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SG & EB Bass Club

#3,002
dmt said:
Must have been a heck of a discount though :thumbsup:
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Indeed it was. They took a bath on this bass like no one's business since I know how much they originally bought it for.

Glad you're digging it
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Well, I'm blessed to have a good luthier nearby - as in 7 minutes from where I live - so while he just shook his head when he initially saw the bass I knew it would come out of there OK.

Craig4003 said:
They hadn't packaged it well at all -- basically shoved the guitar into a cardboard box with some wads of packing paper.
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The damage done on my bass happened while being inside the case...which is not the original case...and a bit of insulating foam/bubble wrap under the neck joint would've likely prevented this from happening...:banghead:
 
#3,003
ajkula66 said:
...
The damage done on my bass happened while being inside the case...which is not the original case...and a bit of insulating foam/bubble wrap under the neck joint would've likely prevented this from happening...:banghead:
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This is PRECISELY why I spent $100 on a Gator Transit bass gig bag for my $350 angled-headstock Ibanez.

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#3,005
I use soft gig bags for all of my tilt-back instruments. The difference is a) I'm the only one transporting them, and b) the headstocks are built (by me) to be sturdy. :cool:
 
#3,006
ajkula66 said:
First and foremost, a fair warning: this is going to be one LONG post.

Those of you who follow this club may remember my post from a couple of weeks ago, regarding my "latest adoption" (# 2928) where I remained vague about it apart from posting a couple of pictures and said that I would give an update on it...well, here we go.

I've had this particular bass bookmarked for about two years. There was *something* about it - couldn't define what exactly - that I liked, but the initial price was *way* above what I would be willing to pay for such an instrument.

The time went on, and the price kept on going down. And down. And down.

About a month ago, it came to the point where I said "OK now you're mine" and called the store. Gave them all the info, but the sale wouldn't go through. The system just wouldn't allow them to release the bass for whatever crazy reason. After a bit of back and forth, they agreed to ship the bass internally to my local store, and that I would simply pay for it when I come to pick it up. Fair enough.

Several days later, I called "my" store to verify whether the bass had arrived. The guy who answered my call comes back and says that his manager wants to talk to me. No problem, we know each other quite well having done a fair amount of business over the last few years..

"Hey, buddy, how are you doin' ?"

"I'm fine. What's going on, my friend ?"

" You want the good news or the bad news first ?"

" Start with good news."

" Your bass is here."

" But...?"

"They didn't pack her well and she got hurt in transport. And it's not just cosmetic damage."

My heart sank.

"How bad is it ?"

"Well, she's broken. Still holds together but broken nonetheless. The good thing is that you're not out any money. I'll be calling our vintage department to see whether they want us to fix it, or whatever. I could give you a call once she's fixed and you could have her at a discounted price."

"How about I come over tomorrow, take a look and let you know whether I'd be willing to take her "as-is".

"Sure thing."

This is what I saw when I opened the case a day later:

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I picked up the bass as gently as I possibly could have, and plugged her into a Markbass combo sitting there. Plucked a couple of completely-out-of-tune notes. Put her back in the case, walked over to my buddy the manager and submitted the offer.

Went out for a smoke, made a couple of calls and when I came back in the store I became the new owner of an old, well-played-and-now-busted '63 EB-0.

Happy to report that she's back from surgery and fully recovered, although the scars remain visible.

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The last little bit from the theatre of absurd?

I ended up giving my luthier a wrong set of strings, so she ended up being strung with flats that were sitting in a package left over from GHS rounds...:woot:

So, how does she sound?

She's loud, and generally very impolite-sounding, especially with these flats - does anyone know what they are BTW since I have absolutely zero idea where they came from - and I can fully understand the sentiment of going in with a pick, turning the volume up and unleashing one's inner Pappalardi...:)

Once the volume is down to 6.5 she mellows and becomes just warm and thumpy. Not a bad sound per se, but not what I'm looking for either, so a fresh set of rounds has already been ordered.

How does she play after the debacle that she's been through?

Great. Medium-low action, no buzz. Intonation is surprisingly good for a bass with a bar bridge. Flats make her a bit stiffer than I'd like, but that soon shall come to pass too.

How does she compare with her younger sister seen in my avatar:

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These are two extremely different instruments when it comes to playing feel.

The '63 has a big, chunky neck with a 1.65" nut that feels a lot like early Les Pauls, fat and round. Neck joint is also completely different and calls for a somewhat different approach when playing high up the neck.

The '69 is gentle and fragile-feeling with a tiny neck sporting a 1.5" nut and an overall more sophisticated playing feel.

You just grab the '63 right out of the case and play her, preferably as loud as you can.

The younger sister needs to be picked up gently and caressed while playing. Light touch is the key to getting the most out of her.

Is there anything that you don't like about your "latest adoption" ?

I could most definitely live without the reverse tuners, but they are original and are staying there. The bar bridge may end up being swapped for a Hipshot depending on how the bass behaves once the rounds come on.

All in all, she's one cool old lady that I like a lot and my take is that she'll do really well with some music that I'm working on once she's strung with rounds...:bassist:
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Looks like it's got a cherry sunburst on the back of the neck!
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#3,007
dmt said:
Looks like it's got a cherry sunburst on the back of the neck!
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She's also very pale in the front. My take is that she spent a lot of time in the sun in her younger years, because once you remove the electronics cover and see the original finish, it's very dark. Someone played the living daylight out of her for sure.
 
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#3,009
dmt said:
She's got a tan line to show for it, too (reverse tan line?) where it looks like there was one of those ashtray-like getinthewayer covers crossing over the strings (not sure what the covers were called).

Thinking of putting a cover back on?
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Good eye you've got, young Jedi...:thumbsup:

The cover was there when I got the bass and off it went as soon as I could find a screwdriver. I can't play with that thing mounted, no way no how. Even when I played FSOs I couldn't stand them. My hat's off to anyone who can actually play a P, J or a Gibby with the front handrest in place. Let's not even mention Rickenbacker...
 
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#3,014
ajkula66 said:
Good eye you've got, young Jedi...:thumbsup:

The cover was there when I got the bass and off it went as soon as I could find a screwdriver. I can't play with that thing mounted, no way no how. Even when I played FSOs I couldn't stand them. My hat's off to anyone who can actually play a P, J or a Gibby with the front handrest in place. Let's not even mention Rickenbacker...
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I play with all the covers on. Works just fine:)
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#3,015
I never could understand the reason for the covers. They would definitely get in my way, no matter what. My plucking/picking hand moves along the string length, from neck pickup to bridge pickup, sometimes continuously, as a method of modulating tone. I don't need any obstructions in my way!
 
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#3,016
Mvf said:
I play with all the covers on. Works just fine:)
View attachment 3779237 View attachment 3779238
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Very cool little collection ya got there :cool:

Gotta say though, with its bits and bobs all exposed like that, your P bass is looking almost nekkid ;) :laugh:

Do you use the mutes on those EBs? (coming up bass-wise in the age of the SG bass like I have, I've never even played a Gibson EB-0/3 let alone used the mutes, so just curious. I don't even totally understand how that mute system works. Or how much use people get/got out of them)
 
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#3,018
ctmullins said:
I never could understand the reason for the covers
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i had the same question for many years and came to the conclusion since i've installed the covers and finger-rest on my p-bass. as you can see from my photo my elbow perfectly rests on the body contour, my arm doesn't mute the strings due to the pickup cover and my fingers hold on the tug bar. this arm placement is by far the most comfortable way i layed my arm on the instrument, even though most players don't play that way (thumb)
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#3,019
thanos k said:
i had the same question for many years and came to the conclusion since i've installed the covers and finger-rest on my p-bass. as you can see from my photo my elbow perfectly rests on the body contour, my arm doesn't mute the strings due to the pickup cover and my fingers hold on the tug bar. this arm placement is by far the most comfortable way i layed my arm on the instrument, even though most players don't play that way (thump)
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Strangely enough, when I first saw your picture my immediate thought was "slap" not "thump". Just goes to show how different approaches work well depending on the person utilizing them...:thumbsup:
 
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#3,020
ajkula66 said:
my immediate thought was "slap" not "thump"
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thank you fot your comment, i've made a correction to my previous post and i replaced the word "thump" with the more accurate "thumb" ... so sometimes i use the hand position of the picture to play the notes with my thumb but without slapping the string... so i don't slap, it's just a very old style of playing using your thumb
 

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