Basvarken Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 (edited) I have just finished my latest bass build. It's the Brooks Grabbird. This bass combines the 1964 Gibson Thunderbird II with the 1973 Gibson Grabber. It features a nine ply neck through construction just like the Thunderbird. But with strips of maple veneer in between the mahogany, instead of walnut. The nickel covered humbucker resembles the pickup of the sixties Thunderbird. But the sliding mechanism in the raised middle section refers to the Grabber of course. The shape of the headstock echoes the Grabber headstock, but the ebony veneer on top is a nod to the Thunderbird headstock. The shorter headstock and the Ultra-lite tuners make sure it doesn't suffer any neckdive! Specs: - Neck through with figured mahogany body wings - Nine ply mahogany/maple neck - Ebony faceplate on headstock - Cherry gloss transparent acrylic finish - Rosewood fretboard - Jumbo frets - 34" scale - Handcut bone nut - Three ply white-black-white pickguard - Wide travel Thunderbird bridge plus tailstop - Spokewheel trussrod - Sliding Thunderbird pickup nickel. 9.2 K Ohm - Hipshot ultralite nickel plated tuners - Volume pot Bourns 500 kOhms logarithmic SRT - Tone pot Bourns 500 kOhms logarithmic SRT - Kemet capacitor 47 nF paper insulation - D'Addario Nickel plated Roundwound 45-105 Edited March 1, 2020 by Basvarken 24 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basvarken Posted February 29, 2020 Author Share Posted February 29, 2020 I started out with a big mahogany neck blank. I went to a friend who has a saw table and cut it into four long pieces. Plus I bought some maple veneer to put in between those pieces. I had another piece of slightly darker mahogany lying around, which I used for the middle. It was a bit of a puzzle because there were two tiny) knots in the blank that I would rather avoid in the new laminated blank. I made sure they were in the outer ends of the blank. Next I routed the truss rod channel. And chiseled out the part where the spoke wheel goes. Sawed the neck blank into a rough shape for the neck, headstock paddle and the middle part of the body. Bought a nice piece of rosewood. And drilled holes for the position dots. Glued them in and sanded them flush with the fretboard in tjhe correct radius of 16". 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basvarken Posted February 29, 2020 Author Share Posted February 29, 2020 I bought a piece of ebony and sanded it to a thickness of about mm. Sawed it in the shape for the headstock overlay. I drilled small holes for tiny nails that prevent the faceplate from sliding while glued and clamped. Printed out a paper template of the design to check the definite shape. Did a few tests for the sliding mechanism. I used scrap wood that I had lying around When I knew the sliding mechanism worked according to plan, I glued the fretboard onto the neck. I always use strips of bicycle tubes tied together by mean of clamping. You get a nice and even pressure on the entire fretboard. And it doesn't slide because its wrapped all around. I cut the parts for the sliding mechanism from the same nine ply center piece. I just used the part that was under the neck. I had to remove a lot of wood there anyway. And I routed some slots for the pickup screws and the pickup wiring I sawed a hole for the pickup in the part that was going to be the frame. Plus I routed the back side, so the plate with the pickup would fit in nicely. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basvarken Posted February 29, 2020 Author Share Posted February 29, 2020 Drilled the holes for the bridge studs Drilled the holes for the tuners Center piece almost ready for glueing the wings I had a nice slab of curly mahogany for the wings. First I glued the lower wing. Then the upper wing. No pics of routing the control cavity in the lower (sorry) Cut the rough body shape to get ready for the router to cut along the template. I have no pics of the planing of the wings to make them taper (just like the Thunderbird wings do) But here's a (not so clear) pic of the taper in one of the wings. You can see I had to fill up the gaps between the wings and the template because of the taper. Routed the body shape 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jus Lukin Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 (edited) - Edited March 4, 2022 by Jus Lukin 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basvarken Posted February 29, 2020 Author Share Posted February 29, 2020 Made a template for the controls cover And I though of a solution for securing the pickup frame without ruining the clean look. I drilled holes for tiny magnets in each corner. In the back side of the frame. And I would place screws or carpet nails in the middle section of the body for the magnets to snap onto. Cut the slot for the top nut Prior to staining the body I used pore filler because the mahogany has very open grain. When the grain filler was sanded flush I stained the bass with a waterbased bright red colour by Clou. After the first layers of clear coat acrylic it looked like this I applied the water slide decals After many layers of acrylic and lots of sanding in between A friend of mine has a laser cutter. I sent him the design for the pickguard and the logo. He cut it out and engraved the flame logo for me! 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedVee Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 Brilliant......Looks like a nice Bass! 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat Burrito Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 Just wow! That really works and looks very cool. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 Just love that trussrod cover! What does the bass weigh? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basvarken Posted February 29, 2020 Author Share Posted February 29, 2020 (edited) 8 minutes ago, Happy Jack said: Just love that trussrod cover! What does the bass weigh? 4.5 kg Edited February 29, 2020 by Basvarken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Bay Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 That is gorgeous! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyTravis Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 Your basses always look like what Gibson should’ve done in the first place. Brilliant. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 4 minutes ago, Basvarken said: 4.5 kg Thanks. I feel better now ... I don't need to ask whether it's for sale. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubis Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 That is fabulous 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkHeart Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 That works for me, awesome! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpondonBassed Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 I'd heard of The Rail by Westone but I'd not come across The Grabber by Gibson before. A neatly reproduced sliding pup mechanism in an eye catching body. What more would you want? I can't wait to hear about the tonal palette you'll have just from adjusting the pup position. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 Quality build coupled with quality build posts. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyTravis Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 (edited) I want you to do me a Pelham Blue Ripper with Thunderbird pickups 😂 Edited February 29, 2020 by AndyTravis 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basvarken Posted February 29, 2020 Author Share Posted February 29, 2020 1 minute ago, AndyTravis said: I want you to do me a Pelham Blue Ripper with Thunderbird pickups 😂 No problem Andy. Send me the specs and I'll make you a quote. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyTravis Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 3 minutes ago, Basvarken said: No problem Andy. Send me the specs and I'll make you a quote. I suspect after recent purchases, there would be an imminent divorce. But you make beautiful instruments. And I am weak - I know where you are though, for sure. Have you ever attempted a version of the Les Paul Signature bass (the posh Jack Casady). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basvarken Posted February 29, 2020 Author Share Posted February 29, 2020 7 minutes ago, AndyTravis said: I suspect after recent purchases, there would be an imminent divorce. But you make beautiful instruments. And I am weak - I know where you are though, for sure. Have you ever attempted a version of the Les Paul Signature bass (the posh Jack Casady). No I haven't , but I did modify my JCS a bit. Inspired by the first generation of the Les Paul Signature bass 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyTravis Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 Looks great 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoubleOhStephan Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 38 minutes ago, AndyTravis said: I want you to do me a Pelham Blue Ripper with Thunderbird pickups 😂 Me too 😁 Such a cool idea and lovely looking bass. Out of interest, what fretboard radius does it have? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basvarken Posted March 1, 2020 Author Share Posted March 1, 2020 8 hours ago, DoubleOhStephan said: Me too 😁 Such a cool idea and lovely looking bass. Out of interest, what fretboard radius does it have? The Grabbird has a 16'" radius 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basvarken Posted March 1, 2020 Author Share Posted March 1, 2020 Here's a video to give you an impression of the sounds of the Brooks Grabbird 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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