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Gibson EB-3 neck pickup specs?

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9/25/2002 8:15 PM

Dr. Strangelove

Gibson EB-3 neck pickup specs?

Anybody know anything about the original EB-3 neck pickup? I'm looking for minimal specs: magnet type and DC resistance.

The original EB-3 had a production run from 1961-79.

The neck pickups are large, squarish, and low profile. Wiring diagram is at:
<http://www.vintage-bass.com/Informations/Diagrams/gibsoneb3.jpg>

Gibson has reissued it (sort of) under the Epiphone name
<http://www.epiphone.com/bass/acf.asp?mod=be>
and calls the pickup a humbucking sidewinder after a 1972 Bill Lawrence design. A recent Lawrence sidewinder is at:
<http://www.billlawrence.com/Images/Pickups/910%20view.jpg>

-drh
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9/26/2002 2:41 AM

I have a working one in the shop now and can get you specs later but I can tell you its a crappy sounding unit. Very muddy without much tone.
They also used a similar pickup in the Ripper or Grabber bass with the rotary switch that did stuff like series, parallel.

I have also heard comments that the sidewinder sounds kind of dark which was my experience making a "single coil" double bobbin sideways pickup. Even though it was wired and magnetically oriented to function like a single coil it sounded more like a humbucker.

9/26/2002 4:12 AM

Jason Lollar wrote:

quote:
"I have a working one in the shop now and can get you specs later but I can tell you its a crappy sounding unit. Very muddy without much tone."

Thanks, Jason.

The crappy sound is a given and probably why Jack Bruce used the neck 'bucker all the time (or so it sounds).

A friend said that the early one used 25k winds of #42 or no more than 12,500 feet = 20.75k DC resistance max. Small wonder that it's a mud box.

Any info on the original magnet size and shape?

Ugly jibe: an EB-3 would sound a lot better with a J-bass pickup in the neck.

Heh.

-drh
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9/26/2002 8:10 PM

This one clocks out at 27K at 68 degrees in my shop.
There are two magnets located on the outsides of long ends of the pickup, one on each side north up dimension 2-1/2" X 1/8" X 7/16".
The coils are lage app. 1/2" tall X 3/4" wide X 2-1/2" long.
I guess Jack proves that its not the guitar that makes the music in every case. Extra Centrifical Forze on Frank Zappas Apostrophe, thats some pretty good Jack Bruce soloing.

this particular bass doesnt have the scroll headstock but does have the neck to body joint that does not flush out, the body sticks out from the neck, something I only recall seeing on early SG/Les Pauls but am unsure of.

9/26/2002 6:47 PM
Dr. Strangelove	re: EB-3 neck pup specs Thanks, Jason. That pup is huge. -drh --

9/26/2002 8:06 PM
Mark Hammer	Buddy I played with years ago had an EBO with a split Precision pickup near the bridge added on, and the frets removed (slots filled with plastic wood). Sounded fabulous.

9/26/2002 11:51 PM
Greg Simon	Hey Jason, is that sideways pickup similar to the idea I was floating around a couple years ago for one of those with the bobbins being flipped on their sides with a magnet or polepiece in between the two sideways bobbins? If so, there's got to be a way to make it NOT sound like mud? Greg Simon

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