"I think they missed the boat with the New Grabber. Set neck, chrome pup, wrong tuners and the matte black finish doesn't in my mind capture the essence of the Grabber."
How anal you are, Scott!
The sustain of the Grabber II (thanks to the set neck), the non-grafted headstock and the new TB Plus sliding pup wipes the floor with any seventies Grabber. Unless you see the budget aspect as the essence of the old Grabbers. The Grabber II compares to an old Grabber like a Gibson TBird does to an Epi TBird. It's simply in a different league.
Especially you with your preference of a strong rock bass sound played over a, errrrm,
minimalist rig
would be in ecstasy if a Grabber II moved the air behind you. It's in my book the most non-compromising rock bass Gibson have ever built, beating even the LP Standard for sheer aggression.
Come to the dark side, Scott!