Gibson Introduces Five-String EB Bass
Gibson is building upon their recently relaunched EB Bass series with a 5-string version. As with its 4-string accomplice, the new Five-String EB Bass takes its body shape from the original EB’s SG-inspired body and gives it an offset-double-cutaway design.
The bass is built with a Grade-A ash body, a Grade-A maple neck featuring a rounded ’50s profile, and a rosewood fingerboard. It sports a pair of the company’s new EB Bass pickups, designed by Jim DeCola, which are made with Alnico V rod magnets with proprietary winding that Gibson says allows for versatile performance. Each pickup has a separate volume control that can be popped up to access a frequency tuned coil tap to get a single-coil sounds.
Hardware includes a Babicz Full Contact bass bridge and Grover sealed-gear tuners with a 20:1 ratio.
The Gibson Five-String EB Bass will be available soon with a street price around $1,159. For more info, check out the Gibson website.
Gibson Five-String EB Bass Specs:
- Body: Grade-A Ash
- Neck: Grade-A Maple
- Neck Shape: Rounded ’50s Profile
- Construction: Glued-in Neck
- Fingerboard: Rosewood
- Frets: 20
- Scale: 34?
- Inlays: Acrylic Dot
- Nut: Corian
- Slots: Gibson PLEK System
- Tuners: Grover 20:1
- Bridge: Babicz Full Contact
- Knobs: Black Top Hat with Silver Inserts
- Pickguard: Tortoise Shell
- Pickups: DeCola Humbuckers
- Controls: 2 Push/Pull Volumes, 1 Tone Control
- Finish: Nitrocellulose
- Colors: Vintage Gloss Fireburst, Vintage Gloss Natural
- Case Included
In his time with No Treble, Kevin has met hundreds of amazing bassists and interviewed icons like Jack Casady, Victor Wooten, Les Claypool, Marcus Miller, and more. He's a gigging bassist performing jazz in Northern Virginia and bluegrass with The Plate Scrapers up and down the East Coast. Kevin appreciates all genres of music, from R&B to metal and everything in between. Connect with Kevin on Facebook and check his performance schedule on his website.
And…it’s nearly a grand cheaper than the 4 string version….:S.
Another over priced Gibson. :/
Looks like a Warwick and a Burns Bison had a baby…
Can we get an Epi version of this? I would rock that in an instant.
Grade A Ash body, PLEKed fretboard, Babicz Bridge. I don’t think it’s a bad bass at all. I would like to play it. :-/
A bit of fender , a bit of Music man!
please be creative!
and why the Hel onlyl 20 frets ~!
well,,, I guess it’s not gibson, it looks like mix gibson and fender. just design.
I own it. Kicks major butt. Part MM, part Fender, part Gibson .. yup, that’s about right. However, its a best of breed. Best bass I’ve ever played.
I must go back and comment almost a year later .. the fretboard width, particularly at the higher end, is a bit too wide. I regret not having gotten a four string. These days I enjoy playing a Fender 41 reissue which even with its old style U shaped neck is much more comfortable to play. Too bad as sound of EB5 I own is OUTSTANDING and quality is SUPERB. Getting 4 string over 5 was my “bad”, not Gibson’s. It’s a instrument whose tone is indicative of fine pickups, a well designed massive bridge, and fine wood with great tonal qualities.
I meant ’51 reissue. Sorry for typo.