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Epiphone Grabber

#102
ajkula66 said:
There was a run of RD Artist basses back in 2018, sans original Moog electronics of course. Jim DeCola pickups, Babicz bridge, active preamp. I believe that most potential buyers got scared by the weight, SW had them at ~14lbs when they were selling new ones.
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How the hell did they manage to make them that heavy? The bodies aren't even that big. Though, I'd probably still get one if I could find it at a reasonable price.
 
#103
Barghest said:
How the hell did they manage to make them that heavy? The bodies aren't even that big. Though, I'd probably still get one if I could find it at a reasonable price.
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RDs are strange birds. There's plenty of space between bridge and the end of the body, and all of them are solid maple. Their neck are huge. No neck dive. This is from someone who owned and gigged a '77 RD Standard for more than a decade. Never weighed mine - that was not something that was done back then - but heavy it was, even for a 35 year younger myself. Sounded like heaven as well.
 
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#104
ajkula66 said:
RDs are strange birds. There's plenty of space between bridge and the end of the body, and all of them are solid maple. Their neck are huge. No neck dive. This is from someone who owned and gigged a '77 RD Standard for more than a decade. Never weighed mine - that was not something that was done back then - but heavy it was, even for a 35 year younger myself. Sounded like heaven as well.
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Very nice. I've got an RD DIY kit sitting in my garage for the past couple years that I just need to actually get around to putting together at some point, though it's a bolt on, and I'd rather it was a set neck.
 
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#105
Barghest said:
Very nice. I've got an RD DIY kit sitting in my garage for the past couple years that I just need to actually get around to putting together at some point, though it's a bolt on, and I'd rather it was a set neck.
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Why? Done well (use threaded inserts), a bolt-on is every bit as good as a set-neck. I’ve done plenty of both.
 
#107
Free your mind . . . and your bass will follow.

These are exquisite, and I am a huge fan. When somebody brings up the usual 'what coulda been . . . ' questions when 'Gibson' and 'bass' are mentioned in the same breath, my mind instantly goes right here:

www.brooksbassguitars.com

BROOKS BASS GUITARS

Brooks Bass Guitars are handbuilt by Rob van den Broek. Rob is also the author of The Gibson Bass Book
www.brooksbassguitars.com
 
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#109
This is probably nitpicking the wrong thing, but the headstock on these is... ick. I don't know if it's the size/positioning of the tuners or the arrow shape being just off in some way (even accounting for the angle, it's not pointy enough, it feels like):

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#110
rekrdskratcher said:
This is probably nitpicking the wrong thing, but the headstock on these is... ick. I don't know if it's the size/positioning of the tuners or the arrow shape being just off in some way (even accounting for the angle, it's not pointy enough, it feels like):

View attachment 7042548 View attachment 7042549
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I'm not sure if it is the same or different BUT the key words to me in the description of the bass are - an INSPIRED reissue of the iconic 70s-era classic. Inspired to me says "we'll do what we want" but it'll look similar.
 
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#112
dAs said:
I saw and 'touched' the INSPIRED by Gibson Epiphone Grabber in Natural today. Uhmmm....

The Positive
1) It looked looked the part. ( There is a 'family' photo of it with 2 Firebirds )
2) The neck felt good and the fret work was great
3) Humbucker mode, sounded full

The not so Positive ( some nit picky stuff too )
1) The neck pocket was a little too big for the neck, you could see buffing compound or something that made it look worse.
2) Some of the neck dots were not flush with the top of the neck
3) With the toggle in the humbucking position it sounded big, move the toggle back and it was more of 'where did the sound go?' Useless.
4) The Volume and Tone knobs were about 6 mm above the pickguard
5) Volume and Tone knobs felt weird and cheap, and there was no resistance when turning them ( I like a little )
6) The nut wasn't seated properly - slight gap
7) Cosmetic deal - not a fan of seeing knots on a natural finish
8) Kind of wanted the bass to weight a little more - made it feel cheap
9) The edge of the pickguard could be polished out

I wanted to like it but couldn't.
If the pickup was made in such a way that you could have a P -bass / Humbucker / Reverse -P set up it might be cool.
And... if the price was more in the $600 range at MAX even better. $1000 no way.
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Is this at Russo music in Hamilton?
 
#113
Idk, I wasn't sure about these either. But I just heard a short demo and I'm liking what I'm hearing. For $1000? Not sure. But maybe used at a decent price. I dig the sound of them though.

I recently got an Embassy. And while it's a really nice bass for the money, I'd play a Grabber all day compared to the Embassy. I guess I'm finally admitting to myself I'm not a double bucker kinda player.
 
#115
dAs said:
Yes, it was. I didn't ask if they had any other o es in the back but did point out the issues I noticed on that one.
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It looked familiar. The one tall guy with a beard who works there Mike is super into old Gibson basses and has owned and even refurbished a few grabber basses. I used to go there frequently but the prices they ask are way too high and the last thing I need is excuses to spend more money.
How epiphone made the pickup not only stationary but also the wrong type and in the wrong spot is just beyond my comprehension. Literally how do you F up that bad. I have no faith left in anything new being produced anymore
 
#116
So on a second look I imagine these having a very similar sound profile to the Les Paul Jr bass that Gibson was making some years ago. I liked the colors on that a little more (especially the blue) but I appreciate that the fret markers are practically invisible on this one so you can pretend you can trick yourself into thinking you have an unmarked board.
 
#117
poochiecheeks said:
It looked familiar. The one tall guy with a beard who works there Mike is super into old Gibson basses and has owned and even refurbished a few grabber basses. I used to go there frequently but the prices they ask are way too high and the last thing I need is excuses to spend more money.
How epiphone made the pickup not only stationary but also the wrong type and in the wrong spot is just beyond my comprehension. Literally how do you F up that bad. I have no faith left in anything new being produced anymore
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Me thinks ... the QC sticker on the back of that neck stood for Quite Crappy. When Fender came out with their jazz single gold foil pickup either the bridge or the pickup was so lopsided that it didn't cover the E sting or G string, it was a hot mess. I purchased a Squier Paranormal Rascal bass for $450 ( now some at $350 ) and the thing is awesome. New isn't necessarily bad, just very surprised that that particular bass had so many issues with it.
 

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