Why did I Buy this Abomination? 

I sold this bass to Matt almost a year ago on reverb. The seller had listed it on FB marketplace for crazy cheap with a single blurry picture of the headstock. Drove an hour and 15 minutes at 6 in the morning to grab it not knowing what it was. Guy was a nutbag. So glad you restored it. 😎

Appropriate to play "Sunshine of Your Love" on an EB0

Matthew, at the end the most important thing, to remember, is that guitars and bases are "instruments" to be used and played to create music, I'm really glad that you remain humble, and a superb player, congratulations on your great instruments and songs. Cheers.

Matt, piece of advice: next time you mix epoxy, mix it on a piece of plastic or steel. The cardboard absorbs some of the VOC's in the epoxy formula and can throw your mixture off a bit, resulting in a weaker bond.

For a few minutes there I was back in the 70's with colors swirling around my head.

I play in a band with Pete Cruickshank, bassist and original member of Groundhogs. He played one back in the day, sold it, regrets it. He is using an epiphone version at the moment on some tracks as the sound is so distinctive. He is a great guy, a good friend, and a legend round here. Go listen to some Groundhogs. ( thank christ for the bomb album, also Solid and Split albums ). He will love this video.

Matt Yes You Can!I just Resurrected a 2002 SG Goth Gibson,I vintage wired it with PIO .022 Tone caps,gavitt wire,with Seymour Duncans!The headstock was broke,but I saved Orvilles Face,by Strategic,spline placement,The Control Cavity area was Snapped off as well!The Person Who Routed This,Routed Wayyyy Toooo Thin,nah!So I painted it Matt Ha! Flatt Black!With a Flat SeaL!Not Satans Black,I Mean Satin Black paint!Ha!Take care!Love your Show! I ALL WAYS KEEP IT VINTAGE IF YOU CAN!Take care!Jcsx ,

There's a reason why my Epiphone EB-0 was my first true bass love. Funny enough, I'm planning a mod for it very similar to this (only it's a lipstick tube pickup for the bridge instead of a jazz). After hearing this combo of sounds, now I'm hyped to get on it.

Another great show! The old bass lives again thanks to you. The way you repaired this bass is exactly what it needed. Looks like it should. Played hard, enjoyed, broken, then brought back by you. Well done!!!

I can't believe I missed this one! Very cool indeed. I play (almost exclusively) old modified tore up EB-0's & it always makes me smile to see one in the wild!!

Sometimes a rough and ready repair is just as "correct" as the detailed careful restoration.

I fell in love with that bass when you showed the surface cracks, they're beautiful. Great job on the restoration, I'd have done the exact same thing, only I'd set it up a step lower, DGCF, to enjoy some blues

THAT RIFF IS KILLER MATT!!! I LOVE YOUR PLAYING!! CHEERS!

That guitar sounded great in the intro.

Always enjoy your videos and for the first time I've just checked out some of your tracks. Man, you can play and you've got a great voice. Looking forward to the album.

I have a 1968 EB0 and still play it out when I gig about 2-3 times a year. I love that its still being used 55 years from new... sure there is checking and some missing parts... but nothing is broke. Most of it is original. And the mojo is fantastic!

Awesome job fixing it. Like watching this type video too. Its back to rock'in because you gave it some love. Cheers

Great find! Can’t wait to hear the album.

May the force be w/ you Matt! Looking forward to this one!

Thanks for the content, Matthew. A great product for filling in gaps or missing chunks is epoxy putty. It can be formed to any shape and is sandable, fillable, and paintable. It dries rock hard. I used it to make a missing transom end cap on my boat. Working time is about 5 minutes, so I had to make it in several batches. Play on!

Hipshot makes direct replacement for Gibson 2-point bass bridge.

I am glad you did the repair in a way that matches the condition of the guitar as found. Also, thanks for speeding up the repair process for this video.

I would love to hear it with a blend of both pickups!!!

Love your content Matthew! I bought 'bout a year ago -62 EB0 here in Finland, which was someday modded with P-bass pickup, installed to the bridge position. A previous owner "restored" it to EB3, putting an old late 60s EB3 pickup to the bridge position. These has their own vibe, sound and feel! I hope these basses to get more love in a future...

Cool factor off the charts with this

Outstanding job dude! Looks and sound great! Looking forward to the vinyl release.

On something that old, and beat I think you did it a favor making it playable again, and the fact you will be using it to make music in your studio. Awesome content and playing Matt looking forward to more videos, and your music.

wood glue, splines and pressure. Fill in top gap with wood glue and fine saw dust mix. Back missing piece - level edges of break, cut piece of wood to fit, clamp.

As much as I kinda hate to see an old vintage instrument modded like that, the Jazz pickup is the best tone on that bass

Easy fix fill the cracks with mahogany dust and tite bond glue.

Sounds so synthy really cool another great repair!

its a steal matthew, you can`t be dissapointed with the great sound it produces, who would ever know what it looked like !😉👍😎

Love that you're embracing the Special with fuzz. That's such a nasty sound in the best way

I have a 1973 Gibson SB450 35 inch scale bass with 2 mini humbuckers, Schaller tuners, alder body, maple neck, rosewood fingerboard. I picked it up in a pawn shop in Houston back in 1989 for $200, and have played it on many gigs and studio recordings ever since. Gibson was kind enough to give me information about it when I sent them some photos and the serial number. Quite a few years ago I stripped it down to bare wood and refinished it (saving the Gibson logo on the headstock).

The Jazz Bass pickup looks like a really clean installation. If I had a crack at that, I'd have taken a shot at evening up that hole and filling it with wood. Great video as always.

I had a friend who kept trying to give me a 1970 Gibson EB-3 with the varitone switch and I'm not even a bass player. Odd thing was he had a son who was a bass player. I finally convinced him to give it to him instead.

Personally I don't care much for the mudbucker sound - but I think this bass is something really special. The placement of that Jazz pickup works brilliantly and it's really well balanced. Reminds me of the sort of tone John Entwhistle gets, somewhere between Jazz bass and Rickenbacker territory? What a great instrument for $500!

It might be worth securing the piece that’s come off with dowels to give some stability, especially as the break runs close to a rout for a pot - just my 2 cents

Most people would have just sent it to Joel but you showed us how to make it not perfect but playable. Excellent! 😊

that bass is badass! and surprisingly versatile sounding. When you kicked in the Jazz pup I was not expecting that tone. Perfect bass for having around the studio/house when you need one but dont want to invest too heavy into an expensive vintage example. You played the exact songs I would have on that bass makes me think Jack Bruce!

i own a '72 GIBSON EB3 bass and i love it it's my primary bass. the incredible sound, how well it stays in tune, the light weight, the awesome SG shape (i also own a GIBSON SG guitar), the awesome short scale neck that's also nice and thin..... everythang. why these basses were not more popular i'll never know. i also suck at working on guitars so watching you do what you do in vids like these is fascinating.

Very cool!!!...love your vids and tunes man!🎵

Well done Matt ! Love that thing, always wanted one..

Nice Mathew Real tone range and well played

I think of 3 names every time I see one of these things. -Andy Fraser -Mike Watt -Jack Bruce They definitely wrung out everything that plucky bass had to offer back in the day.

You are so cool Matthew! Great job, great video.

Good job Matt! 👍

That will be a killer studio addition.

Yeah, I would fix the Electronics to blend both Pickups like Berry Oakly did with the Allman Brothers. Great video as usual :)

You got da funk, ain't no shame in that! Well done Matt....

Well done !!!

That fender pickup definitely helps things out. :)

It don't matter how messed up it is it's still awesome. Very cool. Definitely interested in a cd too. Send some to Canada.

Love these old instruments!

Pre-reliced. Great acquisition!

The EB-0 was my brother's main bass through our earliest period in the 60s. He is still kicking himself for getting rid of it. Great axe.

Would pay to hear a whole album of that first jam. Dirty as hell like I like it.

That was fascinating, thank you for sharing.

I wouldnt use epoxy! In my opinion that bass has an awsome look. If you use regular wood glue, not only will it be strong enough, but once the excess glue squeezes out the front you can dirty it up a bit in the gaps. That will make the repair look old.

I wrote my first comment before the end of the video. And as i still would have liked to have seen some old yellowish glue on the front, it still looks incredible. I hadn't realized it was missing such a huge chunk in the back. The epoxy was definitely the right choice back there. Nice work, and yes you absolutely did the right thing by repairing it yourself. Thats clearly a players bass. If that break had been repaired back in the day it would have been done the same way. On the fly with whatever was available. So that repair is keeping with the feel of the bass. If it had been a case queen otherwise, then i would have said a professional fix was in order.

When I was a kid, just getting into playing during the mid-70s, my dream was to get an EB0. The only other bass I knew about and had decided I'd have to have someday was a Jazz. When I saw the video's thumbnail and clocked a Jazz p'up on an EB0, it was a goosebumpy holeeey shiiit moment in the best way possible. I love that you fixed it up enough to make it playable. Like people, guitars pick up scars, cracks, and dents over the years that become part of their stories. A full resto would've wiped all that away. When you were playing it, all I saw was a well-loved bass doing what it was created to do. I've had a couple Jazzes over the years, but never an EB0. It always seemed that when I had the money for one, none were available; of course, when I didn't...there was always one for sale at one of the shops I used to frequent. Now that I'm a couple months away from 60 and at a place in life where I could afford one, and they're not difficult to find, arthritis in my hands has all but ended my playing for more than a few minutes here and there. Keep up the great work!

Hi Matt, I saw that Bass on the site where you got it. I am kind of looking for an SG six-string and I need another project like a hole in the head anyway so I didn't bid against you. Glad you got it. :)

Love the sg bass! Jack Bruce sound.

Love it. Sounds great!

Can’t wait to get the album on CD. I wish you had pumped the volume up on the test play. It is hard to hear it with my "hippie from the 60's" ears. If they told me I would be nearly deaf from listening to rock and roll so loud in my youth, I would have not listen! or Maybe I couldn't have heard them anyway. Nice fix on the OBG.

My first bass is a short scale Kalamazoo with that body shape and same "mudbucker" single pickup and static bridge. I converted it to long scale with an adjustable bridge. I would have routed out the broken areas so as to glue in mahogany plugs, but I'm a carpenter. I do wood. That can still be done. Now that I'm 62, and I've collected over the years a Rick 4001, a Jazz and an Ibanez 5 string, I don't play the Kalamazoo as much, but I sometimes still want that sound. I like your videos.

That thing is a piece of art. I love it!

min wax makes a good wood bondo that is structurally really strong. you first paint on a (watery) min wax "wood hardener" to wood surface to be bonded. a lot more workable than runny epoxy. carpenters use it to fill structural beams and posts that are too costly to replace. Love your channel!

Coincidence? Man, I have to do the same thing. In 1979 my L6 got smashed and broke a bit worse but real similar. Been in a case for 45yrs, but I'm fixing that thing. I loved that guitar. Incredible how close the repair you're doing is what I need to do - damn wish that never happened.

Honestly, I think these are crap with just the mudbucker up front, but that JB bridge pickup really sounds goooood on a short scale. Much better than I expected. Solid purchase, Matt.

I have a similar one closer to 1960. The jazz pick is a nice counter to the "mud bucker". I tried so hard to play "lead Bass" like Jack bruce. I now find decades later I have worn down a few frets to the point it needs work. I think worth the effort and great to play. It will never have great vintage collector value but I plan on keeping mine.

You would do well to replace that stock two-point bridge with a hipshot supertone, they're more adjustable and can be flush-mounted to avoid the "evertilt" situation

My buddy had a ‘69 EBO forever. Such a rad bass

I have a red '62. I like it because it is light for a bass, and sounds good with 8 X 10 speakers. I am a Jack Bruce fan.

at this point, why not mod it a little more and give a 3 way switch. The blend of the two could be really interesting. Great video man!

Awesome Gibson SG bass. It's definitely worth every penny you spent and worth keeping for sure. 👍

I have the same exact bass, same bridge and tunners, it was my first bass. Got it when I was 13 in 1976, if I remember mine is a 1966. Most of them came with the hated 3-point bridge but I have the same on yours with the plastic saddle. I was young and dump but because of that Mudbucker I decided I wanted a P bass but could not afford one. So a couple of years after I had it I put a Dimarzio P pup where it would normally go, in fact Dimarzio's were not even popular because they were only out a few years. Had a 3 way switch so I can isolate each pup and blend both, it did help with both pups on it gave the bass better highs. The Mudbucker with my 70's Ampeg V4b 2x15 cab with any kind of volume it felt like an earthquake. I was a big Jack Bruce fan and of coarse Andy Frazier from Free, also Felix Peppalardi from Mountain played only the shortscale EB-0. Jack and Andy most of the time played the EB-3L, that's longscale. Mine is kinda in retirement because a few years back I noticed a hair line Crack at the neck joint just like the SG's do. Have fun with it, I still play it at home sometimes because it is such a cool bass to play.

Girl, that is a mudbucker lol! Apparently if the coils in the pickup are loosely wound, the sound is bigger & brighter. 🤷‍♀️

That thing sounds WICKED!! Love it!!

You should dowel it in place prior tp the glue idea.

That thing sounds sooo good!!

That's the SG known break. Right below the control cavity where it is super thin. Drop it and that's what you get.

That things great. Put your love to it, I'm sure itl look great.

Hi Mathew! Wow, I bought a used EB-0 in the late 60's just like this. I was and still am a huge Jack Bruce fan but back then I couldn't afford the EB-3 like he used with the bridge pick-up. Eventually I scrounged together some money and bought the Fender Jazz bass pick-up because I didn't have the extra $5.00 for the Gibson bridge pick-up. I was 19 yo and didn't know what I was doing. The pickups sounded terrible together (possibly I wired them out of phase or they had mismatched output level?) but I didn't know about those things back then. Yours sure looks a lot like my old EB-0 but the Jazz pick-up sounds so much better than mine did. I even added the gold Gibson knobs cuz Jack had some on his EB-3. I hated the sound I was getting and sold it a couple of years later. Brings back a lot of memories.

damn that thing sounds great. love the funky old battle scars haha, makes is even cooler

GOOD DECISION. NOTHING YOU DID CAN'T BE REVERSED IF YOU WANT IT RESTORED PROPERLY DOWN THE ROAD. BTW, IT SOUNDS GREAT!

love the bass vid!

Freakin love this thing..!

I had a similar thing happen to me when I was refinishing my 1965 Gibson Firebird non-reverse that I had bought at a guitar store in my hometown in the 80s. There was a name carved into the back plate that was clearly Scandinavian, so I went searching on the internet and after some research was able to track down the original owner. It is a Swedish guitarist who had the Firebird stolen after a gig in Stockholm and shortly thereafter turned up here with me in the North German Bremen. Maybe there will be a chance to return the Firebird to him someday.

Funny enough, I also own a late 60s Gibson EBO with a 60s fender single coil in the bridge poison (just barely in better shape than this)

RIP Jack Bruce, I am pretty sure he used to play one of these.

That figured laquer break up looks cool.

Ozone was a rock/blues group around in the late '70s, and early 80's, had a deal with Motown, and then just sort of disappeared.

I sort of had the same thing happen to me. Got a 79 LPC natural, and at a certain angle in the light you can see the out line of some old English lettering spelling out Dan. I always wonder who Dan was and what band he played in / gigs he may have used it for.

Compliments that brown SG from a few months back. If that broken off piece wasn't as severe you could just leave it off. Alas, it'll mess with the pots if missing.

Sweet bass! ✌🏻

That thing sounds incredible

Ozone Brothers? Could be a Commander Cody and his Lost Airmen reference? Back In The Ozone again!

nice tones!"

How does one get into finding these player grade vintage guitars? Absolutely love this stuff! The history in these instruments makes me feel like they sort of obtain a soul at some point...you know? Through the wear and inscriptions and whatever else they've picked up on their journey through life as a guitar...it's like tattoos for guitars. Such a beautiful romantic subject.