I'm winning the EB3 race! Neener-neener!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/danfcrea/sets/72157616140553831/ My dad is refinishing a 1969 EB0 and modifiying it to Phil's specs as we speak. It was a basket-case I bought off Ebay with the finish and all hardware stripped, so I'm not modding a real collectible. If anyone knows how to reach Bob Thomas (if he's alive), I'd love to ask him a few questions about his paint job. (Edwin's awesome pic has been very helpful! But we aren't sure if it's airbrushed, stenciled, hand-painted, or what...)
I'm very nearly positive that Phil's bass started out as an EB3 not an EB0 - they were both short scale in the 60's, identical in every way except that the EB3 had the bridge pickup, two extra knobs, a 5-ply pickguard instead of 3-ply, and generally an inlaid Gibson logo instead of a decal. I believe that Phil & crew bought the EB3 mostly to stick the Starfire's Hagstrom pickups into while they fit all the prototype Alembic electronics into the Starfire's bigger body.
Incidentally, these basses fit perfectly into stock SG cases! They're an inch too long for most electric guitar cases though.
Phil did play with his fingers for a year or two around this time. You can see it in the Festival Express video among others. By '72 or so he was back to almost exclusively picking.
My research confirms the Darlington Pair Emitter-Follower theory, one per pickup. I'm having those built when the bass is ready.
Bassman - who built the bridge on your M-85? I believe the bridge on Phil's was just the stock 1969 Gibson ever-tilt bridge with an added tailpiece but those stock bridges are pretty crappy and hard to come by. Your bridge is exactly what I want to use.
