EB3 Question

[Jim C]

Just watched this old Bowie footage:

David Bowie's lost 1973 Top of the Pops performance of The Jean Genie - YouTube

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As I recall the EB3's were neck heavy and didn't particularly sit well on a strap; last time I played one was many years ago.
Is my memory correct?
Also, are the Epiphone copies any good?
Love the live tone as well as the bass mistake!
The studio version has a similar mistake at approx the 2nd chorus when David yells "get back on it". Must have been a standing joke.

 

[Batmensch]

I had no neck dive issues with my old Gibson EB3L.

 

[antonspon]

I have a '61 EB3 (lucky me!) which has mojo to spare, BUT I don't use it much since it's quite a distinctive sound that isn't very versatile. On a strap it is a bit of a neck-diver, but not as bad as some other designs (not that I gig with it, too limited tonally and too valuable!). The neck is thick - bit of a baseball bat. Neck pickup (mudbucker) is ideal for dub/reggae and is immensely powerful with almost zero treble response, bridge pickup (mini-humbucker) is quite nasal and honky (think Andy Fraser's tone on Free's "Mr Big").

The modern Epiphone and Gibson reissues are nothing remotely like it (the Epi also has a thicker body). I don't think Gibson/Epi make mudbuckers anymore, there's something more generic under the cover.

Hope this helps!

 

[Gaolee]

If you expect a Gibson bass to hang on a strap like a Fender or Ric, you will be disappointed and have lots of neck dive. If you hang it much closer to vertical, it won't dive near as much. It depends on whether you like the neck more horizontal or vertical. If you like vertical, then Gibson bass guitar shapes hang very well. That's been my experience with them, so long as the upper strap button is at the heel of the neck and not somewhere on the upper half of the body.

 

[pfox14]

EB-3s tend to be neck heavy because the bodies are made out of mahogany which is lighter than ash or alder. Plus Gibson used some seriously oversized tuners on them. It's something that you just get used to over time. Not a big deal.

 

[smcd]

I owned a '69 EB-3 for years. I can't recall an issue with neck dive.

 

[Up the dose]

It's a short scale. There's not much neck to dive.

 

[BxBomber]

I have an Epi Elite EB3, bought it about 8 or 9 years ago when I was playing in a band that was covering quite a bit of Cream music. Chose this over the Gibson reissue since it was supposed to be a clone of the original old school EB3's. Needed to get as close to that old Jack Bruce sound as possible and this pretty much nails it. There is a bit of neck dive but nothing too severe. Big upgrade IMHO than the less expensive standard Epi EB3's.

 

[Batmensch]

It's a short scale. There's not much neck to dive.

Unless you have the long scale version, like I did, but, as I said, I didn't have a problem with neck dive anyway.

 

[beate_r]

I have an Epi Elite EB3, bought it about 8 or 9 years ago when I was playing in a band that was covering quite a bit of Cream music. ...

I have two chinese builts of these basses (there was a limited edition in 2011) with sidewinder pickups improved by me, and they are really neck heavy. I needed to attach the strap pin to the neck near the 15th fret in order to fix this.

 

[Rocker949]

I owned a '69 EB-3 for years. I can't recall an issue with neck dive.

I have had a 1964 Gibson EB-O for years. It's similar to an EB-3, of course. No neck dive issues at all. I once tried out an Epi EB-0, though, and there was a lot of neck dive. I've also heard an Epi EB-3 has neck dive problems, but I've never played one.