seller in Canada. The bass had few original features - no original parts except tuning keys and no logo, serial number or original finish. The serial number was gone and no pots to date it.

To compound matters the bass was poorly packaged and arrived in the UK broken in two. The finish, despite being non-original was rather well done, and in rather good shape. The holes for bridge-posts, under-pickup height adjustment screws, bridge cover and mute had all been filled - the various holes could all be seen through the translucent cherry finish.

On closer inspection, the fretboard had been replaced, and was the incorrect length for the original bridge position (the twelth fret was not halfway between the nut and bridge position), and the truss rod tip snapped of. This was clearly going to be a big job!

So the first question was what to do... restore? customise? sell-on?

As can be seen (left), I decided to restore this bass, and i'm very pleased with the result. The majority of the work was performed by a Andy Viccars of Andy Viccars Custom. You can have a closer look at the restored bass, plus listen to sound clips - or stay on this page for more about the restoration itself

If you have any questions, or comments about this bass or its restoration, please post them here