Gibson EB3 BASS - Black

[brism37]

Hi, I have a 60's (Late??) model Black EB3 which I would like to know a bit about the history of. I bought this Bass in c. 1968 from a guy in Manchester (uk) (I neglected to ask him how old it was or if he had had it from new - I was only 18 at the time!) It was this colour when I bought it and I have no reason to believe that it had been customised. I liked the look of it and it was in good condition. The only serial # I can find is stamped on the back of the Headset with '48PP' I can't find any other numbers on it anywhere. All the fittings are Nickel, not chrome if that helps.

 

Any idea of value?

 

I can take some pics of this If anyone can offer up some info.

 

Regards

 

Brian (UK)

[brism37]

Looking into this a bit more I have taken off the back plate to reveal the pots, and hey presto the # revealed is AT1376344, telling me it was made in 1963 in the week 44 from the CTS factory. Some custom colours were produced, eg. Pelham Blue, but no mention of a black model.

 

Still no idea of value and what is the significance of the 48PP stamped on the back of the headstock?

 

Any comments gratefully welcomed,

 

Brian

[ksdaddy]

The best thing to do is to post the pictures onto a free site like tinypic (no login or account needed) and then just paste the link to them here. You're correct on the pots of course but strange things can (and have) happened with pots so I wouldn't put all my faith in that alone. I wouldn't dare guess a value because that's very volatile and it varies so much from region to region and also the method of selling (not that you said anything about selling, but it can have quite a range!).

 

Please post some pics here and we'll try to help. Try to keep them under 600x800 and under 100K, that way they'll load fast. That may be stating the obvious but some have posted huge pics without thinking.

[brism37]

Hi, here are some pics any further thoughts? I'm not after selling my much treasured Gibson btw, I've had it over 45 years and I guess I'm rather attached to it, bfn

 

Brian

 

 

 

[ksdaddy]

It's sure got me stumped. It's possible the "serial number" (for lack of a better word) of 48PP might have been some reference to a number assigned by the R&D dept. Black was definitely not a stock color in that time frame (assuming the pots are original of course) so they may have cranked out a few with different colors just for the marketing/sales dept to mull over. Stuff like that has happened for years and years but probably most of those instruments never saw the light of day; they could have been given away to prospective clients, sold to employees, or bandsawed in half and any variation in between.

 

I don't know of any difference in serial numbering when exported; the only example I know of are some from the 40s and 50s that were exported to Canada and were stamped "Made in USA"; this was long before the conventional stamp on the back of the headstock that came about around 1970. Who knows? As long as we're guessing, it could have been a sample shipped to Gibson's UK distributor at the time.

 

The only thing I can see out of place is the selector switch knob; I think it should have been a chicken head knob... and that's so minor it's hardly worth mentioning.

[brism37]

Well thanks for the comments, the selector switch was changed by me, the original came loose and this one seemed to fit ok so I used it! Well spotted!! The pots are original as far as I know, I have never changed or modified the electrics, I did put a new chrome cover on the main pickup (purchased thro' a gibson dealer) the other one was nickel and rather dull.