'74-75 Wine red Grabber, trade for P bass ?

[barend]

On my old G-3 I did a very easy modification.  I reversed the treble and middle pickups.  The up position was the bass and treble pickup, middle position all 3, and down position still the middle and treble pickups.  

And how is that modification exactly ? I might be interested in that, since I never use position 3 anyway.
And is it a big sound difference and easily reversable?

[uwe]

I can compare my two G-3s (with stock and modded pup combos) during the day and report ...

(Not much later in another part of the city ...)

Ok, did that just now:

My 78 maple board G-3 in ebony is wired stock, i.e. 1. neck/middle, 2. all three and 3. middle/bridge.

My 82 ebony board G-3 in CAR is wired 1. neck/bridge, 2. all three and 3. middle/bridge.

So the difference lies in position 1 (not 3 as I erroneously believed to remember). And just as in a stock set up I find the neck/middle combo sounding better than all three together (too much frequency overlap there me thinks), the modded neck/bridge combo sounds even better as it combines the ooomph of stock position 1 with the attack of stock position 3 (middle/bridge), all very clear, but with authority, think of a forceful Jazz Bass minus the phase cancellation which you can only correct on a Jazz by dialing down a little one of the single coils. There is no volume difference to the other two stock positions.

Having heard all the positions side by side now, I actually think that a modded combination replacing the "all three" stock (middle) position with a modded neck/bridge combo (sans the middle pup) and retaining the neck/middle and middle/bridge (which I like for its no-holds-barred attack without sounding wheeny) stock alternatives would be the best choice.

Have I declarified everything sufficiently?  

[barend]

Yes you have, thanks.

But I want to know how to change the wiring. Since I am an electronic noob.
I think I want to change the middle/neck (position 1 in Uwe's post) for the neck/bridge sound.
I like the sound of all three pickups together. And I like the bridge/middle pickup sound the best.

[Hornisse]

Great report Uwe!  And the mod requires nothing but a slot head screwdriver.  Just remove the pickguard and swap the middle and bridge pickup positions.  There should be plenty of wire to move the pickups easily.

[uwe]

LOL! That is indeed an undaunting "mod". Never thought of it that way, beautiful in its simplicity. Kind of like turming the minibucker of an EB-3 or SG-RI on its head to get the pole screws closer to the middle. Even I could do that.

[barend]

thanks.

If it is that simple I will try to perform the surgery tonight.

Since we are talking on this subject. A few weeks back I wanted to adjust the truss rodd a bit. But then I discovered that you need a different tool for that then the normal ones that I use for my other non Gibson basses. Maybe that is on all Gibsons?

anyhow, which one do I need to adjust the truss rod on the G3?

[Dave W]

I've never looked at a Grabber/G3 truss rod, but almost all Gibsons use a 5/16 inch nut driver-type adjuster, like this one: http://www.guitar-parts.com/products/1600/Truss-Rod-Tool-for-Gibson.htm

[barend]

Yes, I think that is the one I need. Have to buy on a those.

[uwe]

Yes, the G-3 should have the normal Gibson bell shaped nut. There are a few very early Grabbers (the skunk stripe neck ones) that feature a Fender style slotted screw nut, but as the Grabber came out a good year (or two) ahead of the G-3, I don't think that skunk stripe neck G-3s actually exist. But with Gibson you never know!

[Hornisse]

LOL! That is indeed an undaunting "mod". Never thought of it that way, beautiful in its simplicity. Kind of like turming the minibucker of an EB-3 or SG-RI on its head to get the pole screws closer to the middle. Even I could do that.

I meant to say "phillips head" screwdriver.  Don't know what I was thinking!  I had an old 2 pickup Newport Deluxe bass from 1961 that had the mini humbucker with the poles towards the neck.  I tried to turn it around but it came like that from the factory and there was not enough wire to turn it around.  I also found that the mini humbucker had a PAF sticker on it.

[barend]

Iesterday I did the mod and switched over the bridge en middle pickup. The wires were just long enough so that is all I needed to do.
I like the new bridge/neck pickup sound a little bit better than the stock neck/middle pickup sound.
It has more focus. Strangely enough it sounds more Precision like then the stock sound. You would expect otherwise because the neck/middle pickup is kind of a P configuration.

The stock sound was to unclear for me, so the new sound is more usable for me.
Thanks for the tip!

[godofthunder]

Still waiting..........................he is thinking on my trade. The longer I wait the more I want it.

[godofthunder]

Seriously bummed he has decided to keep the bass. 

[OldManC]

Sorry to hear that, Scott. It sucks when you get all excited for something and then it doesn't come through. I hope another opportunity comes up.

[Hornisse]

That sucks!  I'll keep my eyes peeled for one.