The body does look narrower, but is not. Same old 9" and then some at the waistline. But it looks deceptively narrower (and better IMHO) because the bass features a lot more bevelling at the cutaways, the top and the bottom. That gives it a much more elegant, almost SGish appearance. Surprising how a little thing like that can so much affect appearance (and in a good way too, this bass doesn't look bulky one bit anymore, even though it is still the same large size).
Sound? All the bite/middish rasp of a vintage Grabber, but with more low ooomph and a trace more treble. No doubt due to a combination of now set neck, the three point bridge (rather than the flimsy Fender-rip-off of the original Grabber) and the force of the TB Plus pup which is quite versatile irrespective whether it sees traditional use in a TBird as a soapie, in an LP Standard as a guitar-size chromeling, in an SG as a faux-mudbucker or now in the Grabber II as "the slider". That said, I was still surprised how dark the bass sounded when I plugged it in considering it is all maple. It's hard to tell from the thick (handicraft-looking, but still appealing) matte finish whether the wood is really maple - that is what the Gibson site states -, to me the bass sounds more like a maho body with a maple neck would, Fenderbird lovers should be in ecstasy at their first listen (or those people who like the Yamaha Attitude sound). The greater sensitiivity/responsiveness of the sliding TB Plus pup also has the pleasant s(l)ide effect that grabbing the pup (the sliding mechanism is a lot more stable/tighter than on your father's Grabber, you need to apply some real force to move it) for a position change has a much greater influence on the sound. The bass is never muddy, but with the pup in frontal position, it does grab your manhood.
All in all, the bass looks, weighs, handles and sounds a lot more substantial than an old Grabber. There is nothing cheap about it - a lovely three piece maple neck with - jawohl! - even a volute!
Two gripes: The route for the truss rod nut is mighty small and you could tell by the appearance of the new nut that already the guy setting it up in Nashville had a hard time getting a grip on it. And the fret job in the upper registers could have seen a little more attention too (and thus enabled a lower action, which is ok now, but not what it could be on a new modern 1.500 buck bass or - for that matter - actually is on a 200 buck Czech one ...
).
I do wonder whether Gibson should not reinstate the Grabber to full former glory as a regular series model. This new Grabber II could have real appeal for Stingray and Fender P players looking for a darker and phatter sound. Anybody who likes the ooomph of an old Ripper combined with the snarl of a Grabber should try one out.
Uwe
