Split Enz circa 1975

[Hörnisse]

Definitely a one piece neck Grabber. 

[OldManC]

Is that Tim Finn? (on vocals)  

(And nice Grabber!)

[pjm]

Scary clown

[clankenstein]

Thats mike chunn. it think thats wally wilkerson? next to him with what looks like a madill double neck.Although it looks a lot like eddie rayner(keys). mike chunn went on to a madill bass which he still plays.

[Hörnisse]

Very cool info Clankenstein.  I've been on a Split Enz tear as of late.  Here is another photo I found of the Grabber.  It seems like many of these one piece neck Grabber basses were imported.  2 of the ones I've owned I found in Canada. 



Mike Chunn and Eddie Rayner, 1976

[uwe]

I knew the day would come where someone - anyone! - here mentions Split Enz. Danke, danke, danke! Vastly underrated band. Kind of a glam/prog DEVO, they both had that surrealist/deconstructive approach to music without taking it too far (think of Captain Beefheart in Trout Replica Mask era, I'm still working hard at trying to understand that album).

Can we now have a Skyhooks thread too? They came from that other Oceanic island. Don't be fooled by the monitor box, Split Enz were Kiwis.

[clankenstein]

The bass mike chunn used before the grabber was a les paul truimph!  I thought Split enz were really good and always great live - i first saw them in 1974 and the last time was 2008.The bass player they got after mike chunn left,nigel griggs,was no slouch even if he prefered bc rich basses to gibson.Cool photos !

[ilan]

I need a little education.  What is a one piece neck Grabber and how can you tell. Thx

[Hörnisse]

The straight headstock and skunk stripe on back of the neck are the giveaway.  Including Uwe's and mine I know of at least 7 that exist. 

[ilan]

Thanks.

[amptech]

I notice the nut is slim too; on my 'regular' grabber the nut is full size.

[4stringer77]

Is the one piece neck more desirable for any reason other than rarity?

[uwe]

I beg you, Hörnisse and I need to have something that makes us stand out! 

Perhaps in the realm of voodoo acoustics where there are things such as "uneven evening electricity" that needs to be "cleansed" before you feed it in your hi-end contraptions. My ears don't hear a difference between two- or three-ply necks (if the same type of wood is used) on one hand and a one piece neck on the other. Nor do I hear a multi-ply neck with a scarfed headstock (also a feature of later Grabber necks so they could get the angle right) sound any worse than a one piece neck with integrated headstock.

I guess there is an argument that a multi-ply neck isn't as potentially warp-prone as a one piece neck, but I have seen warped multi-ply necks and unwarped one piece necks. The number of warped one piece necks to warped multi-ply necks is probably higher though from what I have personally witnessed, but - Is Dave around?  - I claim no scientific relevance whatsoever for my strictly anecdotal evidence.

The very early Grabbers sound airier and more responsive than the bassier and more compressed- and focused-sounding later models, but I always attributed that to the alder bodies the early ones employed (as opposed to the heavy maple bodies of the later ones).

[Hörnisse]

[Highlander]

Used to cover I Got You... I have a nasty recording I taped at a rehearsal somewhere...