Gibson Grabber, maple/maple with 'skunk stripe'....value?

Blackbird · August 12, 2009, 12:36:51 PM

Actually, Uwe's Grabber is Blue Raspberry Gumball:

Redundancy Fixed

Denis · August 12, 2009, 01:26:32 PM

Bleu Raspberry Gumball Blue? Do you work for the Department of Redundency Department?

Highlander · August 12, 2009, 01:28:14 PM

Uwe... did you already own a "skunk" or did you buy for a fin...?

Back to the pink Q80 (and send me your black one...

)

hmmm... Gumball Rally...?

uwe · August 12, 2009, 03:33:51 PM

I alway called it pelham blue because I didn't know pelham blue had to be metallic. It is not metallic at all, it has the color of that Mustang (turning a little greenish over the decades if you squint hard). If I may rhyme: The hue is Grabber blue.

That felt good. I'm the resident poet here ...

Hornisse · August 12, 2009, 04:23:43 PM

That is a great deal for a skunk Grabber. I bought my first one around 10 years ago for $550 and the last one I bought a few months ago was around $850. The interesting thing is both were from Canadian sellers! Maybe Canadian dealers had a special run of these built by Gibson?

And I can't let a discussion continue without a photo of a nice American Motors Corporation AMX in Big Bad Blue!

uwe · August 12, 2009, 04:40:34 PM

I guess with Canadians the logistics for the necessary maple for the Grabber build were effortless: They just got out to the porch of their log cabin, chased the Grizzly away and started gnawing - beaver-style, the sound goes a bit like "cannuck, cannuck" - at the nearest maple till it dropped. Easy. And they have healthcare if it falls on them too. Or blame the US, that "One Nation under Canada".

Highlander · August 12, 2009, 05:46:53 PM

Uwe... you're a "dissident" poet, and you know-it...! now I've had my fun, and I'm on the run...!

Rhythm N. Bliss · August 12, 2009, 07:31:33 PM

Quote from: uwe on August 12, 2009, 09:37:16 AM
That is what got me in the end! I had been circling that bass for months, making offers to Rumbleseat, they never budged a cent from their price. I knew it was hilariously expensive, but still ... After about half a year I caved in and bought it together with a natural Guild B-301 on which they were gracious enough to give me a larger discount.

The Grabber Blue is now one of those pieces in my collection that never fails to impress the viewing public, irrespective whether vintage specialists or lay(wo)men. In hindsight, I've made my peace with that price. It is also the only bass I own where someone took the trouble to finish a maple board neck in gloss back completely before fretting it. I always wondered why someone would go through all that trouble and not just slap an ebony board on it (some of the Grabbers shortly before deletion in the early eighties had ebony boards). Only based on your recent info, Denis, does it dawn on me now that they were trying to emulate that black & blue car look.

No, they were trying to emulate that ebony fretboard look so some sucker would pay too much for it. lol

Denis · August 12, 2009, 08:00:54 PM

Quote from: Hornisse on August 12, 2009, 04:23:43 PM
And I can't let a discussion continue without a photo of a nice American Motors Corporation AMX in Big Bad Blue!

Wow, sweet! A friend in high school had one with a 390. That car was so fast it was downright scary. Loved it!

Dave W · August 12, 2009, 10:35:18 PM

Quote from: uwe on August 12, 2009, 03:33:51 PM
I alway called it pelham blue because I didn't know pelham blue had to be metallic. It is not metallic at all, it has the color of that Mustang (turning a little greenish over the decades if you squint hard)....

Pelham Blue is a metallic color.

uwe · August 13, 2009, 01:00:26 AM

Duh!

Basvarken · August 13, 2009, 02:07:06 AM

It is a cool colour!
Same as the colour of the Volvo 142 that we had.
Like this one:

Barklessdog · August 13, 2009, 05:10:34 AM

Ken's idea

Grabber good!

Dave W · August 13, 2009, 08:40:57 AM

Quote from: uwe on August 13, 2009, 01:00:26 AM
Duh!

Just pointing it out, in case you weren't sure. Every Gibson I've seen that was called Pelham Blue has been metallic.

According to that Vintage Guitar Guy site -- the one with the sections on Gibson and Fender custom colors -- when Gibson used the word poly in the color name, it meant metallic. e.g. Pelham Blue Poly, Golden Mist Poly.

uwe · August 13, 2009, 08:44:57 AM

The "Duh" was intended to signal that I never ever realized that pelham and metallic are intrinsically linked. Of course my pelham blue refin Non Rev IV is metallic while the Grabber is not. I just never realized that the metallic element was a discerning and even defining factor. So I appreciated the elucidation!

Everything I know about colors, Dave, I know from you. Like that one time when you explained to me that TV Yellow is actually white ...