Gibson EB-2
| EB-2 | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Manufacturer | Gibson |
| Period | 1958–1961, 1964–1972 |
| Construction | |
| Body type | semi-hollow |
| Neck joint | glued-in |
| Scale | 30.5" |
| Woods | |
| Body | Laminated maple top, back & sides |
| Neck | Mahogany |
| Fretboard | Brazilian rosewood |
| Hardware | |
| Bridge | Fixed |
| Pickup(s) | One humbucking pickup, 2 for the EB-2D |
| Colors available | |
| Natural, sunburst, and later cherry | |
The Gibson EB-2 was an electric bass guitar model produced by the Gibson Guitar Corporation from 1958 to 1972, with a hiatus from 1962 to 1963. When production ceased in 1972, a total of 8017 instruments has been built, with 2102 of them being EB-2D's.[1] Willie Moseley, in Vintage Guitar, referred to the bass guitar as possibly "Gibson's biggest bass invention"; the instrument, however, was not a great commercial success, and the Rivoli, the sister model made by Epiphone, may have been used more than the original Gibson.[2]
Description
Introduced in 1958, the EB-2 was the bass guitar equivalent of the popular Gibson ES-335. It featured a 335-style semi-hollow body, a short 30.5" scale neck and one large "Sidewinder" humbucking pickup in the neck position. The electronics consisted of a single volume and tone knob. The EB-2N had natural finish, the EB-2 sunburst. The next year a "Baritone switch" was added, which enhanced or cut the bass frequencies, and later a string mute was added to the bridge.[2] By 1961 the original banjo-style tuners (with the pegs pointing backwards) were replaced by regular tuners, and by 1965 cherry was a color option also.[3]
In 1966, the EB-2D was introduced, which added a mini-humbucker pickup in the bridge position (like the EB-3). Electronics included separate volume and tone controls and a 3-way switch to select the pickups, besides the "baritone" switch.[2][1]
Variants
In 2012 Gibson came out with a "Midtown Standard" bass, a semi-hollow bass loosely based on the EB-2D. Although cosmetically very alike, it supports a long-scale 34" neck, a solid mahogany body with routed tonechambers and a flat maple top, which is considerably smaller than the original 335-shape (somewhere between an ES-335 and a Les Paul shape) and different electronics.[4]
