1971 Gibson EB3L - neck humbucker. The split heastock EB3 and EB3L basses are the only ones with bound necks 1971 Gibson EB3L - the varitone (chicken head), and witch hat control knobs are in the same position in both the EB3 and EB3L. The longscale EB3s had slightly longer necks, and the bridge and bridge pickup situated further back More details, photos and soundclips of the finished bass can be found here 1971 EB3L

Gibson EB bass restoration project

part3 - time for the refinish

Once the fretboard was replaced, and the bridge post holes re-drilled the next step was the refin. According to shipping figures, the EB3L was launched a year after the long sale EB0L, in 1971. 331 were shipped in cherry, 279 in walnut. The EB3L initially had the split headstock, which was changed to a solid headstock around 1972 (see a solid headstock EB3). So, in all probability this bass was from 1971, or perhaps early 1972.

Both walnut and cherry are translucent finishes, and depending on the severity of a repair, cracks can be seen through the finish. in this case the neck repair is not the problem - the cracks run along the grain and are barely noticeable anyway. The area around the bridge is different. The two largest filled holes are from the posts of the original two-point bridge, the smaller holes come from the under-bridge mute and a bridge cover - both of which have been repositioned - and some extra unexplained holes.

These modifications can be hidden with a solid finish. Despite the colour information from shipping figures, I have seen two seemingly original split headstock EB3Ls finished in ebony, and the EB0 is listed as being shipped in this colour in '71. I decided that ebony was the colour to go with

The Gibson logo

Gibson bass headstocks had always been made with a black overlay inlaid with mother of pearl (with the exception of the melody maker which had a decal). When Gibson launched the split-headstock EBs, they were the first basses not to feature an overlay. They still used a mother of pearl logo, but a very thin (less than 1/2 mm) and slightly translucent. It was simply glued to the headstock, whatever its finish.

An original logo was the hardest part to track down for the restoration of this bass. In fact I had to wait until another EB3L came up - ironically enough a rare black EB3L, refinnished red, then white. Removal of the logo is easy. First you need to remove any lacquer from the decal and surrounding area, Then keep wetting the area with hot water to loosen the glue and it should just lift off.

The image to the right shows (i) the logo attached to the parts-bass, (ii) the logo once removed (showing remnants of the original black finish) and (iii) the logo attached to the restoration bass

If you have any questions, or comments about this bass or its restoration, please post them here