That’s what I do currently, I store it in the case with a bungee cord wrapped around the warped section in hopes that it eventually takes the shape.
Hasn’t yet though!
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That’s what I do currently, I store it in the case with a bungee cord wrapped around the warped section in hopes that it eventually takes the shape.
Hasn’t yet though!
I wouldn't want to use that case. The Ripper fits nicely in a Jack Casady case, and those aren't hard to find.
See, that was my thinking initially (before I found this original case), but when I got the Casady case in the mail and tried to fit my Ripper in it wouldn’t fit. I dunno if maybe it’s because it’s a wide body vs. the later shape.
The earlier ones are significantly bigger? Hard to imagine!
I've found that the cases made for the post-1974 body shape don't really fit the '74's perfectly, as described by bitterminnows above. Here's a diagram from the excellent Flyguitars Ripper info page (https://www.flyguitars.com/gibson/bass/ripper.php) that has the 2 different body shapes laid on top of each other:
Hi! Not a 100% original Grabber (Actually pretty much 80% of this bass is non original) but a Melody 6600 which is basically an Italian version/copy of the grabber with a moving pickup! (Which was a guitar humbucker) After basically rehauling the whole bass the only problem I have with it is the lack of strength ans volume in the E string, even more egregiously when the pickup is in the bridge position, I found that raising that side of the pickup aswell as moving it towards the neck really does help but I find this strange. Is this usual with Grabber basses or is it because the pickup is not really made for bass (I replaced the original humbucker with Bill Lawrence L90 6H, which is still a guitar humbucker but according to Bill Lawrence and Becky this pickup should be fitting for bass), any ideas as to how paliate this problem?
- Apr 18, 2008
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It’s not the pickup. The L90 sounds GREAT on bass.
How does your E string sound when you play unamplified?
Definitely not the pickup. I've been through 2 sets of L90 buckers on my Ripper bass build (1st a set of 6h, but i found them too hot after a while, so went down to 4h & that's been perfect.) These pickups are LOUD xD, i'd suspect it's something else bout the bass (nut material/cut, bridge, wiring, strings). It's happened on my drummers bass at some point, the low E was trash compared to the other 3, Replaced the full set & it rang as loud as it should've. Maybe start there, & work down to the bigger longer work. Strings, then nut cut/type, bridge, then wiring).
I do have a Grabber bass copy by Maya brand & it's low output vs my real 75 Grabber & even my own grabber build (1st ever full build of mine). I suspect in my case it's just the pickup, but i've come to live with it.
Sounds great, the Hi-mass bridge (although raising the action substantially) made the bass super resonant and even loud acoustically!
What's the pickup you used for your Grabber build? I'm kind of tempted to try and fit a P-bass pickup into this bass to see if maybe a bass centered pickup would fare better than the Bill Lawrence, even though I really like the Bill Lawrence, maybe it just doesn't do that well for what I'm going for since I'm playing tuned down to C standard and such
My grabber build had an EB-O sidewinder pickup (the big chrome one, not the micro mini bridge one). Only cause the initial design of it was made for my Dad (who i had built him a Lobue short scale bass modelled after the one Gene Simmons had in the early days of KISS), & he gave me the grabber bass back. But am opting to utilize a re-wound Maxon minibuck sized single coil pickup (which i've to send out sometime this year for rewind). The Mudbucker is very big & bold, clarity isn't its strong suit even decked in the middle of the bass away from the neck. It's very different from my 75 Gibson Grabber which roars in comparison.
I'd keep the L90, but if you're tuned in C standard, i would've gone for the 4H or even 2H (if you strictly stay C standard), the lower output pickup helps keep the notes of a very detuned instrument clear & precise IMHO. My Ripper bass is tuned to E Flat standard, & the 6H worked fine, but it was way too overpowered & made the notes like mush. So went for 4H on mine, re-wired a little (4 position rotary, but 3 positions are active, always both pickups in series, just different combinations. final spot is off/muted).
Yeah, Bad4ss & variants/clones of always raise the action/string height substantially. I've lowered a few neck pockets for 2 reasons when installing that type of bridge: 1-most times because the neck pocket wasn't to proper depth in accordance to how much the neck heel height measured (example if neck heel is 20mm thick - excluding the fretboard - we'd need a 17mm deep neck pocket for adequate string height/action, regardless of bridge utilized). 2- Those BA bridges have a thicker baseplate vs the standard bentplate fender stuff, so string height already sits higher than "normal" even at the lowest saddle point (which was the case on my old Squier Dimension V bass, i lowered the neck pocket, & i was able to set the string action much lower & the bridge saddles weren't sitting a mile off the bridge plate).
Weet looking bass!
How's the pickup alignment? Is the E string completely over the blade?
Yup, as said before it is quite a hot pickup and if you run it all in humbucker mode is woofy as all hell, you can run it in single coil but I feel it loses quite a lot of the punch. Good news is that raising the E side a sensible ammount seemed to fix the problem, last steps of wrangling this dog is changing the tone pot (became scratchy when installing the pickup) and sanding down the neck!
hey all, got a wild hair and decided to have a G3 made to both Gibson and some updated items, Mitch at KnE Guitars is making me a maple body and neck with the tilt back flying V head stock, having block inlays and s.s. frets, set of curtis novac pickups, now for the up to date mods hipshot ultralite tuners , a fender 5 screw 19mm spacing bridge string through , pots 500k 0.047 cap, and now asking to go with a 3 pole switch guessing 6 leg? or a rotary switch
A real G-3 uses a switch. This website has all you need to know. Gibson G3 bass guitar wiring images and circuit schematic >> FlyGuitars
Could use rotary, & it'd let you have a few more options if you wanted - each pickup alone, neck & bridge together. Could also do series/parallel between coils if you wanted a beefier sound. All depends on what you wish to achieve
I had a Serek Lincoln G3 and we used a freeway switch for 6 positions. Had the normal G3 options but also a set with the middle pickup dropped out so you could solo the neck/bridge and also get jazz bass style selections.
They make a few different versions depending on the switching options you want.
They make a few different versions depending on the switching options you want.
Products - Toggle & Blade Switches
Overview of Free-Way products. Free-Way 6-position Toggle switches to suit various guitar formats including pre-wired models. Free-Way 6 & 10 position Blade Switches for S-type and T-type guitars.
www.freewayswitch.com
Finally I have the family complete and together for a picture. It was really hard to get these basses in great condition, all 3 has maple bodies, black headstocks, straight necks (truss rods are working) with all original parts.
1977 Grabber G3
1978 Ripper
1979 Grabber
2009 Grabber II is my main gigging bass
1977 Grabber G3
1978 Ripper
1979 Grabber
2009 Grabber II is my main gigging bass
