SG & EB Bass Club

[Andrew Hargrove]

Yes, both good ideas, but not solving the issue. Full disclosure: my house has noisey electric, I cannot even use many cables due to quite noticeble noise actually quite similar noise to the pickup hum/buzz. I thought it was a ground issue too, but still brainstorming and it may just be the pickup.

 

[ctmullins]

Roger that. Might help to evaluate it at a different location - rehearsal space, friend's home, music store, the Biltmore mansion, Tahiti, etc.

 

[Andrew Hargrove]

Yes, thanks for looking at this with me.
Anyhow it sounds good and punchy with the nice voice of that positionin it is my StinkRay option now.

 

[spatchthepunk]

This is my first bass,I bought it in 81 for $250. I had the nut switched when I bought it and played it for a while then I got out the spaded bits and soldering iron and made the switch to full on lefty. I played a hundred shows with it before breaking an E and a D string on the same song and somehow lost the saddles at the show.It sat in the closet for 32 years,this year I brought it to my luthier,he shook his head laughed then dug in. He was able to find the saddles and fix a couple electrical issues,surprisingly enough the neck has never needed to be adjusted.A couple questions for you guys, as close as I can tell the serial number shows 69 but the pickup position shows 73 or 74 any ideas?

 

[Basshappi]

Good save and a cool conversion, Congrats!

 

[Andrew Hargrove]

Way back in this thread they talked about this serial # thing, how Gibson reused their serial numbers. I will take an Un educated guess that the pikup positioning date is the acurate one. But definately a guess, check back in this thread for more info! Cool axe.

 

[KeithAlanK]

Spatchthepunk--very cool!
Your tech did a great job.

Judging by the lack of shadows I'm assuming he used some kind of low profile dome shaped plugs of some kind to cover the original pot holes--is that correct? Looked like knobs at first, but now I doubt it.
If so, what is their original intended use?
Might come in handy for other people with a similar problem.

 

[ghostinthemach]

View attachment 3010478 View attachment 3010479 View attachment 3010480 This is my first bass,I bought it in 81 for $250. I had the nut switched when I bought it and played it for a while then I got out the spaded bits and soldering iron and made the switch to full on lefty. I played a hundred shows with it before breaking an E and a D string on the same song and somehow lost the saddles at the show.It sat in the closet for 32 years,this year I brought it to my luthier,he shook his head laughed then dug in. He was able to find the saddles and fix a couple electrical issues,surprisingly enough the neck has never needed to be adjusted.A couple questions for you guys, as close as I can tell the serial number shows 69 but the pickup position shows 73 or 74 any ideas?

The p'up position and tuners scream 70's. To my knowledge neither appeared before then.
Gibson serial numbers started, stopped and duplicated in some very creative ways but there are ways to date them fairly accurately.
I'll try to locate the site with Gibson history archived and post it here.
The EB3

 

[KeithAlanK]

Fly Guitars has a ton of info: Fly Guitars

 

[aproud1]

Fly Guitars has a ton of info: Fly Guitars

Thanks for the link. Nice site.

 

[ajkula66]

A couple questions for you guys, as close as I can tell the serial number shows 69 but the pickup position shows 73 or 74 any ideas?

Old (two point) bridge combined with the "new" pickup positioning puts it into very late '72 or early '73 IMO.

 

[spatchthepunk]

Spatchthepunk--very cool!
Your tech did a great job.

Judging by the lack of shadows I'm assuming he used some kind of low profile dome shaped plugs of some kind to cover the original pot holes--is that correct? Looked like knobs at first, but now I doubt it.
If so, what is their original intended use?
Might come in handy for other people with a similar problem.

Those are stainless steel carriage bolts.I used to use regular snap in plugs but they would rust from sweat in no time,I finally just used duct tapeI used to fill that cavity with a big chunk of lead,it helped with the neck dive.I know it looks beat and it's value is down to nothing but I will keep it forever because every time I look at it I just smile and think of the fun we had together.

 

[spatchthepunk]

Thanks guys for the info.If I knew then that I could have just pulled the pots and direct wired the neck pickup to the jack it would have been much easier to play,I do a bunch of songs with a pick on the d and g and I used to cut the heck out of my knuckles on that switch.

 

[KeithAlanK]

Finally finished doing a makeover on my "Zippo" LTD Viper 254.

It was a pawnshop steal about a year ago.
34" scale, 5-piece maple/walnut neck glued in, with Grover tuners.
Mahogany body.
EMG pickups and preamp.
Plays and sounds great.
Was priced at $120 but when I went to the counter and pointed at the Zippo logo (it's under the clear coat) the pawn guy said "yeah, I know" and knocked it down to $80.

The all black theme did absolutely nothing for me, especially with the bright white Zippo for contrast. It didn't have any SG/EB vibe at all.

A while back I asked for help here and Dubsly came through with a scan of the pickguard from his 2006 SG Standard.
I had been trying to design one that had the original flavor but followed the squished contours of the LTD, with zero success.
Starting with Dubsly's scan I monkeyed around with modifications that also didn't work. My graphic art background was beginning to look like a useless experience.
After some adult beverages I decided to try reducing the original, and when I hit 85% suddenly everything worked.
It followed the body outlines almost faithfully and didn't extend past any of the weird LTD bevels.
Moving the pickup cutout completed the template.
It just looked right to me.

Made the pickguard using 1/8th inch birch plywood from Michael's.
Had to rehab my late brother's Dremel MotoShop scroll saw for the job.

The knobs were trouble right up to yesterday.
I shortened 3 knobs from a Hartke preamp pedal for the EQ.
I had ordered some clear speed knobs for volume and blend but when painted on the underside they didn't match the rest of my parts. Eventually went back to my parts box and selected a pair of aluminum knobs that I had pulled off my mom's busted Fisher stereo in the '80s.

Made a trussrod cover out of the same birch plywood.
Painted some #4 screws black.
The paint is Krylon "New Penny". Hardly anyone uses copper colors on instruments, and I've been looking for an excuse to try it.

Covered the Zippo logo with some black sticker material for now.
Considering other options, as well as trapezoid inlay stickers.

About $20 spent, and half of that was for the knobs I didn't use.
Very happy with the results.

 

[spatchthepunk]

Finally finished doing a makeover on my "Zippo" LTD Viper 254.

View attachment 3015154

View attachment 3015155

It was a pawnshop steal about a year ago.
34" scale, 5-piece maple/walnut neck glued in, with Grover tuners.
Mahogany body.
EMG pickups and preamp.
Plays and sounds great.
Was priced at $120 but when I went to the counter and pointed at the Zippo logo (it's under the clear coat) the pawn guy said "yeah, I know" and knocked it down to $80.

The all black theme did absolutely nothing for me, especially with the bright white Zippo for contrast. It didn't have any SG/EB vibe at all.

A while back I asked for help here and Dubsly came through with a scan of the pickguard from his 2006 SG Standard.
I had been trying to design one that had the original flavor but followed the squished contours of the LTD, with zero success.
Starting with Dubsly's scan I monkeyed around with modifications that also didn't work. My graphic art background was beginning to look like a useless experience.
After some adult beverages I decided to try reducing the original, and when I hit 85% suddenly everything worked.
It followed the body outlines almost faithfully and didn't extend past any of the weird LTD bevels.
Moving the pickup cutout completed the template.
It just looked right to me.

Made the pickguard using 1/8th inch birch plywood from Michael's.
Had to rehab my late brother's Dremel MotoShop scroll saw for the job.

The knobs were trouble right up to yesterday.
I shortened 3 knobs from a Hartke preamp pedal for the EQ.
I had ordered some clear speed knobs for volume and blend but when painted on the underside they didn't match the rest of my parts. Eventually went back to my parts box and selected a pair of aluminum knobs that I had pulled off my mom's busted Fisher stereo in the '80s.

Made a trussrod cover out of the same birch plywood.
Painted some #4 screws black.
The paint is Krylon "New Penny". Hardly anyone uses copper colors on instruments, and I've been looking for an excuse to try it.

Covered the Zippo logo with some black sticker material for now.
Considering other options, as well as trapezoid inlay stickers.

About $20 spent, and half of that was for the knobs I didn't use.
Very happy with the results.

I dig the copper color and really dig the body shape.Somebody went to a lot of trouble to get the zippo logo onder the clear coat.Maybe a promo bass?

 

[ghostinthemach]

Finally finished doing a makeover on my "Zippo" LTD Viper 254.

View attachment 3015154

View attachment 3015155

It was a pawnshop steal about a year ago.
34" scale, 5-piece maple/walnut neck glued in, with Grover tuners.
Mahogany body.
EMG pickups and preamp.
Plays and sounds great.
Was priced at $120 but when I went to the counter and pointed at the Zippo logo (it's under the clear coat) the pawn guy said "yeah, I know" and knocked it down to $80.

The all black theme did absolutely nothing for me, especially with the bright white Zippo for contrast. It didn't have any SG/EB vibe at all.

A while back I asked for help here and Dubsly came through with a scan of the pickguard from his 2006 SG Standard.
I had been trying to design one that had the original flavor but followed the squished contours of the LTD, with zero success.
Starting with Dubsly's scan I monkeyed around with modifications that also didn't work. My graphic art background was beginning to look like a useless experience.
After some adult beverages I decided to try reducing the original, and when I hit 85% suddenly everything worked.
It followed the body outlines almost faithfully and didn't extend past any of the weird LTD bevels.
Moving the pickup cutout completed the template.
It just looked right to me.

Made the pickguard using 1/8th inch birch plywood from Michael's.
Had to rehab my late brother's Dremel MotoShop scroll saw for the job.

The knobs were trouble right up to yesterday.
I shortened 3 knobs from a Hartke preamp pedal for the EQ.
I had ordered some clear speed knobs for volume and blend but when painted on the underside they didn't match the rest of my parts. Eventually went back to my parts box and selected a pair of aluminum knobs that I had pulled off my mom's busted Fisher stereo in the '80s.

Made a trussrod cover out of the same birch plywood.
Painted some #4 screws black.
The paint is Krylon "New Penny". Hardly anyone uses copper colors on instruments, and I've been looking for an excuse to try it.

Covered the Zippo logo with some black sticker material for now.
Considering other options, as well as trapezoid inlay stickers.

About $20 spent, and half of that was for the knobs I didn't use.
Very happy with the results.

Magnificent Makeover!

 

[KeithAlanK]

Somebody went to a lot of trouble to get the zippo logo onder the clear coat.Maybe a promo bass?

It looks to me like a factory job. The Zippo logo is super precise, and the clear coat looks like other LTDs.

 

[Andrew Hargrove]

Super stoked with custom pickup in place. Also see my latest mute? It is velcro with a nerf dart glued under to hold it in place, very muted- sustain and sound similar to recorded upright DB with neck pickup, and bouncy burp with the bridge side pickup.

 

[ghostinthemach]

Anyone interested in a pawnshop opportunity for a 1969 EB-3?

I'm happy with the one I have.
This one is damaged and altered but appears fully functional and reasonably priced. Heard the proprietor say he'd take 700. He's got it tagged in the store for 900.
Might make a good project.

 

[Nebula24]

Had my epi eb0 (2001 korea) almost a year. Finally jumping on the upgrade train and put on the hipshot supertone bridge. Only changed strings before. Eyeballed height and intonation based on old stock bridge. Sounds ok. Slight buzz but need to still tweak height/intonation better and feels like strings settling back into position. Feels even more chromey . Feels more solid and sturdy too.

Want to try flatwound and nylon strings next. Depending on how that goes may or may not swap pickup to the new guild bisonic. Gotta keep some chrome on pickup.