Gibson Bass Guitar Catalogues

The catalogues here are scans of original Gibson promotional material, and are layed out page by page. Some are complete bass catalogues (1968, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1975), some are full line catalogue (1958, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1980, 1986).

1958 Features two bass guitars, EB1 and EB2

1962 full line catalogue with just three basses - EB0, EB3 and EB6.

1963 EB0, EB3, EB6, Thunderbird II and IV . The 1963 catalogue also featured the 'double bass' double neck guitar/bass EBSF-1250.

1966 EB0, EB2, EB3, Thunderbird. The 1966 catalogue featured all of Gibsons products, guitars, basses, amps and mandolins

The 1966 Gibson Christmas flyer featured just one bass, the EB0, and a selection of guitars and amplifiers.

The artwork was the same as in the full line catalogue from 1966, but also uses an illustration from the fold-out flyer of the same year

The 1966 Gibson fold-out flyer rather than feature any specific instruments, the 1966 flyer illustrates with line drawings the families of guitar available. Includeing a sketch of a man with an EB0

The 1968 Gibson catalogue featured just one bass, the EB2, and a selection of guitars and amplifiers.

Guitars featured in this catalogue include the SG standard, melody maker, ES330TD and ES335-12, aswell J-50, B-25 and hummingbird accoustics. 0.4MB

The 1969 Gibson Les Paul bass leaflet describes this brand new (then) bass, giving details of the relatively complex cotrols, and important information on the use of the new low impedance amplifiers and transformer cables. Despite being full of useful information, this leaflet is unattractive to say the least. 0.3MB

The 1970 Gibson catalogue featured the EB1, EB2, EB3, EB3L and the EB basses.

The EB3 and EB3L both have the split headstock, whereas the illustration of the EBO is still the sixties style solid headstock with crown inlay. Split headstock EB0s were available by 1970. Interestingly enough the model listed as an EB was possibly never available commercially - it does not appear in shipping figures, and details such as which woods were to be used are not in the catalog. This was probably a forerunner of the SB series first shipped in 1971. 0.2MB

The 1970 Les Paul Gibson catalogue featured Gibsons entire Les Paul range of 1970. As well as the Les Paul custom, deluxe, personal, professional and jumbo flat top guitars, it also features the new Les Paul bass, and its low impedance amplifiers; LP 1, LP 2, LP12. 0.2MB

The 1971 Gibson low impedance catalogue, promoting the Les Paul Recording guitar and Triumph Bass. It came with a flexi disc demonstration by Les Paul and Bruce Bolen. This is the first reference to this model being named the Triumph, contradicting shipping figures which suggests these basses were not labelled as such until 1975. 0.4MB

The 1972 bass catalogue featured the new style EB0, EB3, EB4L, SB350, SB450, but the most attention went to the launch of the brand new EB-4L. This was in vain of course as this model never acheived the sucess it might have done a few years earlier. There are two versions of this leaflet - (text and images are identical), a thicker card one distributed by Gibson and Gibson dealers, and a thinner paper version that was stapled inside the Nov/Dec 1972 copy of Guitar Player magazine. 0.6MB

The 1975 Gibson bass catalogue features Peter Cetera from the band Chicago, and the following basses: Ripper L9-S, Ripper fretless, EB3, Grabber, Les Paul Triumph, Les Paul Signature. 1MB

The 1978 Gibson catalogue features the entire Gibson range of that time. The basses shown are the RD artist and standard, Les Paul Triumph, EB3, Ripper (both fretless and fretted) and Grabber G1 and G3. 2MB

The 1980 Gibson catalogue has no new models; just the RD artist (new switch arrangement), Ripper L9-S, Grabber and G3

The 1983 Gibson catalogue American-made. World-played. Victory standard bass is the only bass guitar shown.

The 1986 Gibson catalogue shows Gibsons eighties offerings with the Q80, Explorer, and Victory standard basses