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Gibson EB3 Bass
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Cream - from left to right, Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker, and Eric Clapton
Cream - from left to right, Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker, and Eric Clapton
The EB-3 is a real classic sixties bass. Jack Bruce, the bass player with Cream is famous for his EB3 bass playing in the mid to late 1960s, and it was also used by his friend Felix Papilardi of Mountain, Chris White of the Zombies, Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones and Andy Fraser of Free. Peak production years were 1969-1971; around about 2000 guitars shipped in each of those years, and it was a flagship model throught the 18 years of its production.

Short scale strings suitable for the 30½ scale EB3 bass

Thomastik-Infeld JF324 Jazz Flatwound Short Scale 4-String Bass (Thomastik-Infeld JF324 Jazz Flatwound Short Scale)

Ernie Ball 2837 Slinky Silhouette 6-String Short-Scale Bass Strings (Ernie Ball 2837 Slinky Silhouette 6-String Short-Scale Bass Strings)

Rotosound RS77S Jazz Bass Strings Short Scale (Rotosound - Bass Strings - RS77S - Jazz Bass)

Fender 5250XL Short Scale Bass Extra Light Strings (Fender short scale Nickel Steel roundwounds)

D'Addario EXL160S XL Regular Short Bass String Set (D'Addario Bass Strings Nickel Wound Short Scale - Regular)

D'Addario EXL220S Electric Bass Strings XL Nickel Super Light Short Scale (D'Addario EXL220S Nickel Super Light Short Scale)

Rotosound RS88S Trubass Standard Gauge Short Scale Strings (Rotosound - Bass Strings - RS88S - True Bass (Black Nylon))

The sixties basses were solid mahogany with one piece necks. This design evolved, going to a three piece neck with split headstock and finally a three piece maple neck, but still with a one piece mahogany body. This was the big-brother to the single pickup EB0; the extra bridge pickup on the EB3 granted greater tonal possibilities, and consequently this bass found favour with many late sixties and early seventies musicians.

Like most vintage Gibson basses, the sound is characterised by the deep mellow tones of set mahogany necks, short scale (30½ inch) and the Gibson humbucker. More about Gibson bass pickups

Sound Clips

Thanks to the Gibson Bass website for the following clips. Files are approximately 150kb, and each clip features the introductory 4 bars of rescue me (Fontella Bass) played on the EB3, and recorded directly into a computer sound card. My favourite is the last; listen to that rumble!

The following tracks featuring the Gibson EB3 bass guitar were submitted by users of this site. If you have a recording of this instrument submit it here

Shake Up (Night People) - WeLove
Jammed Dub - The Corporation

Links

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1969 Gibson EB3 Bass Guitar

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Accurate dating (EB3)
29 replies
last message by dexter
28/06/2009 10:15

Thinking of modding my japan EB-3
1 replies
last message by Redbird
17/06/2009 10:35

My EB3 conversion!
4 replies
last message by ezra1
07/06/2009 08:23

Digging my 1972 EB3
0 replies
last message by jules
14/04/2009 07:22

replica handrests for EB2, EB3
7 replies
last message by ezra1
02/04/2009 08:31

New EB-3 Owner Needs Help!
7 replies
last message by ezra1
01/04/2009 08:43


Cream - Disraeli Gears Cream - Disraeli Gears
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UK
JP
Cream - Wheels of Fire Cream - Wheels of Fire
US
UK
JP
Free - Fire and Water Free - Fire and Water
US
UK
JP
Zombies - Odessey and Oracle Zombies - Odessey and Oracle
US
UK
JP
Slade - Slade Alive Slade - Slade Alive
US
UK
JP



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