Uwe = Bad influence!

[Dave W]

That thing is the infamous 'Optigrab'. mr. Sixx uses it as some sort of finger rest for playing with a pick. Normal people use it to open kitchen doors.

I thought he uses it to anchor his little finger.

Of course the "real" Opti-grab was invented by Navin Johnson. 

[TBird1958]

 "Of course the "real" Opti-grab was invented by Navin Johnson."

 If I may quote Mr Johnson......."The new phone books are here! The new phone books are here!
 
 I had to order it, Seattle has no Gibson dealer that I'd willingly leave money with, its probably about 60 days out so when it shows up it'll be a nice surprise. Uwe probably got a better price than me, ($2200.00) as he's done so much business with his local dealer. It is my intent to play it out, as I do all my basses......my "collection" has to work too. 

[Chris P.]

I thought he uses it to anchor his little finger.

That's a finger rest to mee;)

[uwe]

I'm still not quite sure whether he just rests his pinkie on the optigrab or actually even inserts it, thus "hooking up" with the TBird. I find that doable, but uncomfortable. In the recent Saints of Los Angeles vid where he incidentally plays his new signature model it appears to me he's indeed hooking up. But we need expert evidence: Herr Carlston come forth and enlighten us!!!

Uwe

[Blackbird]

"Of course the "real" Opti-grab was invented by Navin Johnson."

 If I may quote Mr Johnson......."The new phone books are here! The new phone books are here!
 
 I had to order it, Seattle has no Gibson dealer that I'd willingly leave money with, its probably about 60 days out so when it shows up it'll be a nice surprise. Uwe probably got a better price than me, ($2200.00) as he's done so much business with his local dealer. It is my intent to play it out, as I do all my basses......my "collection" has to work too. 

Cool....Actually, that's the same price as I saw and converted from some Japanese dealers......but 2200 is a bit rich for a guy who can't seem to get gigging again (me).....it would be sweet though!

[shadowcastaz]

Greeeeeaaaatttt!,a $2200 bottle opener.Uwe ,you truly are a man who has everything. Ive always wondered why german beer  bottles have no twist-offs!

[uwe]

I paid 2.000 Euros = a little less than 3.000 bucks. If I had paid your price, Mark, shipped the bass for about 300 bucks and paid VAT and customs duty on it (about 20 %), then I would have ended up with about the same amount.

Gibson has fired its decade-long distributor in Germany under acrimonious circumstances and now distributes via a wholly-owned German subsidiary - while I'm sure that they assume some of the former distributor's mark-up, prices have dropped somewhat. A year ago, that same bass would have been at least 2.500 Euros (= 3.750 bucks) or more.

Uwe

[Blackbird]

I'm still not quite sure whether he just rests his pinkie on the optigrab or actually even inserts it, thus "hooking up" with the TBird. I find that doable, but uncomfortable. In the recent Saints of Los Angeles vid where he incidentally plays his new signature model it appears to me he's indeed hooking up. But we need expert evidence: Herr Carlston come forth and enlighten us!!!

Uwe

Being mostly a pick player now, I found myself using the Optigrab principle without the actual part on my Tbird:  I hook my pinky finger under the d or g string while picking....and it's always  over the bridge pickup.

[TBird1958]

 FWIW the shop I ordered from had access  to 10 that would be personally signed by Herr Sixx for around $5500.00. It's funny,I like the look of the bass and am buying it for that reason, not that I'm a huge Sixx fan......tho he's certainly good in my book.
 I really wish Gibson would take another look at how their products are sold, around here they could do much better. I wanted to order this bass thru BassNW here in Seattle but Gibson won't just sell basses - dealers need to buy X $$$ amounts of the whole product line just to qualify, a stupid policy that cuts smaller, better retailers out.  

[Chris P.]

In Holland we have some beer bottles with twist-offs since a yar or so!

The same in Holland with a new distributor for The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. I had good contacts at the old distributor, but the new Gibson Benelux doesn't reply my messages:(

[uwe]

A real signature of Herr Sixx? I'm amazed. Looking at the mirror pick guard and the erratic  scribblings on it, he must consider signing his name quite a physical challenge.

Uwe
 

[TBird1958]

 I think its to cover his "expenses"!  I use the optigrab to route the cord thru........and my pinkie floats above the bridge/strings, actually makes for a nice callous on its outside edge at the first joint. I think a black bridge cover would be an interesting addition........

[Blazer]

I think its to cover his "expenses"!  I use the optigrab to route the cord thru........and my pinkie floats above the bridge/strings, actually makes for a nice callous on its outside edge at the first joint. I think a black bridge cover would be an interesting addition........

Which is also why Gene Simmons uses a bridge cover on his basses, he rests the palm of his hand on the cover while strumming the strings with his pick.

[Blackbird]

I think its to cover his "expenses"!  I use the optigrab to route the cord thru........and my pinkie floats above the bridge/strings, actually makes for a nice callous on its outside edge at the first joint. I think a black bridge cover would be an interesting addition........

A $3300 signature.......sheesh.....THANKS GIBSON......Gibson REALLY likes to neglect it's 4 string sons.........would a dog be as loyal?

[uwe]

One thing you can say for Herr Sixx is that he is certainly not selfish as a bassist. I always find that production of Mötley records favors the bass drum over the bass big time and the new album is no exception, rather the extremest example. Lee's drumming is mixed to the foreground with a massive sound and he's  quite a busy, even original drummer. Sixx is sparse in comparison, often just doubling the bass drum pattern, a bass drum tuned to the root note of whatever chord the band is playing at any given time so to say. Nothing Lee plays is especially complicated in the Billy Cobham school, but I like the way he plays in front of the music and his playing has humor and gung-ho panache which makes me like to listen to him.

Listening to the new album, I caught myself thinking a couple of times that Lee's drumming is the most idiosyncratic musical contribution to the Crüe sound. Sixx and that guitarist are competent players, but I wouldn't be able to pick them out. And Vince Neil is just Vince Neil.

Uwe