Did I miss the deal of the century or dodge a bullet?

TJH3113

TJH3113

Jun 15, 2015
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New Windsor, NY
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#1
I'm not sure if this sort of post is allowed or not, if not, please remove.
I've got a really nice Gibson G3 but think that the single p/u Grabber would suit me better, so I've always got my eyes peeled for one. This popped up the other day and seemed too good to be true. But there were a few things that steered me away from the purchase. I'm not saying the seller was disreputable, he was simply selling the bass as it was sold to him.
*VINTAGE* 1979 Gibson Grabber - Black

I'm, by no means, an expert, but these were some of the issues I had with the bass.

- How clean is too clean? It doesn't even look like the bridge and truss rod covers have ever taken a screw. I wouldn't have had a problem with a refin, but the seller said it was, to the best of his knowledge, "original".

- Something is off about the pick guard. It's too big and nearly hangs over the bottom side of the bass.

- Something about the shape of the upper cutaway doesn't look right either. Actually, the upper (E string side) of the body seems to have some contour issues.

- While a very minor issue, the neck screws look like, more modern, flat-headed wood or sheet metal screws.

I got a photo of the back of the headstock, which I thought would be telling. It was stamped and looked kosher though, from what I know anyway.

Another think that confounds me is the condition of the sliding p/u. Normally those things show the normal wear and tear any moving part would show but this one looks pristine which would fall in line with a NOS bass.

So can anyone here make me feel better....or worse about my decision to not grab this Grabber.
 
#2
Looks "off" to me too fwiw. Could be an artifact of the way the pics were taken, they seem to have wide-angle lens distortion, but I agree with your concerns.
 
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#5
I'd say it's a real Grabber that's been modified. The body is smaller (note how close the guard and bridge are to the edge now) and refinished.

xkoumbkobaktoicglavs.jpg


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#7
TJH3113 said:
I would not have had a problem with the body mod or refin, but the seller insisted it was straight up, all original, and unmodified. His answer to that question rang the loudest bell of all.
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I owned one of these in the early 90s.

He is either lying, or was lied to.

The neck looks 100% legit to me.

The body is either a DIY wood shop deal, or has been modded. The other parts look legit, almost like someone bought up a bunch of NOS parts and assembled this thing with a homemade body.

Pass.
 
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#8
The bridge doesn't look like it is in line with the neck either.. notice the G string.. being closer to the edge up near the nut verse at the body. The E string looks consistent all along the neck. Now it could be the angle to the photo taker, but to me that just looks amiss to me, let alone the other dysfunctions already stated above..

brianrost said:
I'd say it's a real Grabber that's been modified. The body is smaller (note how close the guard and bridge are to the edge now) and refinished.

xkoumbkobaktoicglavs.jpg


08f2baac6fd838e1e1c36b7d9bf4f160.jpg
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#9
JMacBass65 said:
I owned one of these in the early 90s.

He is either lying, or was lied to.

The neck looks 100% legit to me.

The body is either a DIY wood shop deal, or has been modded. The other parts look legit, almost like someone bought up a bunch of NOS parts and assembled this thing with a homemade body.

Pass.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your input. Here's the pic of the back of the headstock he sent and it seems to be legit, though I didn't get very far through the quagmire of actually dating it. I just can't believe there was one of these pick ups out there in such good condition. I'm hoping that he was lied to and not trying to pass this off. I would have paid something for this bass had there been full disclosure. If the neck is real, that alone might be worth $300 or more to the right person.
headstock.png
 
#10
Yea, the previous post nailed it. FWIW, I'll go on a limb and say the body is "authentic" Gibson that was poorly reduced in diameter and refinished. And if that seller was the owner/player (and not someone's dad or whatever) than he knows it's been modified and is lying. Anyone with half an eye for instruments and handles that one for 5 minutes will be able to tell that things aren't right. And I'm not speaking from a Gibson specialist point of view. I'm looking at basic workmanship and handling and so forth.

YOU DID DODGE A BULLET my friend!
 
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#14
TJH3113 said:
Thanks for your input. Here's the pic of the back of the headstock he sent and it seems to be legit, though I didn't get very far through the quagmire of actually dating it. I just can't believe there was one of these pick ups out there in such good condition. I'm hoping that he was lied to and not trying to pass this off. I would have paid something for this bass had there been full disclosure. If the neck is real, that alone might be worth $300 or more to the right person.
View attachment 908036
Click to expand...

Back of headstock looks legit - I have no recollection if I had the "made in isa" there or not though. If that's something Gibson does, well then there you go. Note - the A string tuner has a replaced tension screw (if that's what to call it) and washer.
 
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#19
TJH3113 said:
The G3 is cool but just a little "quacky" sounding.
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Play with the mids on your amp and try using a lighter touch closer to the neck. Almost caress the strings. (If you really dig in on a Ripper, Grabber, or G-3 they're gonna quack. The pups in all three are easy to unintentionally overdrive/oversaturate and get a fairly nasty sound out of.)

Now…does it still sound as quacky? :)
 
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#20
40Hz said:
Play with the mids on your amp and try using a lighter touch closer to the neck. Almost caress the strings. (If you really dig in on a Ripper, Grabber, or G-3 they're gonna quack. The pups in all three are easy to unintentionally overdrive/oversaturate and get a fairly nasty sound out of.)

Now…does it still sound as quacky? :)
Click to expand...
I'll have to dig it out and see. I used my SansAmp Para-Driver with that bass to sculpt the mids a bit. The frequency of the midrange is a bit higher than I'm used to. I think the Grabber is a bit flatter sounding than the G3.
 
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