Gibson EB-1

The Gibson EB-1 is a bass guitar that Gibson introduced in 1953. It was their first bass guitar.^[3]

Gibson EB-1
Manufacturer	Gibson Guitar Corporation
Period	1953–1958; 1968–1970; 1999
Construction
Body type	Solid
Neck joint	Set
Scale	30.5"
Woods
Body	mahogany
Neck	mahogany
Fretboard	rosewood
Hardware
Pickup(s)	1953 model: 1 single coil[1] 1970 reissue: 1 Sidewinder humbucker[1] 1999 Epiphone: 1 Sidewinder humbucker[2]
Colors available
Mahogany Brown

History

Magazine advertement (1955)

Gibson first marketed the EB-1 (initially calling it simply the Electric Bass) in 1953^[1] in response to the success of the Fender Precision Bass. Rather than styling the body after an electric guitar, they shaped the EB-1 to resemble a double bass, even painting false f-holes on the top of the body. EB-1 production ended in 1958, when Gibson replaced it with the EB-2 and the later EB-0. They renamed the Electric Bass to the EB-1 at that time.

Gibson reissued the EB-1 in 1970 with several changes—including no false f-holes, standard right-angled tuning machines,^[4] and a chrome bridge cover. They discontinued this reissue in 1972. Epiphone (a subsidiary of Gibson) began marketing a Korean-manufactured EB-1 in 1999. This version of the EB-1 uses a bolt-on neck construction with a longer 32" scale,^[2] as well as replacing the original bridge with a more conventional three-point adjustable bass bridge.

Epiphone produces a violin-shaped bass known as the Viola Bass.^[5][6] However, it is not modeled after the EB-1, but the Höfner 500/1. Eastwood Guitars produces and sells their own version of the EB-1, virtually identical to the original in design.^[7]

Design and construction

The EB-1 had a solid mahogany body finished with a brown stain, and a raised pickguard, which was originally colored brown to more closely match the color of the body. It had a 30.5" scale^[1] set neck—rather than the 34" scale of the Fender Precision Bass or the 41.5" scale of the 3/4-sized upright bass favored by many upright bassists of the time. To appeal to upright bass players, the EB-1 had a telescopic end pin so bassists could choose to play the EB-1 in an upright position,^[1] as well as horizontally. False f-holes and purfling on the body imitated the appearance of an upright bass.

Gibson mounted the pickup directly against the base of the neck, rather than the mid-body position of the Precision Bass, which gave the EB-1 a deeper, but less defined tone. The EB-1 had planetary banjo tuners,^[1] rather than the right-angled tuners of most other guitar and bass designs. More recent reissues have featured more conventional construction techniques, with standard issue tuning pegs and a standard bass bridge.