In 1972 Gibson produced a series of 'Guitar of the Month' brochures, each dedicated to one of their high end models, the Les Paul Recording guitar, L5-CES, ES-175D, Super 400-CES, ES-355TD-SV and
Byrdland. Each brochure was a single sheet folded into four panels, with details of the instruments themselves, their features, musical purpose, and a little history behind the development of each guitar. Only the Les Paul Recording was a new model; the others were all well established in the Gibson line. Follow the link to see scans and further information on these leaflets and other Gibson guitar catalogues from the CMI and Norlin periods.
Gibson assembled these 30 1/2" scale Kalamazoo KB-1 basses in their electronics plant in Kalamazoo, MI - separate from the main Gibson plant. They used the same components and hardware as on the Gibson EB bass series; but with a pre-painted masonite body and a bolt-on maple neck; a very different construction to Gibson's usual output. Initially the KB bass had a Mustang-shaped body (see the 1966 Kalamazoo KB-1, left), which was soon redesigned with the classic SG shape (see the 1967 Kalamazoo KB-1, right). Have a listen to sound clips of this bass here.
Tonally it is quite similar to many of these basses - the strength of the pickup has a tendancy to overwhelm the subtleties of body/neck wood and construction, but to a keen ear, it does lack some of the richness that set-neck all mahogany bass offer. Compare this bass to a 1966 Gibson EB0, played through the same amp with identical settings here
Guitar: volume 10, tone 10. Amp: volume 3, treble 5, bass 5. Played fingerstyle at the neck. Guitar: volume 10, tone 10. Amp: volume 3, treble 5, bass 5. Played fingerstyle at the bridge. Guitar: volume 10, tone 0. Amp: volume 3, treble 5, bass 5. Played fingerstyle - the EB humbucker is so fat sounding anyway, that turning down the tone control doesn't change the tone as significantly as some other basses. Guitar: volume 10, tone 10. Amp: volume 3, treble 5, bass 5. Even at low volume, you can get a nice crunch to the tone when you dig in with a pick.
