[jules]

Have you seen this
VINTAGE GIBSON BASS GUITAR CUSTOM SHOP RARE EB2 & CASE

The seller claims it to be a 1973 EB3...

Gold hardware is certainly interesting.

The Crown inlay on the neck is raised above centre (something I associate with 1961-early '63) - no MADE IN USA (as far as I can see). Looks like one-piece. Older neck?

Yet inside is the Norlin style purple and white paper logo.

It's a real shame there is no paperwork to go with this.

Someone buy it and look at the pot codes :lol:

[eb2]

A nice mysterious bass there. The neck and tuners are totally out of whack with the body, and the whole gold thing is a weird touch, but there is that dang custom truss rod cover - until recently worth more than the bass. My cynical eye typically says some goober did the gold himself. But then why would someone - outside of the crew that lurks here and the other place - go to such lengths, and seemingly not recently, when these things were on the low end of the respect scale in the vintage market. So, me, I am inclined to think this was either a custom order at a time when nobody wanted these things, or perhaps a sentimental repair job done at the factory. Or on the real outside chance, a Kalamazoo "Look, we found a left-over neck" job, as I am always believing happened more than many. But to me it looks like a 60s neck on a 70s body, with gold hardware. And a 70s body with the factory serial tag inside from a time when they didn't make too many at all, makes me think legit custom.

[Dave W]

Of course we know there was no "custom shop" back then, and any legitimate seller who handles used guitars should know that. To make matters worse, his disclaimer is absurd -- he's basing it on what he says "the young couple" claim they were told.

It could possibly be a legitimate custom order, but I see no reason to take the word of a weasel who uses all caps.

[RUMBLEKAT]

That's a strange one and like Dave W my immediate reaction is to be cautious about a bass like that. Still what facts do we have to argue that it wasn't a custom order. The wear on the gold hardware looks legitimate to suggest it has been that way for a long time/since the bass was new.

No way I'm buying it at that price though, so I won't be getting the codes Jules :D

G

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