Gene still has the 'second' Spector referred to as the topic of this thread.ĭo you know what happened to the Charlie Lobue bass? I loved how that early bass looked, especially with the armour. The original Spector was eventually sold at the Butterfields Auction for many thousands of dollars. Gene started working with Spector in 1976 & I believe the first recording the 'original' Spector was used on was the 'Love Gun' album. He also used a Gibson Grabber/Ripper from 1974-1976 (Hotter Than Hell Tour to Alive Tour). Stuart is correct, Gene used a Charlie Lobue bass from the first tour in 1973/4 through to 1976 (Rock n Roll Over Tour).
It's not much different from his first one, except the longer top horn and a mirror scratchplate. What do you want to know about Gene's 2nd Spector? It was made for him around the same time as his first one in late 1976 I believe, though he didn't use it much until the early 80's. This was the only year that Gibson offered this rare metal flake, teal blue colour.That replica in the first post was mine. This is a fine example of the last year production of the Gibson Grabber Bass, 1982. Pictured (above) is a 1974 Ripper and a 1982 Graber G3 – both black with ebony fingerboards.īelow is a quick video of London Bass player Luke Capon demoing a 1982 Gibson Grabber Bass in a rare Teal Blue finish. He started off with a Gibson Ripper, but what was that double cutaway Gibsony bass he played around the time of 'Destroyer' (before the Pedullas and the Axe). 1 corinpills Boston, MA A VH1 induced query. The Ripper was used by Krist Novoselic of Nirvana, who also used a Gibson RD Artist and a Thunderbird bass.Īndy Baxter stocks a number of Gibson Grabber and Ripper Basses, amongst other vintage Gibson basses. Gene Simmons 70s bass Discussion in ' Basses BG ' started by corinpills. After having used a few different basses during the time in Wicked Lester, an Epiphone that was stolen and a Fender P-bass with a Gibson EB-0 pickup, Gene finally found his weapon of choice in the shape of a Charlie LoBue custom bass. More recently, Jeremy Davies (ex-Paramore) can be seen using a candy red G3. Other notable players included Mike Dirnt from Green Day, back in the 90’s ‘Dookie’ days.
The Grabber predominantly achieved its fame after Gene Simmons from Kiss became a player. The Ripper came equipped with two humbucker pickups, known as "Super Humbuckers", a four-way pickup selector control and a passive midrange control, making it an extremely versatile bass with an tremendous amount of clarity, which wasn’t generally something Gibson basses were known for”. Its three-way switch meant that the pickups could be activated as neck & middle, bridge & middle, or all three at once. c.1974 Gibson Grabber Bass signed in person by Gene Simmons JUST rare as hell is to find an exact early production & all over the 'Kiss Alive' tour period, this Grabber Bass in a factory Cherry finish just like Gene played, nice fattish maple neck, 1 funky sliding pickup, this is just like the Grabber Bass Gene is playing on the 'Kiss Alive' al. Later, The Gibson Grabber G3 was introduced, which featured three (non-adjustable) single coil pickups mounted in the neck, bridge and middle positions. The Grabber had a distinctive adjustable pickup, which provided plenty of tonal variation.
“Bill Lawrence designed the pickups for both basses. Whilst the The Grabber was available in wine red, ebony, natural, walnut and white finishes – all with maple fingerboards.įocusing on the electrics, Andy Baxter says: The Ripper was firstly available in three colours options, natural (with a maple fingerboard) and black and tobacco sunburst (with ebony fingerboards). The Grabber had a V-shaped headstock like the Gibson Flying V, while the Ripper featured the more traditional Les Paul style headstock. The Grabber featured a bolt-on neck with a metal back plate a four-screws – also comparable to Fender basses, whereas the Ripper featured a set-neck (through-body) construction. The Ripper then switched back to maple in 77. The Grabber switched to alder in 1975 and likewise, the majority of Ripper basses manufactured in 1975 also had lighter alder bodies. Their contoured edge bodies vaguely echoed the SG, whilst their offset horns were clearly reminiscent of other popular makes of that era. Both basses may have been modest options in terms ok looks - available in limited colour options with no decorative inlays and controls and pickups mounted on the scratch-plate, but the Gibson Grabber and Ripper were quick to become a two of Gibson’s most iconic basses.īoth basses introduced an all-new body shape made from maple. Original Article Written for Bass Guitar Magazineīack in 1973 Gibson introduced not one, but two new and distinctive basses to the market, The Ripper and The Grabber. The Grabber gained in popularity in 1974 due to the high usage of Kiss bass-player Gene Simmons who played a Grabber bass almost exclusively in 1974-1975.
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