Played one yesterday.... Really thick and dubby, short scale (kinda weird for me). Very nice for a thick sound, and a great price (the two I saw were going for $130). Can't slap on it, not very versatile, but SO FRIGGIN' THICK.
You won't find a real Gibson EB in any kind of decent condition for $130, maybe a used EPI at that price. The sound is VERY muddy. I'll eventually get around to a pup change in my 65 EB-O.
i also thought they sounded muddy. it was a bit odd to play, and i didnt really like the neck. if i got one i would definately put a preamp and nicer pups on it. try out some rippers and grabbers i like those a lot more than EB3's or EB's, even tho the SG style body does look awesome .....
I've owned a bunch of Gibson basses and i think they're a really great way to forge your own sound. They are very dark and boomy sounding and that's a welcome relief from the full-range tone of most modern basses (the ones that are supposed to somehow fit into a mix with all the full-range guitars and full-range modern drum kits and still leave room for a vocal-maybe that's why so much music sounds so claustrophobic). I've found that EB basses forge such a distinct frequency range that you can move around quite a bit without getting in the way of other instruments. Stick some heavy flatwounds on there (helps with the feel of the short-sclae neck and gives you a tremendous amount of fundamental freguency) and you can totally anchor a band in a noticably enormous way. I gurantee you that all your bandmates will smile in your direction when they hear deep bass tones coming form you and not a bunch of modern wank.
I love people who refuse to adhere to the "norms" and "common wisdom"! corinpils, I'd like to buy you a beer, mate!
