Vintage Gibson Grabber Bass // Demo and Review

In Rumblin Man's Awesome Artifacts series, we take a look at great instruments that are no longer made. In this video, we check out a classic Gibson Grabber Bass from the early 1970's!! Demos, review and basic history inside. Links...

Equipment used in this video:

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God bless you!

[belhavenjim]

Stumbled across this today. Bought my Grabber in 1975 in a package deal. New music store had a grand opening deal: Buy the Grabber and get a free Sun bass amp or Lab series L2 piggy-back. I was driving a 73 Mach I at the time and the L2 was a perfect fit. Still have the Grabber & L2. Just subscribed to your channel, brother. Love it!

[robjgolde]

Stumbled across an old Grabber at a Guitar Center near Asbury Park a little over 5 years ago, and I have yet to come across a better sounding/better playing Gibson bass since then. And it is quite simply the coolest looking bass Gibson ever produced.

[michaeldionne]

My first new bass was a 1974 Gibson Grabber. I loved that bass, but sold it when I enlisted in the US Air Force. Great bass guitar.

[keithlau]

Awesome presentation of this outstanding bass guitar that doesn't get mentioned enough nowadays. The sliding pickup design is cleverly innovative and the tones produced are fantastic. I suggest that more people explore this terrific Gibson bass guitar and discover what they have been missing. Yes folks, there are other FINE bass guitars besides the P - Bass!!!

[PatoGazzotti]

Cool video! thanks!! This bass is probably de reason why I became a bass player. I was like 12 or 13 back in the late 80's and the father of a very close friend had one just like the one you are playing in the video. It was the first contact I ever had with a bass guitar and I was just blown away by the sound. He had an old Peavey amp to plug it in so all together was a bomb! That bass was sold a few years later and I lost track of it. A real shame. I'm from Argentina a now it's almost impossible to get one of those here. But that special one must still be around somewhere!!

[Solelova]

That is still my dream bass believe it or not. I played one at Sam Goody back in the 70’s when they sold guitars as well as records! Love the Grabber. Wish Gibson would make one again ( bolt on not set neck)

[shardnz]

Awesome bass!! My eyes popped when I saw it. A beautiful bass! 'Love that 'sliding' pickup. I'm surprised more companies haven't experimented with this. It's value is beyond money due to your clear connection to it! Great review! God Bless Rumblin Man!

[restojon]

Yours is a very early unusual version with the straight headstock and skunk stripe. Mine is a September 74 and has no skunk stripe and an angled headstock.

[thebionicbassplayer]

This is a very underrated bass. As you stated, Louis Johnson of Brother's Johnson fame used the Grabber and Ralphe Armstrong who played with Jean Luc Ponty used it. Of the two, Ralphe used it as his main bass for quite some time. A You Tuber, Dan Hawkins almost exclusively uses the Grabber for his demos.

[ibuyboats]

Nice presentation! Just picked one up at a yard sale. Could not believe my eyes when I saw it in the original case. Needs to be cleaned up. All original. Looking for a bridge cover. Thanks again for a great video.
Don

[AllbeeHivezChristianAllbee]

I wish they would release one at least under the Epiphone label. That would be a big seller.

[pearlandGUITARIST]

Cool Bass. I've noticed that thing hanging on your wall in previous videos. Glad you made this video. Very informative and great playing as usual!

[ChrisDavis]

Man, that thing is cool. So retro. Just has great mojo.

[t.j.meechan]

Really enjoyed this awesome artifacts video. Looking forward to more like it. Have a good one brotha man!

[jasoncothran]

Solid content my man. This video was very well put together. The flats sound great on it. Keep up the great work. I am liking that Yamaha PJ on the wall as well lol.

[sebastallard]

Good video! I am the owner of a circa 1975 Grabber (year deduced from the pots) - bought it used in 1993. Neck is a bit different: no skunk stripe and the truss rod cover is flat. The bridge cover is missing and the previous owner refinished the body with a clear coat, so it's a lot lighter in color. The saddle adjustments screws are in a dire state and the volume pot needs replacement though.

[A.lee]

judging by how you have the curved truss rod cover / headstock similar to a fender, i think that's the earlier version. my bassist has the same version as yours and i just acquired a later version myself. the skunk stripe version has a skinnier neck and one piece fretboard and neck. the later version with the angled headstock has a nice chunky neck but the fretboard and neck are separate pieces.

[guy]

I didn't know anything about that bass before I saw your video. Very good video once again Daniel!

[cameronstilliens]

Awesome video man. I enjoyed learning the history of this great instrument. God bless 👍🎸

[robt]

Norlin has a bad reputation, but they sure nailed it with basses in the 1970s. My friend has a Ripper and he loves it. The Grabber sounds great too! 🎸