I tried myself in doing a leather grip wrap (and emitter shroud) on one of my sabers; I think (for hopefully obvious reasons) I'll call it the 'Caterpillar' ;D
My modifications didn't mess up the balance as bad as I feared; with a 32" blade the balance point is about at the two screws.
And although I didn't get thin leather, thanks to the slim OD of the Liberator V2 it's still quite comfy...