1973 Gibson EB-2D custom gold hardware

Gibson EB-2D
 
The seller says he bought it from new, as a custom order....

Nice looking, unrealistic price for a later one.  He may be off by a year or two.

Are we sure that's gold hardware, or just bad tarnish?

Well I specifically asked the seller if there was any paperwork relating to the custom order - he said no. I asked whether he personally ordered it (he claims to be the original owner) and he just said:
 
"The guitar was ordered specifically with the gold hardware"

Seeing as this is for sale in a shop, and his lack of detail about how it was ordered, I would say there is a big question here.

It may be original, but did he order it? It may also have been plated by anyone.

I actually think gold is overkill. I vastly prefer Chrome anyway.

Gold hardware is a real PITA; it wears too quickly and then looks 10 times worse than chrome. :frown:

Mike.

This guitar was ordered as a custom shop instrument

Smells like bull.  This is great speak if you read ebay about "custom shops" all week long, but there was never a custom SHOP.  So it is sales babble.  I suspect the seller hasn't noticed the push button was changed.  And a few years ago a Custom truss rod cover and a plating job at a jewelers were both cheap and easy to do.  That doesn't mean it isn't possibly an interesting example.  It is possible that it finally left the factory in 73, even with the old style tuners.  Typically the end run EB-2s have the later Schallers, but I have seen way too many Gibson basses with seriously out of date parts mix ups, like bar bridges on models that should have evertilts, late 50s basses with 60s chrome parts, and solid headstocks on what would appear to have been a slot heat era, etc.  I have always suspected Gibson would throw screw ups and slow orders into a get to it later pile.  The 70s label is kind of fun, and not out of line with a late/last production model.  So, with no paperwork and the only unusual things being wrong and missing parts and gold plating, I say it is a nice yarn, and not worth a penny extra.

It is possible that it finally left the factory in 73, even with the old style tuners. Typically the end run EB-2s have the later Schallers, but I have seen way too many Gibson basses with seriously out of date parts mix ups, like bar bridges on models that should have evertilts, late 50s basses with 60s chrome parts, and solid headstocks on what would appear to have been a slot heat era, etc. I have always suspected Gibson would throw screw ups and slow orders into a get to it later pile.

oh yeah, I was going to talk about that.... note also the raised position of the crown inlay - which stopped in late '63/early '64.
 
Also no 'made in USA' - which i'd expect on a 1973-made neck.
 
The serial number seems to be 128979. Which is 1963 and 70-75.
 
So I think this is an old neck. Necks were stamped with consecutive serial number before they were attached to guitars back then. So this neck may have sat on the 'pile' for 10 years, already numbered, just waiting for the day they needed one. If this were the case, and it was entered in Gibsons leger as a 1973 shipment, it might explain why some of these numbers were used twice... they may not have been, just odd serial numbers shipped wildly out of sync.
 
Alternately, someone may have just stuck an old neck on a newer body, but if so, it was done pretty seemlessly.
 
Another interesting example for sure
 
On balance i'm undecided about the gold, but if it is a 1973, which is plausable, it would have to have been special ordered anyway, even with chrome hardware.

The "Custom" truss rod cover many times just signified a guitar slighly different from the standard model. My 1967 335 had one because a Bigsby was added. My brother-in-law's 1972 SG Deluxe has one because the Bigby was omited. The seller of the SG Deluxe tried to tell us it was a SG Custom, the price was right so I didn't care what he thought it was! I personally would pay more for a guitar with chrome hardware than one with gold.