In 1973, Gibson’s L9-S bass appeared, but within a year, had been given a more memorable, not to say aggressive new name, the Ripper. This was the start of a trend for Gibsons with a gutsy image.

The next bass to come out of Kalamazoo was the Grabber, launched in 1974. Unlike the previous basses, the Grabber had a maple bolt-on neck attached to an alder body and maple fingerboard. It’s other striking features included a pickup that players could slide up or down to alter the tone it produced, and a very distinctly pointed headstock.

The Grabber remained in Gibson’s catalog until 1982.