[God]

Hi,
I'm looking to buy a Gibson EB-3, supposedly from -68.
It looks like it has a new pickup selector (variatone-switch?) an maybe new tuners?
It has also got the original bridge PU replaced with a mudbucker. Compared to other pictures of other EB-3s I have seen, it looks to me that this is situated much farther away from the bridge than original bridge PUs? Is the hole where the original PU was installed filled, or were there some EB-3s like this?
Anybody knows how a bridge mudbucker sounds like compared to the original?

[Repairman77]

All the pictures of the EB3's I have in my American vintage guitar book show the pick-up quite close to the bridge and a lot smaller.

It looks as if someone has fitted another pick-up the same as the neck pick-up and in-filled the original hole.

Does the body show signs of any infill or refinish?

I'm no expert on Gibson bases so perhaps this was a custom or special and is actually original after all.

Mike.

[jules]

Hi God (very nice of you to grace our forum!)

This is most likely an EB0 with an extra pickup. I would guess someone added a precision style pup or similar, and then later someone else changed it to another mudbucker. happens all the time.

How to tell...
1) the EB0 had a three ply scratchplate, the EB3 had five ply. What has this got? Of course they can be changed so this is not definitive proof

2) Unless this has been refinned a solid colour, you WILL see evidence of filled holes

The neck pickup doesn't sound so different in the bridge position. I think the correct mini humbucker gives a lot greater tonal variety.

I can't see the tuning keys clearly in the pic, but they look like they could be correct. Are they Gibson branded Schaller M4s?

If this is a modded EB0, it should be considerably cheaper than an EB3. Considerably.

[jules]

Oh, another way to prove to yourself that the other humbucker is not original is to remove both pickups. The routing will be identical on a stock bass, (with identical finish in both cavities) for each.

There are reports of twin mudbucker EBs (at least one owner claims to have an original stereo wired EB2) so I guess Gibson could have made it like this. I would be highly sceptical of any claims of originality without supporting documentary evidence.

[God]

Thanks for your answers!

I guess you're right about this beeing an EB-0.
The scratchplate looks like three ply to me, and seller can't see any fillings from the old PU. He says the pots all look the same, that they don't look new, and that the serialnumber on the headstock says this is a '68. But since he can't be sure about it beeing an EB'3, I guess this should be considered a modded EB-0.
Anyways, I think a bridge minibucker would be preferable, so I just have to keep on looking.

So long, humans!

[Ebthreeby]

Could be a modified EBO, but for a good picture of the EB3 before and after 1972, check out flyguitars.com/gibson/bass/EB3.