#eb3mystery Semi-restoration :: 1970s Gibson EB-3 [7.7 lbs]

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A poor 1970's Gibson EB-3 that was crudely modified at some point.  The mods included adding a P pickup, active preamp, moving the rotary switch, plugging some of the controls, etc.  I ended up removing the preamp and rewiring the guitar as close to stock as I could.  The rotary switch was returned back home along with adding back one of the volume controls.  The tone choke was also long gone so I replaced it with one courtesy of Curtis Novak.  The original 2 point bridge didn't allow enough adjustment to lower the action, so a new Hipshot 2 point Supertone bridge was installed.  I will eventually group this project into one blog post, but in the meantime you can follow up here:  #eb3mystery

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Hipshot to fix a 2 point leaner :: 1970s Gibson EB-3

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Ah, more on the heavily modified 1970s Gibson EB-3.  A combination of a low neck angle and poor design of the original 2 point bridge made it the ideal candidate for a modern upgrade.  As you can see from the photo above, the two maple wedges were an attempt to keep the bridge from leaning forward.  But leaning issues aside, the action could not be lowered any further.  In comes a Hipshot 2 point Supertone bridge to help out.  It has a lower profile and it's machined with far greater tolerances to maximize sustain and allow for proper action and intonation.  I agree that it does change the vintage vibe of the bass, but if you value playabilty over vintage-correctness, this is the way to go.

Switch goes back home :: 1970s Gibson EB-3

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I've been busy with the daily videos so I'm a little behind on posting photos of projects coming through the shop.  This was finished up a few weeks ago.

Final task on the 70s EB-3 is to plug the rotary switch hole in the pick guard since I moved it back where it should be. I've grown a shine to this fella. It's a short scale so a little easier on my guitar player hands and there are so many good tonal variations to be had out of these 3 pickups. This would make a monster studio bass.

Note I will most likely put together a blog post on this project sometime soon, but in the meantime check out #eb3mystery.

#eb3mystery complete rewire :: Modded 1970s Gibson EB-3

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The first day back from the long weekend rolls on. Jumping head first into the butchered 1970s Gibson EB-3 mess. Doing my best to get this back as close to stock as you can while dealing with an added 3rd P pickup. I also decided to relocate the previously moved rotary switch back home and add back original controls, so some drilling out of plugs was required. A Curtis Novak choke is going in (original missing), along with Emerson Custom CTS pots. What a mess!

Follow along with this #eb3mystery project here.

WTF? :: 1970's Gibson EB-3

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This is a severely modded 1970's Gibson EB-3. Someone moved the rotary switch and plugged a couple controls, not to mention adding a middle P pickup.  This freak show has random cavities routed/filled, an active preamp installed, stock controls either plugged/rerouted/removed and a 3rd P pickup installed. The customer and I decided to remove the preamp and try to make sense of what's left.

I try to keep an open mind with these older modifications as there was not the plethora of information floating around like nowadays. But what the fuck is going on here?  Maybe it was used in some historic recording session?  Or maybe someone just had a bunch of ideas they wanted to try out.  I need to know why!  #eb3mystery

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Check out the video below to find out what's under the mysterious gold foil!