1967 Gibson Eb-2

I fell in love with the Gibson EB 2 when recording with Peter Adams and the Nocturnal Collective in Nashville at Chris Grainger’s (Wilco, Sixpence None The Richer) studio on November 11, 2006. I had brought my Benevente SCB 5 string, but Chris wanted to go for a more vintage style tone than the super crisp, active tone. He recommended I try the bass they had in the corner of the room. It was a 1960s Gibson EB-2 in cherry. I plugged it in and we engaged the mutes and I immediately was smitten. I’ve wanted one ever since, but could never justify the cost. When I came across this one that seemingly had been through a lot, I saw that it was in my price range and decided to take a chance on it.

As far as functionality goes it’s an amazing player and sounds huge. The baritone switch works great and will absolutely shake the walls, the pots work great and aren’t scratchy. The finish on the body appears to be original with really great checking All over. The screw on the back of the A string tuner has been replaced with a non matching modern screw.

The part on this bass that is wacky is the neck. I wont pretend to know what happened to it back in the day but someone finished the entire neck in lacquer, removed the headstock veneer and sanded the wings of the headstock a bit. it might be the original neck as it has a serial number, but I can’t confirm that. it also has no breaks that I can see but I am not an expert. the neck feels great and has a nice full profile to it. The frets are in good condition and there is no fretting out or excessive buzz anywhere on the board.

This bass was owned for over a decade by Brenden Campbell of the Neon Trees, from whom I bought it personally. He is a big deadhead so he would put the Grateful Dead medallion on the headstock as it is missing the Gibson logo. This medallion is removable and is included in the sale.