Gibson Grabber/Ripper/G-3 club

[ctmullins]

Being the wrong side of the pond for the majority of TB classifieds to make any sense, I was recently perusing our sister site (Basschat UK), and was surprised to find a Ripper up for sale - which doesn't happen very often.

What really struck me as odd, though, was the fact that most classifieds only generate a page, or two of responses - for some reason, this thread had a huge number of responses, so I clicked to see why...


This is without doubt the coolest for sale thread I've ever come across, so strap in, and read through from the beginning :

The bass sale that turned a (massive) corner… - *SOLD*

This is a killer of a sale. 1. I’ve always wanted one of these; it lived up to expectations. 2. It’s a really good one - I’ve played a few to get to this one. 3. It’s something out of my control causing the sale; but it needs to be done. We were promised support 4 years ago with an extension for ...

www.basschat.co.uk

Just - wow!

 

[Microbass]

Being the wrong side of the pond for the majority of TB classifieds to make any sense, I was recently perusing our sister site (Basschat UK), and was surprised to find a Ripper up for sale - which doesn't happen very often.

What really struck me as odd, though, was the fact that most classifieds only generate a page, or two of responses - for some reason, this thread had a huge number of responses, so I clicked to see why...


This is without doubt the coolest for sale thread I've ever come across, so strap in, and read through from the beginning :

The bass sale that turned a (massive) corner… - *SOLD*

This is a killer of a sale. 1. I’ve always wanted one of these; it lived up to expectations. 2. It’s a really good one - I’ve played a few to get to this one. 3. It’s something out of my control causing the sale; but it needs to be done. We were promised support 4 years ago with an extension for ...

www.basschat.co.uk

Whoa.

 

[Skerrvydog]

Hey Grabber Crew, I need to replace the tone pot on my '75, it's had dead spots and now doesn't work at all anymore, what should i get to replace it?

 

[Engle]

Being the wrong side of the pond for the majority of TB classifieds to make any sense, I was recently perusing our sister site (Basschat UK), and was surprised to find a Ripper up for sale - which doesn't happen very often.

What really struck me as odd, though, was the fact that most classifieds only generate a page, or two of responses - for some reason, this thread had a huge number of responses, so I clicked to see why...


This is without doubt the coolest for sale thread I've ever come across, so strap in, and read through from the beginning :

The bass sale that turned a (massive) corner… - *SOLD*

This is a killer of a sale. 1. I’ve always wanted one of these; it lived up to expectations. 2. It’s a really good one - I’ve played a few to get to this one. 3. It’s something out of my control causing the sale; but it needs to be done. We were promised support 4 years ago with an extension for ...

www.basschat.co.uk

That's awesome!

 

[ThaCoast]

Hey Grabber Crew, I need to replace the tone pot on my '75, it's had dead spots and now doesn't work at all anymore, what should i get to replace it?

Depending on the pot value (if its a common 250k, 500k. or the gibson specific 100k or 300k), the important thing aside of that, is it needs to be 24 splines to fit the original knob on.

 

[s_wood]

Curtis Novak, who already makes fantastic and super accurate replacement pickups for Grabbers and G3s, is now making repro bridge covers for the Ripper/Grabber/G3.

Grabber, G3, SB bridge cover

My reproduction of the vintage Gibson Grabber, G3, and SB bass bridge cover. This is an exact reproduction, true to the vintage spec in all dims and contours. I can not fully explain why I invest…

www.curtisnovak.com

No affiliation.

 

[B0W]

NBD: Gibson Grabber II
Guys I have to say I am blown away how good this bass is. It's in excellent condition, I set it up, and it just kills. It sounds pretty close to the original Grabber, with more lows but has the same amount of nice mids. Amazingly stabile 3 piece laminated neck with a huge volute. The fretwork is amazing and I was able to lower the strings really low. The case is Phenomenal as well. The body size is 1:1 to original. I don't understand why these are not popular. It exceeded all my expectations, and actually like it more than the original.

 

[ctmullins]

Niiiice!

 

[coreyfyfe]

Curtis Novak, who already makes fantastic and super accurate replacement pickups for Grabbers and G3s, is now making repro bridge covers for the Ripper/Grabber/G3.

Grabber, G3, SB bridge cover

My reproduction of the vintage Gibson Grabber, G3, and SB bass bridge cover. This is an exact reproduction, true to the vintage spec in all dims and contours. I can not fully explain why I invest…

www.curtisnovak.com

No affiliation.

Got one in this week. As with most of Curtis’s stuff it’s a great match for the originals.

He’s also doing replacement sliding plates (and routing templates) for the grabber pickups.

 

[bitterminnows]

While I don’t have a Ripper yet, I’ve been eyeing some of late—was curious if anyone here might be able to answer a question I have.

Does anyone know how rare the sunburst Rippers are compared to the Ebony and Natural finish ones?

An Ebony one locally is… quite tempting, but I’m wondering if it might behoove me to wait for a sunburst to pop up… are they common in the alder body? I’ve seen a few sold listings, but IIRC the bursts were more an early, maple wide-body Ripper thing, no?

 

[bitterminnows]

While I don’t have a Ripper yet, I’ve been eyeing some of late—was curious if anyone here might be able to answer a question I have.

Does anyone know how rare the sunburst Rippers are compared to the Ebony and Natural finish ones?

An Ebony one locally is… quite tempting, but I’m wondering if it might behoove me to wait for a sunburst to pop up… are they common in the alder body? I’ve seen a few sold listings, but IIRC the bursts were more an early, maple wide-body Ripper thing, no?

Any ideas?

 

[B0W]

While I don’t have a Ripper yet, I’ve been eyeing some of late—was curious if anyone here might be able to answer a question I have.

Does anyone know how rare the sunburst Rippers are compared to the Ebony and Natural finish ones?

An Ebony one locally is… quite tempting, but I’m wondering if it might behoove me to wait for a sunburst to pop up… are they common in the alder body? I’ve seen a few sold listings, but IIRC the bursts were more an early, maple wide-body Ripper thing, no?

It depends if you would like a fretted or fretless sunburst ripper.
The fretless ones are in my opinion are not that rare, but sunburst fretted ones are pretty rare. I have mostly seen alder fretted sunburst rippers(pre 1978 models).
Take a look at the shipping totals!
One thing to mention that in my humble experience the post 1978 rippers which have the 3 tab adjustment pickups allow for lower setup.

 

[bitterminnows]

It depends if you would like a fretted or fretless sunburst ripper.
The fretless ones are in my opinion are not that rare, but sunburst fretted ones are pretty rare. I have mostly seen alder fretted sunburst rippers(pre 1978 models).
Take a look at the shipping totals!
One thing to mention that in my humble experience the post 1978 rippers which have the 3 tab adjustment pickups allow for lower setup.

Oh boy, yeah. 126 is not very many!

Really puts things into perspective, now I can understand why I’ve never seen any available.

And, that’s before taking into account it’s taken me this long to see even an Ebony one in person—and those were much more plentiful!

Hmmm…

Thanks for the info! I wouldn’t have thought to search for the shipping tally. Very cool to see.

 

[Shak_2112]

Hi - does anyone have any experience with replacing a nut on a 1975 Gibson Grabber G-3 please? I’ve just managed to get the bass but the nut has cracked under the low E. Does anyone know the following:

- Nut width (41.5mm?)
- Flat or Curved Nut Bottom (Curved?)
- Fretboard Radius (12 inches?)
- String Spacing at the nut?

Also are there any pre-slotted nuts available or would I need to get a blank nut custom fit by a luthier?

If anyone has any information or any nut recommendations I would be very grateful.

Would this fit?

Bone Nut Precision Bass Style - Pre-cut & Slotted - 41.5mm

Premium unbleached bone nut for Precision Bass Premium quality unbleached carved bone nut. A fantastic upgrade to the standard plastic nut on any Fender/Squier Precision Bass, or other bass guitar with a 41.5mm nut. Improved tone and Stability This hard wearing carved and pre-slotted bone nut...

northwestguitars.co.uk

Many thanks,

Shak

 

[ThaCoast]

Hi - does anyone have any experience with replacing a nut on a 1975 Gibson Grabber G-3 please? I’ve just managed to get the bass but the nut has cracked under the low E. Does anyone know the following:

- Nut width (41.5mm?)
- Flat or Curved Nut Bottom (Curved?)
- Fretboard Radius (12 inches?)
- String Spacing at the nut?

Also are there any pre-slotted nuts available or would I need to get a blank nut custom fit by a luthier?

If anyone has any information or any nut recommendations I would be very grateful.

Would this fit?

Bone Nut Precision Bass Style - Pre-cut & Slotted - 41.5mm

Premium unbleached bone nut for Precision Bass Premium quality unbleached carved bone nut. A fantastic upgrade to the standard plastic nut on any Fender/Squier Precision Bass, or other bass guitar with a 41.5mm nut. Improved tone and Stability This hard wearing carved and pre-slotted bone nut...

northwestguitars.co.uk

View attachment 7232633

Many thanks,

Shak

I replaced mine on my 75 G1 Grabber. Made a new bone nut, though i'll probably replace it with Graph Tech Tusq XL.

It's flat bottom, not curved (fenders had the curved on most their models both guitar & bass. Some have flat)
41mm width
12" fretboard radius
String spacing roughly 38mm center to center E-G

Hope this helps.

 

[Shak_2112]

I replaced mine on my 75 G1 Grabber. Made a new bone nut, though i'll probably replace it with Graph Tech Tusq XL.

It's flat bottom, not curved (fenders had the curved on most their models both guitar & bass. Some have flat)
41mm width
12" fretboard radius
String spacing roughly 38mm center to center E-G

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the info- do you know if they make a Graph Tech Tusq XL that would fit the Grabber G3?

 

[ThaCoast]

Thanks for the info- do you know if they make a Graph Tech Tusq XL that would fit the Grabber G3?

Graph Tech PQL-4000-00 - TUSQ XL Blank Jumbo Nut:​

Length: 48.39mm
Width: 4.88mm
Height: 9.52mm

Graph Tech PQL-4061-00 - TUSQ XL Epiphone Blank Nut:​

Length: 48.84mm
Width: 6.69mm
Height: 11.15mm

If you need more height/width, go with the epiphone xl blank. I may opt for that, but i'd have to double check my Grabber's current bone nut (or its original bone? which i still have & had copied to make the cut the new one.

 

[Shak_2112]

Graph Tech PQL-4000-00 - TUSQ XL Blank Jumbo Nut:​

Length: 48.39mm
Width: 4.88mm
Height: 9.52mm

Graph Tech PQL-4061-00 - TUSQ XL Epiphone Blank Nut:​

Length: 48.84mm
Width: 6.69mm
Height: 11.15mm

If you need more height/width, go with the epiphone xl blank. I may opt for that, but i'd have to double check my Grabber's current bone nut (or its original bone? which i still have & had copied to make the cut the new one.

Thanks - the current nut is measuring 33mm centre E to centre G- does anyone know if the original nut was black plastic like this one?

 

[ThaCoast]

Thanks - the current nut is measuring 33mm centre E to centre G- does anyone know if the original nut was black plastic like this one?

Most likely not. My Grabber's original was white bone.

 

[Shak_2112]

This looks to be the original nut - I have a small broken piece in my case that must be from the original so mine has been replaced before!