Legit Gibson eb-3?

[Slamundson]

Hi I’ve come across this Gibson bass, can anyone here help me ID if it’s a real Gibson or a fake? And if real which year?

Here are the pics:

[dystrust]

Re: Legit Gibson eb-3?

The serial appears to be 928055 which dates to 1968, and the witch hat knobs would also be correct for that period. From what I can tell the violin-style headstock was typically 1969 or 1970, but it's possible that this is an early example or that I got the serial slightly off. From those pics and the little bit I was able to Google, I didn't see anything that screams fake.

[ItsaBass]

Re: Legit Gibson eb-3?

Looks like an EB-3 to me.

There isn't much incentive to fake them. They aren't that sought after, and they aren't that rare. The values are pretty low as a result.

[AlexR]

Re: Legit Gibson eb-3?

The ser #'s for the pre 75 time period got re-used, but in this case the logo might be the more telling aspect. That squared off type logo tends to indicate a 1971 guitar.

Can you look at the pots......there should be a number that starts with 137, which will have a YYMM code after that. This will give a date when the pots were made.......of course the guitar will have been completed anything from 2 months to a year after that typically.

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Legit Gibson eb-3?

Boy, I don't even remember that style of EB-3. I had a late 60's EB-0 which I hated...pure mud sounding. But the EB-3, with its bridge pup, actually sounded pretty good. But I'm grateful for having that EB-0, because it encouraged me to get a Ric for its clarity and brilliant acoustic sounding tone (I was into Yes and other progressive groups at the time). Ultimately I was surprised that that Ric could make any tone I wanted it to. Loved that bass!