• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Custom Grabber - 1st A to Z build

#241
Almost, almost finished. I've slotted the nut (and did a few minor touches to perfection), it did come off so i'm using elmers glue to hold the nut in place. I did have some fretbuzz when i strung it up and tuned it, But i've discovered some high frets that i guess weren't completely pressed properly (oops :banghead:) but in any case, i'm letting it set for 24hours before i do any final set up/playing. I'm curious to know how much it weighs and how it sounds. this thing is heavy as hell, but im sure it'll have a killer tone.

Also, in regards of this build, other than dimensions and wtvr else i might be doing differently in other builds, i must acquire a shinto saw rasp, Some nut files and a rocker for high frets. Plus some radius blocks and wtvr else i can get my hands on hahaha. I shall post pictures tomorrow and possibly a soundclip, at least i'll try to get one xP
 
  • Like
Reactions: Splods
#242
All good things must come to an end: here she is!!
.​


It's completly set up for tonight, i'll let it sit til tomorrow night and see how it is. Hardly any buzz on the neck, it plays great. Three things with this overall: thickness - i shouldn't have done it this thick nor that wide. But heck one of a kind right? and i should've resized the headstock according to the nut width. I dislike how the strings are angling towards the posts (i'm used to fender and my ibanez GaxB having strings go straight to the posts) and the neck profile, i could've made it slimmer, but it's still a nice profile for it.

All in all, i'm pretty pleased with it. I'm positive that i'll make a smaller sized body and replace it so that my dad won't kill his back playing it or have such a hard time with it either hahaha. Maybe in 2015...

I'd like to thank you guys for everything you've suggested, and tips during my first ever building journey. Until next build. Happy holidays, and all the best in the new year!!

I'd also like to give special thanks to someone who's helped me with the project. I'm pretty damn lucky to have my girlfriend help me out for something this big that i really didn't expect at all. So a round of applause to her for making my build a reality
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: hillerup, AGH, dukeorock and 1 other person
#243
Congratulations! That looks really good, especially for a first-time build. And just in time for Christmas too - way to go! It'd be cool to see a photo of your dad when you present it to him.

After several builds that turned out way heavier than I expected, I'm now keeping weight as a primary design element in my builds. Chambering helps, using thinner bodies helps, and using lighter blanks helps (a lot).

The headstock looks great - looks just like a real Gibby. That's not too much string angle; it'll be fine as long as the nut slots are reasonably deep.

So,how did the pickup turn out?
 
#244
ctmullins said:
Congratulations! That looks really good, especially for a first-time build. And just in time for Christmas too - way to go! It'd be cool to see a photo of your dad when you present it to him.
Click to expand...

I shall :P When i get the chance to visit him in Ottawa, i'll be bringing the bass with me.

ctmullins said:
After several builds that turned out way heavier than I expected, I'm now keeping weight as a primary design element in my builds. Chambering helps, using thinner bodies helps, and using lighter blanks helps (a lot).

The headstock looks great - looks just like a real Gibby. That's not too much string angle; it'll be fine as long as the nut slots are reasonably deep.

So,how did the pickup turn out?
Click to expand...

I'm actually revising the nut slots cause the strings feel kinda high at the first 5 frets unlike my pbass copies or even my les paul guitars. I'm glad about how it ended up as a finished product, weight was on the top of my list but i guess it just zoomed by too quickly, but i'll know for next time to only use 2 blanks for thickness, not 3 :P. Headstock did turn out pretty sweet, but as i've said, i probably should've narrowed it down just a tad so the strings would go straight to the post and not on an angle. But it works so far.

As for the pickup, i'm about to go do a test on it. I'll try to get various soundclips with this one pickup hahaha. But last night when i did plug it in for a few minutes, that pickup sounds clear as day. It isnt muddy since it's not right up against the neck. If i slide it towards the neck, it has that warm precision bass tone. Near the bridge, it's got that Jazz bass neck pickup bite. It's clear as day and even with a slight over drive from last night, it retained clarity. Probably due to the fact that i wired it up like the original 70's grabber and not the 2011-12 re-issue.
 
  • Like
Reactions: hillerup
#245
Greetings,

So it's been hecktic and fun, and i've actually just got down to finding my final budget for this bass. Here's a list of all the parts put into this bass:

-Neck plate
-Tube jack
-Capacitor .047
-Ferrules
-Strap buttons
-Soft Maple wood for body
-One piece hard maple blank
-Two 500k potentiometers
-Truss Rod (all parts)
-Fret wire (all parts)
-EBO pickup (all parts)
-Rosewood fingerboard wood (all parts)
-(WD Music) Pick guard black/white/black blank full sheet
-Hipshot A bridge .750 spacing (Stewmac)
-Schaller BM nickel Tuners
-Black CTS speed knobs
-gibson nut blank

All this was (with shipping and handling for the all parts/stemac/wd music pieces: 610.25$. it's not bad considering the price of a vintage grabber on ebay being over 1k. But i thought to myself if i would've made better calculations and done differently instead of trying to copy the grabber for most of it...

And i did! After ditching the string ferrules since i wouldn't use the hipshot A bridge and opted for a schaller roller bridge to better suit the string spacing of the EB-O pickup. And replacing the Schaller BM tuners with just chrome import tuners, the budget would've been (and should've actually) 490.08$

Although i'm very proud of the end result, i still should've done better and different. Maybe i will in the near future, just sell the bridge and tuners and get the replacements, and move everything to a slimmer and an inch less width body. Make a new pickguard and set up/play. Same sound, same look, better on the shoulder and in my mind anyway.
 
#246
Yep, that's the fun of building your own - the options are nearly limitless, and you can continue to tinker even after the project is "finished". ;)
 
#247
ctmullins said:
Yep, that's the fun of building your own - the options are nearly limitless, and you can continue to tinker even after the project is "finished". ;)
Click to expand...

Which is why i'm considering shaving .50" off the back side to bring the thickness down to 1.75" like a standard bass and to shed some weight cause it does get annoying after 15 mins. If i do go forth with that, it would mean me disassembling it all, and forsner drill/routing the back side. Round over the edges again, rasp the tummy cut, sand/paint/clear coat, wait a week or two, wet sand, polish, reassemble. touch up set up. etc.

Asked my gf cause i figured shed be annoyed with me spending this much time on this build. But she agreed i should go forth with it cause even she says it's heavy compared to my others and shes in pretty good shape as well. So starting january 3rd, i'll be shaving down the body, and i'll post pictures i guess cause it's still a build! At least the neck bolts won't be sticking out either. At least i hope not hahaha.

Stay tuned, & all the best in the new year for you guys!
 
Last edited:
#248
Okay so conundrum, my intonation is out of whack cause i'll tune it to pitch and then fretting the 12th fret it'll be sharp but the saddle screws are maxed out length wise and still stays sharp. I've realized that the scale length was wrong, according to my fretboard, i should be at 34.5, not 34. But then i remembered that my fretboard was for a 34" scale length bass with 21 frets....

But what all parts doesn't say is that in order to have 34", you have to mark and chop off the excess from the top after you measure from the 12th fret up to the top of the fretboard (doing the reverse case to find the scale length).

So i'm wondering now, Should i move the bridge which will necessate me drilling/plugging up the original screw holes and string throuhg holes, mark 34.5 scale length, place the bridge centred with the bass, mark the 8 top holes (4 screws, 4 strings) drill them, and then flip to the backside and drill 3/8 large holes for the ferrules.
OR and this is a big OR,​
leave the bridge as is, and just remove the fretboard (even if it takes 1-2hours to do so with steam and putty knife, or 20-30 mins with a heat gun and putty knife), mark from the 12th fret up to find 17", cut the excess board off, reglue it to the neck, trim the bottom of the neck to form the fretboard, dowel the original bolt holes, place the neck on the body and mark the new placement for the bolt holes and drill them.​

HELP!!! :banghead::bawl::mad::help::nailbiting:
 
#250
I'm confused. Is your board slotted for 34", or 34.5"? Can't be both. What's the distance from the twelfth fret to the nut?

And what do you mean by "maxed out"? If you're sharp at the twelfth fret you want to move the saddle back a bit, to lengthen the string a bit. Are your saddles all the way back now?
 
#251
If your saddles are all the way back and your intonation is still sharp, then you will need to move the bridge back, fill the holes made from the previous bridge, and then drill for the new bridge. As you painted the body a solid color, you can fill this, respray and no one will ever know.
 
#252
hillerup said:
I think the best way would be to get a new body blank and reuse your neck...

That sounds to me to be the least problematic way to go, since you already plan to reshape your existing body...
Click to expand...

That's what i'm most likely going to do. But i'm just gonna use this existing body and shave down the thickness so it's like a standard bass of 1.75 inch depth.

ctmullins said:
I'm confused. Is your board slotted for 34", or 34.5"? Can't be both. What's the distance from the twelfth fret to the nut?

And what do you mean by "maxed out"? If you're sharp at the twelfth fret you want to move the saddle back a bit, to lengthen the string a bit. Are your saddles all the way back now?
Click to expand...

On the all parts website it says fretboard for 34" scale bass with 21 fret slots. But i've measured mine out and from the nut to the 12th fret, it's 17.25" which would mean my scale shuld be 34.5, not 34.

In regards of the bridge, i may have to go back on that one. i think i've goofed myself.
Rookie mistake :/

Splods said:
If your saddles are all the way back and your intonation is still sharp, then you will need to move the bridge back, fill the holes made from the previous bridge, and then drill for the new bridge. As you painted the body a solid color, you can fill this, respray and no one will ever know.
Click to expand...

That's what i plan on doing, maybe not re-spray as the filled holes will be covered by the bridge (i know it's not professional, but no one will see it anyway. Thanks guys.
 
Last edited:
#253
Shedding weight is almost complete. Just a few more minutes and everything will be smooth and down to 1.75 or just a little bit above. Feels good to see a "normal" bass body depth :D in any case, i'll round over the edges once the tummy cut is rasped down again since it's disappeared. I'll probably paint sometime this week. I'm not moving the bridge, as the intonation is now okay.
 
#257
Before shaving
20141224_151352.jpg

After shave
20141229_130636.jpg
 

Attachments

  • 20141229_130603.jpg
    20141229_130603.jpg
    206 KB · Views: 59
  • 20141229_130624.jpg
    20141229_130624.jpg
    158.2 KB · Views: 62
  • 20141229_130711.jpg
    20141229_130711.jpg
    193.9 KB · Views: 56
  • 20141229_130725.jpg
    20141229_130725.jpg
    256.5 KB · Views: 56
  • Like
Reactions: dukeorock
#258
there won't be much work on the bass today until i get teh bondo. Also, would like to know if i should round over the edges more than what they are now (they're not very noticeable) i'm wondering if i should do like fender and have max rolled edges. Thoughts? IT feels good nonetheless, i'm just wondering if i should do more or leave as is.
 
#259
Personal preference, but I'd go with bevels rather than a large roundover. Provides the same benefit, but looks cooler. Plus, isn't that more in keeping with the original Gibson design?
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back