The Gibson EBO, or “SG” bass as some call it, is one of my favorite vintage basses. I love old shots of Jack Bruce from Cream or Jim Lea from Slade (below) playing the bass.

But getting one to play right can be a big hassle. Especially the old, two post bridge. These bridges can tilt forward to the point where the bass is virtually unplayable. I’ve seen different ways of trying to remedy this; like a stack of quarters under the front side of the bridge, or a screw mounted underneath to push the front up. But these methods never seem to work.

The best way I have found to stabilize the bridge is to add pressure to the back of the bridge.

I do this by adding two 1 1/2″ sheet rock screws to the back of the bridge. My method does involves some alteration to the original parts but the holes that you need to drill are almost totally hidden. The first thing I do is to disassemble the bridge and remove the saddles. Then I drill two holes underneath the “G” and the “E” intonation adjustment screws at the back end of the bridge. Next thing to do is to put the bridge in place and drill holes into the body directly under the two new bridge holes for the 1 1/2″ sheet rock screws. Now I insert the screws through the bridge and into the new holes in the body.

The new screws can be used to level and stablize the bridge. Then, I string up the bass with just the “A” and the “D” strings. I set the action with these two string only because I need to get to the new stabilizing screws to set the action, and the “G” and “E” strings get in the way. Once I have it set nicely, I add the “E” and the “G” strings. The new screws work like a charm, however they do make it very hard to adjust the action. You may have to remove the “E” and the “G” and couple of time before you get it. The extra set-up time is worth it becuase the bass will play like a dream and the bridge will never tilt again!!