Jack Bruce at Royal Albert Hall

[lonote]

Did Bruce's EB-1 have the stock pick-ups?

 

[7flat5]

Did Bruce's EB-1 have the stock pick-ups?

That's singular. Pickup. And, I think it probably is an EB, not the EB-1 (subtle difference, I know). I might be wrong, but I think maybe all the old single-coils were in the "EB" years, before the EB-2 was made. (Look at http://www.gibsonbass.com/pickups.php#13 but please note that the brown cover pickup was not a humbucker but a huge single-coil, as is pretty evident in the picture.)

It is an original '50's single coil under brown plastic, I believe. He did replace the bridge and the bass is refinished, but it looks like the electronics are original.

 

[aquateen]

^ that's correct. the model is an EB. the brown pup cover tells all. I love his tone and his playing on the dvd. made me feel good all over watching and hearing Jack play that bass.

 

[Bruce Lindfield]

Go to this link :

Link Removed

 

[Blues Bass 2]

I never did like the Gibson humbucker sound but Jack makes it sound better than anyone.I had a EB-3 in the sixties and never could get a good tone out of it.I thought the Warwick sounded way better also and agree his voice was really strong.He's a little slower than in the old days when he was giving Eric a run for his money trading leads but he still has it and his timing is awsome.I tried to play like him back then and I still can't really cop it today.He was the king back then and is still great today.

 

[aquateen]

Go to this link :

Link Removed

that's the reissue. the original EB only had one pickup. look at the one Jack plays on the dvd.


http://www.provide.net/~cfh/gibson9.html

 

[AmPb100]

That is a Gibson EB-1. Solid body, short scale. Produced in the mid 50's and then again in the late 60's early 70's. It was Gibson's response to the Precision Bass, originally designated "Electric Bass". Once the oddly named EB-0 was introduced, it was refered to as the "EB-1". Felix Pappalardi, Cream's producer, had played an original EB-1 with Mountain.

Jack is playing Felix's old bass. When Jack was in the Ringo Star All Star Band my friend was head of sound at one of the venues and confirmed this with Jack.

 

[Theexploitbass]

I've played the Royal Albert Hall, 3 times woohoo. Once with my trusty Vintage V900 bass, my first bass. Was a very proud moment.

 

[The Mock Turtle Regulator]

I thought his EB1 sound at the Royal Albert Hall was indistinct- all lows and no definition. I much preferred his EB3 tone on the farewell RYA gig (from 1968?) that BBC4 showed straight after.

 

[mark roberts]

I thought his EB1 sound at the Royal Albert Hall was indistinct- all lows and no definition. I much preferred his EB3 tone on the farewell RYA gig (from 1968?) that BBC4 showed straight after.

If you were listening to the tunes that were available on the internet....they seemed to be recorded live out in the hall rather than from the "board"...listen to the applause....some folks are clapping right next to the microphone. I watched a PBS presentation recently and ran the audio through my stereo...BIG difference. The thh guitar was still prominent in the mix, the big, hollow sound was gone. Baker's drums sounded much better and Bruce's bass was right there. For that matter, he appeared more comfortable on the EB-1 and the sound seemed a bit better in the mix. Especially when he punched it up from the bass a bit.

Another thing I noticed. On the first song,
"I'm So Glad", at the end, between songs, a stage-right camera gave us a quickie shot of Jack walking towards the front of the stage...he was looking hard at his index finger of his plucking hand. You think he dug in too hard on the tune and perhaps got a sore spot on the finger? Subsequently, I noticed that he favored his middle and ring fingers while only occasionally going to the index finger...didn't slow him up at all..just thought it interesting.

 

[aquateen]

I read an article in either Bass Player or Vintage Guitar that mentioned Jack did have a blister on his finger. good eye!