Gibson G3

The Gibson G-3 was a bass guitar by Gibson building on the design of the Gibson Grabber.

Gibson G-3
1976 Natural Finish Gibson G-3
Manufacturer	Gibson
Period	1975 - 1985
Construction
Body type	Solid
Neck joint	Bolt-On
Scale	34½"
Woods
Body	Maple/Alder
Neck	Maple
Fretboard	Maple/Ebony/Rosewood
Hardware
Bridge	Fixed
Pickup(s)	3 Wired in "Buck-and-a-half" Configuration
Colors available
Maple Gloss, Natural Satin, Black, Tobacco Sunburst, Wine Red, Walnut

Introduced in 1975 as a companion to the Gibson Grabber, the G-3 (which stands for Grabber 3) introduced a new pickup scheme to the already established body style. Instead of a sliding pickup as was present in the Grabber, the G-3 featured a so-called "buck-and-a-half" trio of single coils. Along with a tone and volume control, the G-3 featured a three-way switch linked in with three Bill Lawrence single coil pickups. The pickups were designed for a "bright/low" tonality and all three pickups were designed with different tonalities. In the up position, the neck and middle pickups would be activated, and, as they were wired out of phase, a humbucker effect would result. Likewise, in the down position, the middle and bridge pickups would be activated similarly. However, when switched to the middle position, all three pickups would be activated, the neck and bridge pickups being in phase while the middle would be out of phase with both, hence the term "buck-and-a-half".[1]