1978 Gibson G3

• Tobacco Sunburst finish • Solid maple body • bolt-on one-piece maple neck • maple fretboard • 34 1/2 inch scale • three pickups

The Gibson G-3 bass was produced from 1975 initially at the Gibson Kalamazoo plant, Michigan, USA. 1025 G-3 basses were shipped in 1978 with just 70 having a sunburst finish. Most had a natural (see a 1976 Natural G-3 bass), or ebony finish. 1976 was the peak year (see G-3 shipping figures). The electronics were designed by Bill Lawrence, who had already worked on the Ripper and Grabber basses.

No major changes were made to the bass' design over it's decade of production, but there were small cosmetic modifications. The black pickup covers, were first introduced in mid 1978, and this is one of the first examples to have been fitted with them. Older G-3 basses had clear pickup covers, through which the pickup windings and magnet were visible - see a 1976 G-3.

The G-3 was closely related to the Grabber, sharing the same basic construction, and some hardware. Both were long (34 1/2") scale basses, fitted with the Grabber bridge. This bridge is not suitable for direct stringing, strings enter the body from the back, and pass through it; this does require the use of extra-long scale strings.

The G-3 was shipped with a maple or alder body; this one clearly is 3-piece maple, with just a small amount of figuring visible in places. Maple is one of the heavier woods used in guitar construction, and this bass weighs in at 4.4kg.

The sunburst finish employed on this 1978 G-3 bass goes from dark brown, through a mid reddish-brown and to the translucent yellow showing the typical grain patterns of maple. The G-3 can only be strung through the body, strings entering through holes in the black plate near the bottom end of this bass.

The pickups are mounted onto the scratchplate, each held in place by three screws, also used to adjust the pickup height, and angle. The black covers indicate a later G-3; prior to mid 1978 the covers were translucent plastic, showing the red coil windings and Alnico core. (See translucent G-3 pickups on a '76 G-3).

The pickups, although single coil units, were combined in a similar manor to the two coils in a humbucker. There were three possible configurations: either neck and middle pickups, and bridge and middle pickups, or all three pickups active at once, which Gibson called the "buck-and-a-half" setting. See also G-3 circuit photos | G-3 schematic.

The G-3 (or Grabber 3) is so named because it is basically a Grabber with three pickups. The pickup switch selects 2 or 3 pickup combinations, as in a three-pickup Les Paul Custom: that is neck and middle pickups, neck and bridge, or all three. Quite differently from the Les Paul, these pickups are all single coil units, yet are wired together as humbuckers with each pickup representing a different coil of the humbucker, cancelling noise.

The controls are fitted with the typical Gibson speed knobs used throughout the mid-late 1970s; one volume and one tone control.

All G-3 and Grabber bass guitars were fitted with this Grabber bridge; simple and lightweight compared to the three-point bridge fitted to the Ripper and other basses of this period. The bridge cover was also slightly different to the one made for the three-point bridge (smaller) and nickel plated as opposed to chrome. Have a look at this bridge without it's cover here.

The G-3 neck is attached to the body via 4 screws at the neckplate showing the mid seventies style Gibson logo, and MADE IN USA.

The Grabber and G-3 were Gibson's first bolt-on neck basses. Combined with being built of maple instead of mahogany and rosewood, and with Bill Lawrence's innovative electronics, these offered completely new sounding basses for Gibson.

The eight digit serial number system was introduced to Gibson guitars in 1977. As usual it was positioned on the top-back of the headstock. Unlike serial numbers on older guitars, several facts can be gleaned from this number; approximate production date being the most useful. The serial number on this G-3, 71658216 tells us that this bass was stamped on the 14th June 1978 (day 165), at the Gibson Kalamazoo plant, and was the 216th instrument stamped that day. Compare this to a 1975 Grabber with a six digit stamped serial number, and a 1976 Grabber 3 with a eight digit decal serial number, in which the first two digits give the year. Read more about Gibson serial numbers in general here.

The words MADE IN USA are also stamped to the reverse of the headstock, although in this case they are not easy to spot; they run perpendicularly to the serial number, and are partially covered by the tuning keys, towards the bottom of this image.

The headstock of this G-3 is quite typical; Flying-V style, finished in black with the gold silk-screened Gibson logo and Schaller BM tuning keys.

As is the case for all G-3 basses, the truss rod cover has the G-3 model designation, although only a few (usually 1978) G-3s had the flat bottom edge and three screws attaching it to the headstock. The vast majority of earlier and later G-3 truss rods were the traditional Gibson 2-screw bell-style, although this style was more widely used on G-1 Grabber. Compare this to a 1976 G-3 with a 2-screw cover.

Gibson G-3 bass reverse headstock detail showing serial number and Schaller BM tuners, each marked Gibson. Note the scarf joint where the headstock attaches to the neck. All G-3 bass necks are constructed of maple, though later ones were actually a three-piece laminate and often very highly flamed.

1978 Gibson G-3 bass with purple/pink lined hard case

Have a closer look at the G-3 in the 1978 Gibson catalog

1978 US zone 1 price for the G-3 in tobacco sunburst finish was $509 in the January 1978 price lists, dropping to $499 in May. A total of 1025 G-3 basses were shipped in 1978, with the vast majority in Natural finish; only 40 instruments were shipped in Tobacco Sunburst finish as seen here.