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Custom Grabber - 1st A to Z build

ThaCoast

ThaCoast

Jan 2, 2011
4,676
7,971
The Polar Season Montreal, Canada
#1
Hello,

Over the past year or so, i've been gathering information, and mocking up designs for what was supposed to be my 2nd build. Since my first build http://www.talkbass.com/threads/bass-build-at-slow-pace.977329/ :sleep: is once again going nowhere, I've decided to build this custom Grabber bass. Although, it's not intended for me. It's a gift for my old man, from whom i've been gathering information over the last few months. He used to own a ripper, but liked the simplicity of the grabber better. When i asked what he'd change, he simply said: i'd make the body thicker, have a rosewood fretboard & move the jack to the side. For your knowledge, he knows i'm building it but doesn't know each detail of it. And has no clue, that i'm building it for him. :D :hyper:

Easy said, & done. From there, i started designing it. Since i knew i wasn't going to find a grabber pickup for cheap, he always loved gene's bass tone in the early days when he was playing his Lobue bass. That EB-O roared. So a mudbucker it is. For the neck profile and width, he recalled his Gibson Les paul triumph which was short scale & his blackbird. Both of whom have a 1.5 nut width, and since i don't really recall the triumph profile, i'm going with a thunderbird. Since i know he can't gig with the same heavy weight all night, i've decided to find some soft maple wood for the body and hard maple for the neck. Body is going to be a 3 piece and the neck will be one piece with a 10 degree angle for the headstock string break.

The hardware is chrome: hipshot ultralite clover tuners 1/2, hipshot A style .750 spacing bridge with ferrules. tube output jack, neck plate, strap pins. I'm also acquiering a full blank sheet pickguard from WD music in blk/wht/blk.

To the gibson grabber fans, yes, that fat mudbucker will be slidding. For paint, the headstock will be black on the face of it, and the body will be a dark purple metal flake. I sort of knew he was going for purple, but i never thought like that.

I'm aiming to have this build complete by december 21st. Just in time for xmas & his birthday is right afterwards. I've got some minor parts, Today, i'm off to find the wood to start cutting and shaping. But for now, here's a weird photoshop teaser of what will be...sorta
 

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#4
Splods said:
Another thing to consider for weight reduction could be chambering the body.
Good luck, I wish my old man played bass, because he was born in 65 and I always wanted to make a Late 65 Jazz bass.
Click to expand...

Thanks & you could always build your own in tribute to your father. I'm sure he'd be proud even though he doesn't play himself.

I never thought of chambering either, but my choice of wood for the body is soft maple which is lighter than hard maple, which is used for the neck. But i think that'll balance well since it'll have ultralites and that the body will be thicker than the original 70's versions 1.75 opposed to 1.25. 0.50 difference can possibly change a lot. I'm getting the wood this weekend, and so far i've got a few more parts for this build. Once i have the wood, the really work begins. Financially, since i'm without a job sadly, my girlfriend is helping me procure the parts, so it's pretty cool. In exchange i'm teaching/showing her how i work on builds and repairs. Having an apprentice won't be a bad idea :p.

So far i have in my possession: The neck plate, .047 capacitor, tube jack output, black speed knobs, black 3 screw TRC, Strap pins and string ferrules. The rest is to come in the following weeks. I've already ordered a rosewood fretboard for bass along with jumbo bass fret wire, a gibson EB-O mudbucker pickup and a truss rod for bass. Ordering the pickguard next week along with the hipshot tuners and bridge. Then it's wood work while i wait for parts to arrive.
 
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#5
Much has been accomplished (somehow) for this build. I found the hipshot A bridge with the correct spacing inexpensively on stewmac compared to the hipshot website itself so the bridge is on it's way. I also found the wood, but i'll have to laminate it all together in order to have the correct thickness. In due time. I'm most likely getting the wood tomorrow during the day. The remaining parts to be bought, such as the the pickguard (which i'll most likely just get a a huge blank sheet cut in half to do the pickguard myself), the hipshot ultralite tuners and two potentiometers, will be purchased this week. Updates soon.

P.s. Does anyone have any experience with chandler/pickguard heaven? Cause their ordering method is sorta weird compared to like all parts. and i know it's cause they make every pickguard by hand and it's longer cause they don't mass produce the same one everytime.
 
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#6
My '75 Grabber weighs 7.4 pounds and doesn't neck dive when using a 2" nylon strap. Body is 1-1/4" thick. Neck dive is NOT 'pretty bad' with any Grabber I've ever played. In fact it's non existant. 7.4 is light for a Grabber, the later ones got heavier.

P1040607_zpsa53bc85f.jpg


Good Luck on the build, Andy! Grabber pickguards come up on Ebay and they will be a better option than Chandler IMO.
 
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#7
Dadagoboi said:
My '75 Grabber weighs 7.4 pounds and doesn't neck dive when using a 2" nylon strap. Body is 1-1/4" thick. Neck dive is NOT 'pretty bad' with any Grabber I've ever played. In fact it's non existant. 7.4 is light for a Grabber, the later ones got heavier.

P1040607_zpsa53bc85f.jpg


Good Luck on the build, Andy! Grabber pickguards come up on Ebay and they will be a better option than Chandler IMO.
Click to expand...

Thanks, i figured that much as well. but i feel like im gonna go for a full half sheet blank and have attempts. also since i wont have the jack on the pickguard itll be one less hole to cover up!! Neck dive isnt a factor in why im making the body thick. he just always thought itd disappear when turned to the side. especially if its all black and if youre wearing black (like he did in an old goth band with his black ripper). But im making it lighter with the soft maple wood since he gave me his dearmond starfire special since he had an epiphone dot which was lighter than the starfire. so its more for him & his health. But your grabber looks very clean.
 
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#8
So i've acquired the core wood for the neck and the body. Unfortunately, both will be laminated (with the same pieces (hard maple for the neck and soft maple for the body). But they'll go un-noticed once the finish is applied to the body, The neck, i'm pretty much making sure i have the right shape and pattern. I probably won't paint it to match the body, but i might tint it just a slight touch. Missing parts are now (the pickguard blank (both the top piece and the sliding piece), the tuners and the 500k pots. Building starts in a few weeks time in order for me to get all the wood work & shaping done before the cold hits big time.
 
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#9
So i canceled the order for the small pickguard blank that was going to be the slidding piece with the pickup. Instead i put the deposit towards the ultralite tuners. & since i ordered a 24 x 54 inch black/white/black blank pickguard material, i'll be able to make the pickguard itself along w/the slidding piece underneth. I also acquired the volume and tone controls. All the parts ordered online are on their way, and now i can start drawing templates and wood work for the next month.

5:00 pm - I've received the pickup, jumbo bass fretwire, bass truss rod & fretboard from all parts. Unfortunately, the fretboard was damaged during the shipement right at the 12th fret. I'm sending it back to exchange it for another one. I'd rather it be in one piece while i glue it down to the neck instead of two pieces. The body and neck templates have been drawn up and i'm ready to start this build. Most likely will start next week sometime.
 
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#10
I took a look at the templates and thought i'd place the truss rod in the template to see how much i was going to route out of the maple. IT seemed odd at first since the truss rod was almost at the end of the heel but was sticking way out in the headstock. So i took the broken fretboard out and placed it just under the nut drawing. My neck was too short. So i redrew it and now everything is looking good. Also stayed up til 4;30 to draw a pickguard. Took the G3 one from flyguitars and went from there. I kinda thought they were the same size, but it turns out it isn't. Unless i just drew it way to huge. In any case, that's done as well. Along with the sliding pieces' displacement/route in the body. I also had to move the bridge just a tad closer since the neck on my 1:1 scale is too short (i'm not going to redraw that, i know it's the general shape of it) and substitute it for the redrawn good template neck. It all works.

Again, build should start sometime next week. This week was more planning and receiving parts. NOTE: the fretboard is being shipped back for an exchange which should arrive in the next 2-3 weeks.
 
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#11
So opposed to what i said previously, i spent today redrawing the 1:1 scale. And it's better than ever. All the pieces are in it and i don't have much else to do anymore. Overall length is longer than the original grabber (mine's 47 3/8th opposed 45 3/4) Scale length is still 34 & i've returned the fretboard yesterday. So next week, i will be acquiring a bandsaw to cut my wood into shape and spend the next 2-3 weeks shaping the hell out of the neck and body to get them just right. All the while waiting for other parts to arrive.
 
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#15
I got to cut the neck blanks and now in the process of glueing them together. I have 4 blanks for the neck so far, but if i need more, i still got loads of the stuff leftover. Top is the 4 neck blanks (2 of which are being glued together and held in clamps) the three underneth are for the body.


So far so good, today and tomorrow i'm spending time on gluing all the pieces, Wednesday, if all goes well, i should be able to trace the body and neck templates to the blanks and cut them out on the bandsaw. Also, i went to return my VHT red light paint as it won't work as intended. So i'm going to get rustOleum deep purple metallic paint and apply that over the duplicolor blue flake paint for the body to be a dark purple flake in the end.
 

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#20
So the body got cut down to size. It's pretty rough and still need to route the edges a good deal. Getting MDF wood tomorrow to make templates for both the neck and body so i can finish erfectly. Trying to see pencil marks is pretty f$^k&#g hard :P Anyway, next week, i should have the neck's scarf joint complete and the body should be done by this weekend hopefully.
20141001_160740.jpg
 
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