Epiphone has raided the Gibson archives to reanimate the Grabber Bass, a lost classic bass guitar made famous by the likes of Krist Novoselic, Mike Dirnt and perhaps most notably Gene Simmons.
The Grabber was a go-to instrument for Simmons in the mid ‘70s, immortalised on the cover of KISS Alive! in 1975, and this Inspired By Gibson Epiphone version would certainly scratch the itch of many a KISS Army foot soldier looking to get in on the God of Thunder’s act.
That is if they could decide which finish to choose: Ebony, just like the Alive! album cover, dry ice and greasepaint sold separately, or Natural, for that 1975 at Winterland look. Anyway, that’s one for the KISS die-hards to consider. What everyone else has to deliberate over is a stripped-down rock-friendly bass that is more versatile than it looks at first blush.
Much of the Grabber Bass’s DNA is cribbed from the original designs, with a solid three-piece alder body and a bolt-on three-piece maple neck. That double-cut body shape with the 2x2 headstock reminiscent of a Flying V remains very cool.
Both finish options arrive with a maple fingerboard. Necks have been finished with an “antique” natural gloss finish that sells the illusion this could have been a box fresh original example, name on the headstock notwithstanding.
Besides the shape of this thing, and the appealing throw-and-go nature of it, the star of the show is the Epiphone Bass humbucker that is situated somewhere in the middle between the bridge and summit of the fretboard. This is where you’ll find the thunder.
Volume and tone controls adjust your sound to taste – but there’s more. A toggle switch located beside the controls – and the front-mounted 1/4” output jack – activates a coil-splitter, which just shows there is more than meets the eye to this Grabber Bass. It’ll cover a lot of styles.
Of course, we’re just presuming you’re going to play this through a fridge-style Ampeg bass amp stack but other options are available. This is 2024, not 1974.
Other vital statistics include the 320mm fretboard radius (a hair under 12.6” in the old scale), the 41mm nut, and the 34” scale length. The nut is bone and we have a Cast Grabber four-string bridge unit with a nickel cover. Epiphone has opted for Black Speed knobs for your controls.
The Epiphone Grabber Bass ships in a premium gigbag and is available now. Hat-tip to the Gibson Gazette for breaking the news. This release has surprisingly been kept under wraps, which is strange considering it is back because bassists have been requesting a Grabber for “decades”. Well, it’s here and it is priced £929/$999. See Epiphone for more details.
