The Last Bass Outpost
Gear Discussion Forums => Gibson Basses => Topic started by: Denis on June 27, 2011, 12:07:46 PM
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According to their used gear page on their website, Guitar Center in Houston has a nice looking 1978 Grabber for $600.
Guitar Center North Houston
Houston, Texas 77090
281-537-9100
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Haha, I misread it as "Grabbed for good price at Guitar Center" - I was wondering, what did you get? ;D
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Didn't get nothin'! Guitar Center's website doesn't link to each item so I couldn't post a link to the actual Grabber. If I hadn't been so lazy I would have posted a photo of it!
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Yeah, their used listings are a pain in the butt!
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I figured I'd piggyback on this old thread since it matches, and I don't feel this warrants a new thread.
This is in the Guitar Center in Concord, CA (about a half-hour east from San Francisco):
(http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/3313/grabberi.jpg)
It's $750 - I don't know much about these so I don't know what to look for or how to judge it. I haven't had a chance to play it. I'm not particularly interested - there are other things I would prefer to spend the money on - but thought it might be good to record it here. Is there a way to tell how old it is or distinguish between features?
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Looks earlier than '78. By '78 they had the blacked out headstock with gold Gibson logo, Body looks like alder not maple like the later ones.
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This begs the question, did Grabbers go through several variations in the body shape like the Rippers did?
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I think they did, but they were here and gone so fast that I never kept track. Jules?
GC has two different search methods - the main page, and the vintage/used one, and they both stink. Combine that with some stores put stuff up right away, and others seem to let stuff sit on the floor forever before it hits the net and you have to rely on a spotter, like Denis, so thanks!
I have had really good luck with their inventory search though. You can see how stuff can be priced hundreds of dollars differently from store to store. I have bought a couple of things from them that way, and found they are regularly priced well below ebay and gbase for odd ducks. I got a great bass from them, and I had been looking for that particular type for quite a long while. It was a few hundo less than I ever saw it at a vintage place. Not a Gibson, though.
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I've only seen the Ripper with that early body shape. My belief is that the Grabber does not exist with this shape, at least as a production model.
According to Grabber shipping figures (http://www.flyguitars.com/gibson/bass/GrabberShippingFigures.php) there were 200 or so Grabbers shipped in '74, and one in '73. The '75 catalogue (http://www.vintageguitarandbass.com/gibson/catalogues/1975_bass_index.php) was printed in late '74, and the new body style is shown there. They don't show up in price lists until Jan '75. I have Gibson letters from Dec '74 describing it as brand new. So I feel the '74s were built right at the end of '74 and had the new-style bodies.
But the one in '73 (if it actually exists) was presumably a prototype Bill Lawrence made at the same time as he did the Ripper, potentially with the old shape. Prototypes were usually done in racks of 8 if they were to be shipped/demonstrated, and there was a long wait until more were made in '74. Furthermore, a patent application for the Grabber was filed in Aug '74 under Bruce Bolen's name. So I do have my doubts about this one being real, or at least being something that was actually shipped to a customer. If it does exist, it may even have other early Ripper features (set neck?). Did Bill just design a sliding pup, and suggest it for a new model?
The earliest Grabber I have a record of with a black headstock was a 6 digit, most likely 1975
The latest Grabber I have a record of with a natural headstock was an 8 digit, very early 1978
So in summary, IMHO Grabbers didn't change much, and with the exception of different finish options in the early eighties, but to be proven wrong would make my day!
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If I get back out there I'll try and give it a test-drive. I was going to say that I've never played one of these but I think I played a Ripper once in a store in Japan. Judging by people's reactions, this isn't a fantastic deal, it looks fair though for GC, especially if it's in good condition (which it looks to be on the surface).
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$750 isn't too bad at all for store. They tend to go for between $600 and $800 for relatively nice ones on ebay.
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Mine had an Alder body. Did they ever make maple body Grabbers?
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Didn't change much? :o Let's see ...
(http://www.soundonsight.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/trainspotting_1024.jpg)
The only thing that was constant was the body shape and the pup set up, young man! Everything else pretty much changed:
- there were first alder bodies and then maple ones, they sound remarkably different, with the alder ones fuzzier and livelier and the maple ones offering more focus and depth,
- the first generation did not have a scarfed neck, but was one-piece, with a straight, but recessed/lowered headstock in Fender style (correspongingly, the three screw trc is concave not level), likewise a slotted Fender style truss rod bell and even a skunk stripe, only maple boards available
- the next generation had a a single piece neck with a scarfed headstock angled back - the classic Gibson hex truss rod bell makes an entrance, still only maple boards available, the trc flattens out, but retains three screws
- by the early eighties the ebony fretboard becomes available, the trc loses a screw (I hate it when that happens, ruins the whole evening!),
- the final run ditches the one-piece maple neck with scarfed headstock in favor of three piece necks with an angled back, but not scarfed headstock.
That is more structural changes within ten years than, eg, the TBird ever saw - from 1963 to today!
Oh yes - and somwhere along the way they changed the bridge material to a much harder metal so the height adjustment screws would no longer gouge and strip as the older ones were notorious for.
It always feels good when you have the chance to be a little more anal than Jules already is! :-*
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I can't tell. Are you asking me to be more or less specific next post?
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Didn't change much? :o Let's see ...
(http://www.soundonsight.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/trainspotting_1024.jpg)
The only thing that was constant was the body shape and the pup set up, young man! Everything else pretty much changed:
- there were first alder bodies and then maple ones, they sound remarkably different, with the alder ones fuzzier and livelier and the maple ones offering more focus and depth,
- the first generation did not have a scarfed neck, but was one-piece, with a straight, but recessed/lowered headstock in Fender style (correspondingly, the three screw trc is concave not level), likewise a slotted Fender style truss rod bell and even a skunk stripe, only maple boards available
- the next generation had a single piece neck with a scarfed headstock angled back - the classic Gibson hex truss rod bell makes an entrance, still only maple boards available, the trc flattens out, but retains three screws
- by the early eighties the ebony fretboard becomes available, the trc loses a screw (I hate it when that happens, ruins the whole evening!),
- The final run ditches the one-piece maple neck with scarfed headstock in favor of three piece necks with an angled back, but not scarfed headstock.
That is more structural changes within ten years than, e.g., the TBird ever saw - from 1963 to today!
Oh yes - and somwhere along the way they changed the bridge material to a much harder metal so the height adjustment screws would no longer gouge and strip as the older ones were notorious for.
It always feels good when you have the chance to be a little more anal than Jules already is! :-*
Got to love this & Jules sites, the only site that can tell you every nuance about a bass, even more than the manufacturer knows (which in Gibson's case is not much).
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I'd better not buy a Grabber. I'd be starting a "There's something funny about my bass" threads every day for a month.
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I can't tell. Are you asking me to be more or less specific next post?
You were relatively un-trainspotting this time ... ;D
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Wait! we're getting anal and talking about trains in a thread? ;)
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Don't mention tunnels.
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Anal and Grabber is ok, but anal and Ripper makes me feel uneasy, I must admit. Sounds like too much of a potentially good thing. :-X
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Anal and Grabber is ok, but anal and Ripper makes me feel uneasy, I must admit. Sounds like too much of a potentially good thing. :-X
Proper preparation Herr Moderator ;)
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I guess one needs to fully immerse oneself in the subject.
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Err, ok, trying to reel this one back in...
I went and played it - GC service was horrible today, no one on the floor, the only guy who seemed to be working was just standing there talking to his buddy - not sure if he actually worked there or not he looked like he did but...
Finally took it down and got the serial number: 409210 with a "2" stamped over it. EDIT: according to this website (http://www.guitardaterproject.org/gibson.aspx), it's '74 or '75, though I'm not sure how accurate that dater is.
Sat and played it unplugged for a little bit. Glad I got it out of my system. It was alright, lighter than I expected. Neck was pretty chunky, of course I wasn't expecting anything like my Triumph or Melody Maker. It has the bridge cover, looking underneath, the saddles are way low, with the saddle screws sticking up almost as high as the cover - is that normal?
Basically underwhelming, would've been nice to hear it plugged in, but like I say, I'm glad I went and played it and got it out of my system, not that I was seriously considering it...
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I would consider it....(if it was closer)..