"Jack Bruce"

1965 Gibson EB-3

This early 1965 EB-3 bass guitar weighs just 7.70 lbs. Ultra thin (1 3/8 inches) solid mahogany body with highly contoured edges. one-piece mahogany neck with a nice, fat nut width of just over 1 11/16 inches, a short scale length of 30 1/2 inches.and a wonderful medium-to-thick profile. Unbound rosewood fretboard with 20 original jumbo frets and inlaid pearl dot position markers. Headstock with inlaid pearl "Gibson" logo and pearl crown inlay. Bell-shaped truss-rod cover. Two-on-a-side Kluson right-angle tuners with large cloverleaf metal buttons. One large metal-covered four-polepiece humbucking pickup in the neck position with an output of 13.34k and one smaller metal-covered four-polepiece mini-humbucker pickup (small rectangular label "Patent No. / 2,737,842" on the underside) with black plastic surround in the bridge position with an output of 7.04k. Five-layer black over white plastic pickguard secured by five screws. Original ebony finger rest on the pickguard and original metal hand rest, both secured by two screws. Four controls (two volume, two tone) plus four-way rotary selector switch and jack socket, all on lower treble bout. Black plastic bell-shaped knobs with metal tops. Combined single-saddle bar bridge/tailpiece with adjustable mute. The pots are dated "137 6421" (CTS May 1964). Inside the control cavity, in addition to the four controls and the four-way switch, is the original transformer, stamped "GA-90-1C." The serial number "279865" is stamped in blind on the back of the headstock. There is the absolute bare minimum of belt buckle wear on the back of the guitar, some extremely light finish checking and a few very minor and fairly insignificant surface chips, mainly on the sides. The original pickguard has one tiny piece missing from the treble horn edge and two small cracks by the screws on the other two edges. Otherwise this fifty three year old 'Cream' bass guitar is in exceptionally fine (9.00) condition with the cherry red finish bright and unfaded. Complete with the original Gibson folding hang-tag. One of the last of the great EB-3s as used by the immortal Jack Bruce. Housed in the original Gibson four-latch, shaped black hardshell case with orange plush lining (9.00).

"The EB-3 was originally introduced in 1961 as the successor to the thinline EB-2. Built with the ultra thin SG body-style, it was the first Gibson electric bass equipped with two pickups for added tonal versatility. The EB-3 proved a fairly enduring model and it was eventually discontinued in 1979. Between 1961 and 1965 the model did not undergo any major modification. The EB-3 is equipped with the same pickup as the EB-0 in the neck position and a 4-pole mini-humbucker in the bridge position. The 4-position rotary switch provides the usual two pickup combinations plus a baritone voicing for the front pickup" (A.R. Duchossoir, Gibson Electrics -- The Classic Years, p. 194).

"The best known player of the EB-3, [Jack] Bruce adopted Gibson's distinctive sounding bass while a member of Cream in the 1960s" (Tony Bacon and Barry Moorhouse, The Bass Book, p. 23).