Hi guys

I just picked up a 75 grabber the thing has seen better days but let me tell you it plays awesome unpulged and it feels hella nice.

The bass came with a EMG active P-J set pick ups installed.

The previous owner also got the bass with the EMG's pre installed so he didn't know what happened to the orginal pick up.

Now let me just start with saying that I hate active pick ups.

When I plug in the bass trough my amps the low end is really weak but all the rest is ok imo...but I still just hate active pick ups.

I just want to be able to hear what the bass to sounds like cause the EMG are not doing it to for me.

But even before I even played the bass I already knew I was going to change the pick ups.

Now I'v heared how grabbers sound before with their original pick ups...and I just what it to sound like that with a new passive pick up.

I want big and round low end and lots of warmth and some nice punch but I would prefer BOOMY then PUNCHY.

My rig consists of 4x15's + 2x18's power by 4 amps.

I tune in Drop C and play super heavy/doom/stoner type stuff.

I was thinking of goin with a P bass pu.

But I'm open to other options.

I have a guy that builds custom picks up but I need to able to explain to him what I want =].

Also any info on the original pick up would be great too.

Thanks.

:hmm:

Are you doing the whole sliding pickup thing?

You could use TB plus pickups and have what will be in the new Grabber II

Nope on the sliding thing.

I'v consulted couple of people that used to own or current have a grabber and they all said that the sliding pick up thing is a gimmick more then anything.

I just mainly want a passive pickup that will just go low/warm/punchy because the pick ups that I have in there right now are really bright and they are active.

I wanna know what people have to say would be my best bet.

Humbucker maybe or a P bass style pick up?

I like how P basses sound.

When I play this bass unplugged it sounds huge I want it to sound like that pugged in!

You could use TB plus pickups

Good luck there, Gibson won't sell you them, I have tried.

Hmm, this one is a pickle. It all comes down to what you want at the end of the day. The closest I would say to the original sound would be Seymour Duncan 'Ripper Bass Replacement' pickup:

http://www.seymourduncan.com/images/products/custom_shop/other_pickups/26.jpg

http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/custom-shop/specialized-1/ripper_bass_rep/

Ok, its not a Grabber, but they are similar (the Ripper was pretty much the two pickup brother to the Grabber).

The best advice I can give though is search around the Seymour Duncan website, see what pickups they have. Read about what tone characteristics they have, read reviews, try and find audio samples, see what your heroes are playing. I live by Seymour Duncan/ Bassline! The SSB-4 set I have in my Thunderbird is wonderful!

:bassist:

Put a pair of RS/Fralin bassbuckers in that sucker and dont look back.
All the boom and doom you could ask for.
Why does Gibson sell the Sidewinder style and the mudbucker from the SG reissue,
and then scoff when you try to buy TB plus pickups?
Makes no logical sense, captain.
This and the aforementioned RS/Fralins are the conclusion I've reached.
Just go to RSGuitarworks.com

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Gibson-NOS-Parts-Grabber-Slider-2-Pc-Lot_W0QQitemZ260374704954QQihZ016QQcategoryZ41424Q QssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Here's a slider, if you can find a way to mount some type of humbucker in there you can still keep the original mobility of the pickup, which I think is the coolest part.

Good luck there, Gibson won't sell you them, I have tried.

no, but ebay will
http://cgi.ebay.com/GIBSON-THUNDERBIRD-BASS-PICKUP-TB-TB-PLUS_W0QQitemZ220374731269QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuita r?hash=item220374731269&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2%7C65%3A10%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

And here are some Grabber pickups (actually explorer in this case, but they used the same pickup)