I went to the Tampa Guitar Show last weekend and traded my 1972 Ovation Typhoon V (aka the Danny Partridge bass) for a 1980 Martin EB-18 which was C.F. Martin’s first solid body electric bass.
The bass features a maple and walnut body with a mahogany neck and a 22 fret rosewood fingerboard. The neck is set into the body with a mortise design and the headstock features a rosewood overlay and C.F. Martin branded Schaller tuners. The bridge is a Badass I and the pickup is a DiMarzio Model G humbucker. Earlier models featured Grover tuners and a black DiMarzio Model 1 pickup which was located closer to the neck. Apparently the pickup choice and location were changed because the strings would sometimes make contact with the pickup. As expected given the body shape there is some neck dive, but at 9 lbs. 4 oz. it's not too heavy. Based on the serial number, this bass is closer to the end of production in 1980. I think the "C.F. Martin & Co. Nazareth, PA." wood burned into the back of the body is a cool touch.
It took a while to get the setup dialed in. I had to lower the bridge saddles to be almost flush with the bridge plate and I also had to lower the pickup so that it's level with the bezel. The polepieces had to be lowered as well. Now it's at my local guitar shop having the notches in the brass nut lowered. Sound-wise it's in P-Bass territory, but has it's own thing going on. Sonically it actually reminds me of my Yamaha BB1200 which is from the same era.
Less than 900 of these basses were produced, and it’s surprising that an instrument made by a major guitar manufacturer featuring quality components and excellent craftsmanship would be so unsuccessful. I imagine people just didn't think of Martin when it came to electric guitars and basses (there were also two electric guitar models in this series), and perhaps some people didn’t care for the aesthetics, but I like how it looks. I guess I swapped one quirky bass for another.
- Steve
The bass features a maple and walnut body with a mahogany neck and a 22 fret rosewood fingerboard. The neck is set into the body with a mortise design and the headstock features a rosewood overlay and C.F. Martin branded Schaller tuners. The bridge is a Badass I and the pickup is a DiMarzio Model G humbucker. Earlier models featured Grover tuners and a black DiMarzio Model 1 pickup which was located closer to the neck. Apparently the pickup choice and location were changed because the strings would sometimes make contact with the pickup. As expected given the body shape there is some neck dive, but at 9 lbs. 4 oz. it's not too heavy. Based on the serial number, this bass is closer to the end of production in 1980. I think the "C.F. Martin & Co. Nazareth, PA." wood burned into the back of the body is a cool touch.
It took a while to get the setup dialed in. I had to lower the bridge saddles to be almost flush with the bridge plate and I also had to lower the pickup so that it's level with the bezel. The polepieces had to be lowered as well. Now it's at my local guitar shop having the notches in the brass nut lowered. Sound-wise it's in P-Bass territory, but has it's own thing going on. Sonically it actually reminds me of my Yamaha BB1200 which is from the same era.
Less than 900 of these basses were produced, and it’s surprising that an instrument made by a major guitar manufacturer featuring quality components and excellent craftsmanship would be so unsuccessful. I imagine people just didn't think of Martin when it came to electric guitars and basses (there were also two electric guitar models in this series), and perhaps some people didn’t care for the aesthetics, but I like how it looks. I guess I swapped one quirky bass for another.
- Steve
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