| Gibson Grabber | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Gibson |
| Period | 1973–1983 |
| Construction | |
| Body type | Solid |
| Neck joint | Bolt-on |
| Woods | |
| Body | Maple (early models) or Alder (later models) |
| Neck | Maple |
| Fretboard | Maple |
| Hardware | |
| Bridge | Fixed |
| Pickup(s) | 1 Sliding Pickup (Gibson Grabber), or 3 Pickups (Gibson G3) |
| Colors available | |
| Wine Red, Ebony, Natural, Walnut and White | |
The Gibson Grabber was a bass guitar introduced in 1973 along with the Gibson Ripper. The Grabber featured a bolt-on 34½" neck like the Fender basses and shared a similar body with the Ripper. The Grabber also had a V-shaped headstock like the Gibson Flying V guitar. What made the Grabber truly unique from other basses was its sliding pickup to which the name refers. The bassist was able to position the pickup by sliding it either up or down to simulate a neck or bridge pickup. The pickup was brighter than the traditional Gibson style humbuckers, which made it sound more like Fenders. The Grabber had one volume, one tone control and a removable bridge cover. The Grabber was originally built with a thin, maple body, but it was changed to alder in 1975. 1975 was also a peak year for Grabber sales, totalling 2,637 basses shipped. The Gibson Grabber was marketed in wine red, ebony, natural, walnut and white colors. The Grabber was popular and quickly replaced the Gibson EB0 as Gibson's entry level bass. The Grabber was discontinued in 1982.
Later, another model of the Grabber was produced called the Gibson G3. This bass had three stationary pickups mounted in the neck,bridge and middle positions. A three way switch was added to the control scheme so that the pickups could be activated as humbucking pairs; neck & middle, bridge & middle, or all three in humbucking configuration for the so-called "buck and a half". Although very similar, the Grabber and G3 have different and unique sounds which lead players to prefer one over the other.
Recently Gibson produced a limited reissue of the single adjustable pickup version of the Grabber. It is limited to 350 models and is available only in black.