Gibson EB3L restoration 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 twelfth 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
EB-3L Neck repair
Thankfully this was not going to be problematic - the break was clean, with no lost chippings, and with a large surface area to glue. A relatively easy job. The completed repair can be seen below. Note the cracks are barely visible (1). The mahogany looks very light in colour - the sign of a new break. The surface tends to darken as time elapses.
Truss rod and fretboard
To restore this bass to its original specifications and hardware, the fretboard would require replacing. Why the original board was replaced with a shorter one is not clear, however the neck below the board demonstrated why it was removed. The rod itself had been moved a couple centimetres towards the headstock - the circular anchor and its old location are evident below (2). The image of the other end of the headstock (right) shows a small amount of wood has been removed around the tip, again to compensate for the broken rod. Neither of these adjustments are critical - the function, and adjustment of the truss rod is not affected, however the mounting of the plastic cover is, because the screw hole was in the removed wood - the previous owner had clearly been using a non-original three-screw mounted cover instead.
The above image also shows the humbucker screw recesses (3). The pickup of this period was the height-adjustable EB humbucker which had a screw in each corner, deeper than the humbucker route. These had been filled, and required unfilling before mounting the pickups. One other point of note - the pickup route is stamped in large lettering 'EB3L'. This is the last trace of original finish (and its still there!).
Time for the finish
Once the fretboard was replaced, and the bridge post holes re-drilled the next step was the refin. According to shipping figures, the EB3L was launched a year after the long sale EB0L, in 1971. 331 were shipped in cherry, 279 in walnut. The EB3L initially had the split headstock, which was changed to a solid headstock around 1972 (see a solid headstock EB3). So, in all probability this bass was from 1971, or perhaps early 1972.
Both walnut and cherry are translucent finishes, and depending on the severity of a repair, cracks can be seen through the finish. in this case the neck repair is not the problem - the cracks run along the grain and are barely noticeable anyway. The area around the bridge is different. The two largest filled holes are from the posts of the original two-point bridge, the smaller holes come from the under-bridge mute and a bridge cover - both of which have been repositioned - and some extra unexplained holes.
These modifications can be hidden with a solid finish. Despite the colour information from shipping figures, I have seen two seemingly original split headstock EB3Ls finished in ebony, and the EB0 is listed as being shipped in this colour in '71. I decided that ebony was the colour to go with
The Gibson logo
Gibson bass headstocks had always been made with a black overlay inlaid with mother of pearl (with the exception of the melody maker which had a decal). When Gibson launched the split-headstock EBs, they were the first basses not to feature an overlay. They still used a mother of pearl logo, but a very thin (less than 1/2 mm) and slightly translucent. It was simply glued to the headstock, whatever its finish.
An original logo was the hardest part to track down for the restoration of this bass. In fact I had to wait until another EB3L came up - ironically enough a rare black EB3L, refinished red, then white. Removal of the logo is easy. First you need to remove any lacquer from the decal and surrounding area, Then keep wetting the area with hot water to loosen the glue and it should just lift off.
The image to the right shows (i) the logo attached to the parts-bass, (ii) the logo once removed (showing remnants of the original black finish) and (iii) the logo attached to the restoration bass
Reassembling the bass
Most of the parts for this bass appeared on ebay between mid 2004 and early 2006. Some parts are quite hard to find, or are snapped up as soon as they are listed, and I did buy another broken short scale 1971 EB3 in order to get a wiring loom with accurately dated pots (both short and long scale EB3s have the same circuitry). This was a different bass to the one listed above - both basses will be restored eventually!
In 1971-72 some Gibson pickups had the word Gibson inscribed on them. By no means all though, and although a nice touch, they are not essential. These are quite difficult to come across, but eventually they came up (separately) on ebay, and I bought them especially for this project. I was still waiting for the logo at this time, so I was in no urgent rush. Other than the inscribed cover, both pickups are identical to plain-covered versions of the same period
Parts used include height adjustable EB humbucker, mini humbucker, two-point bridge with cover. Schaller M4-classic tuning keys, witch-hat knobs
Gibson EB3 bass for sale
Gibson Slothead EB-3 1971 - Cherry Fretless Bass w / Original Gibson Case
Huntington, Indiana, 467**, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
$1500
This bass is an absolute monster and sounds incredible! I don't know for sure (I kinda doubt it) that this would have come from the Gibson factory as fretless. However, whoever did the job has done it professionally and it looks great!
The electronics work perfectly and it has that classic "double bass" tone in the first position!
There is some bow in the neck. The truss doesn't ... more
Gibson EB3 Bass Vintage
Edmonton, Kentucky, 421**, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
$1990
Vintage Gibson EB3 Bass Guitar
Upper Sandusky, Ohio, 433**, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
$2477
... more
Gibson EB-3 Cherry Mod 1969 Electric Bass Guitar Original Case Slotted Head Art
El Segundo, California, 902**, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
$3500
... more
"1973" Vintage Cherry "GIBSON EB-3" with OHSC Serial #056076 in Great Condition
Riverside, California, 925**, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
$3795
1971 Gibson EB 3 SLOTTED HEADSTOCK BASS CASE - Made in USA
COLOGNE, GERMANY
£345
* CASE ONLY !
* interior has stains
* tolex has rips
* all latches are working fine
* worn but solid
* check all pics
... more
1971 GIBSON EB 3 SLOTTED HEADSTOCK BASS CASE - made in USA
COLOGNE, GERMANY
€399
* CASE ONLY !
* interior has stains
* tolex has rips
* all latches are working fine
* worn but solid
* check all pics
PLENTY of PARTS for SALE
ATTENTION! OVER 1000 more
GUITARS-BASSES-AMPS-PARTS
in our OTHER AUCTIONS !!!
CHECK OUR SHOP OUT -------------->>>>>-------------->>>>>
... more
1971 GIBSON EB 3 SLOTTED HEADSTOCK BASS CASE - made in USA
COLOGNE, GERMANY
€399
* CASE ONLY !
* interior has stains
* tolex has rips
* all latches are working fine
* worn but solid
* check all pics
PLENTY of PARTS for SALE
ATTENTION! OVER 1000 more
GUITARS-BASSES-AMPS-PARTS
in our OTHER AUCTIONS !!!
CHECK OUR SHOP OUT -------------->>>>>-------------->>>>>
... more
1971 Gibson EB 3 HÜLLE - passt NUR SCHLITZKOPF Version
COLOGNE, GERMANY
£399
* CASE ONLY !
* strap that holds case open=GONE
* bottom and top are loose =need reglueing
* tolex has rips
* all latches are working fine
* check all pics
* SOLD AS IS - NO RETURNS... more
1971 GIBSON EB 3 SLOTTED HEADSTOCK BASS CASE - made in USA
COLOGNE, GERMANY
€444
* CASE ONLY !
* strap that holds case open=GONE
* bottom and top are loose =need reglueing
* tolex has rips
* all latches are working fine
* check all pics
Over 1000 more
GUITARS-BASSES-PARTS in our OTHER
AUCTIONS !!!!
TAKE A LOOK !!!... more
Gibson EB-3 bass (with slotted headstock) USA / 1971
Donisthorpe, DE12***, UNITED KINGDOM
£2250
EXPORT price is £2250. UK price is £2450, with FREE (mainland) DELIVERY
Rare "slotted headstock" variant of Gibson EB-3, only made twixt 1969-1972. Over 14, 000 EB-3s were hand-made by the Kalamazoo factory ( Michigan / USA), ending in 1979. With set necks (not woodscrews ), and top craftmanship from day one the EB-0 and EB-3 models were played all over the world. Prominent British players were... more
Gibson EB-3 Bass Guitar 1967
Horncastle, LN9***, UNITED KINGDOM
£2950
Gibson EB-3 1965 - Cherry Red JACK BRUCE CREAM
Doncaster, DN6***, UNITED KINGDOM
£5499
Internally / Externally Original
Mahogany body / rosewood fretboard
Humbucking pickup in the neck and mini-humbucker in the bridge
Four-way rotary pickup selector switch
Condition 8 / 10
Case
ALL ... more
1963 Gibson EB-3 Bass ex Bob Daisley (Rainbow, Black Sabbath)
Doncaster, DN6***, UNITED KINGDOM
£7999
We are happy to offer the following from the personal Private Collection of The Blizzard Himself that Being Bob Daisley whom is Heavy Rocks most distinguished and respected of all Bass Players and Songwriters, details as follows
History
The history and career of Bob Daisley is Legendary and has been one of the main contributors to the sound, look, style of the following Iconic Hard Rock artists some of which are as follows:
Rainbow - Black Sabbath - ... more
Gibson EB-3L 1973 - Vintage Bass Guitar, Long Scale - Original Hard Case - Rare!
Meadow Heights, VIC, 3***, AUSTRALIA
AU $4895
Long Scale 1973 model bass guitar with original hard case
All pictures supplied with the auction are of the actual item for sale, and indicate its condition
This vintage Gibson is in good playable condition with a clean fingerboard and neck, good fretting and fully functional tuners. This model is fitted with a drop-D tuner (adjustable) which functions well. The pickups and wiring appear original, are operational, and it sounds superb. It has been fitted with a set... more