1969 Gibson EB-2D Bass Guitar

This was a BEAUTIFUL 1969 Gibson EB-2D semi-hollow electric bass guitar with a Cherry finish and gorgeous woodgrain. The bass was in great condition. The electronics all worked as they should and the output on the pickups was powerful. It’s got a massive tone. The neck pickup sounded huge and tubby, with the bridge pickup providing the perfect amount of definition and detail. The baritone switch added another distinct tonal flavor it’s like a real middy kinda sound. Frets were in excellent condition. Very low action up and down the fretboard.

History of the EB-2D

The EB-2, first released in 1958, was introduced as the bass guitar equivalent of the popular Gibson ES-335 electric guitar. It initially featured a 335-style semi-hollow body, a short 30.5″ neck, and a single large “Sidewinder” humbucker in the neck position. The electronics were fairly basic, consisting of a single volume and tone knob. It came in sunburst.

With the EB-2N, Gibson opted for a natural finish. In 1959 a “baritone switch” was added to enhance or cut the bass frequencies, depending on its position.  Later, a string mute was added to the bridge, and by 1961 the original banjo-style tuners (with the pegs pointing backwards) were replaced by regular tuning knobs. By 1965, there was also a cherry color option.

In 1966, this EB-2D was introduced. The biggest change was the addition of a mini-humbucker pickup in the bridge position. Electronics included separate volume and tone controls and a 3-way switch to select the pickups in addition to the baritone switch. All of these changes made it a much more versatile bass.

EB Family of Basses

Gibson had an EB-0, EB-1, EB-2, EB-3, and EB-6. And then these had variations – like the EB-2N and EB-2D discussed above. So there’s lots of potential for confusion here. But here are the basic differences:

• EB-0 is the one that looks like the SG guitar. It has one sidewinder mudbucker pickup at the neck position.
• EB-1 was a violin shaped bass (with a screw in kick-stand at the base)
• EB-2 is the companion to the ES-335 guitar, semi-hollow with still just the one mudbucker neck pickup.
• EB-3 comes back to the SG style body, but it added the second pickup (which had been added on the EB-2D)
• EB-6 is Gibson’s six string bass, which they made in both the SG style body and the 335 style semi-hollow body.