Date and Value my Ripper Bass
 

Just recently Pulled my vintage Gibson Ripper Bass out of the closet after many many years. Have begun playing again and suddenly realized the bass I pulled out of the closet is now worth much more than when it went in. How much is it worth? That is my question. I bought it new around 1974 to 1975. The guitar I believe is the Dark Tobacco Burst style (see attached picture). The SN is 190854, though from the Gibson Serial Number listing appears the best I can date the bass is 1973-1975. Shipping totals from Larry Meiners book seem to indicate this style was shipped starting in 1975, with only 5 shipped that year. Does that mean I have a 1975 model, or could it have been made in 1974? The Guitar is in great shape (few minor dings) and in original case. Any guesses on what it might be worth?

Please see rule # 3 regarding price checks & "how much is my bass worth" questions.

Sorry! My first time on here, Do I need to delete the thread?

No need - the mods will delete if needed, and my apologies for jumping you on your first post.

Welcome to TB! If you decide to pay for a supporting membership, not only could you ask this question,I think you would enjoy the perks - there are a bunch of very knowledgable & friendly folks here, and you would have axcess to post in the classifieds section, where some of the best bargains can be had from a wide assortment of great sellers. Take some time to fill out your profile, and welcome to our community!

+1

In any case, Gibson Rippers/Grabbers and G3s from the 70s are not worth that much.

Even a mint 70's Gibson is worth less than a new American Standard Fender as an example.

Great basses, but not highly sought after as 70's Fender and RICs would be.

you can check completed or sold listings on ebay to get an idea of what they're going for.

Ripper
 

1974 seems about right. Larry Meiners book is a good rough guide but not gospel. There were loads of sunburst (both cherry and brown) Rippers earlier than '75

It may be Gibson just didn't record such details at times, and lumped them all together

have a look here for lots of Ripper info
http://www.flyguitars.com/gibson/bass/L-9Sripper.php

I have a 1975 Maple Ripper L9-S and you know what mine is priceless. I purchased new late 74 and out of all the bass I have own in my 40+ years of rocking the bottom the Ripper has been with me every set of the way

This is all relative of course. Guitars have an intrinsic value as instruments, and some have added value due to rarity/collectability. Gibsons are quality instruments and tend to keep their value for this reason. I personally find Fender basses to be overpriced rather than Gibsons not worth much... but maybe that's me ;)

But Rippers are not sufficiently rare to have much extra value added beyond their worth as an instrument, however early ones in interesting finishes do fetch more than the mid seventies ones that are just natural. Yours is worth a bit more than a typical 1976 natural-finished one, because of the older body style and sunburst. A cherry sunburst would be worth even more.

I also love Rippers!

I bought a brand new ebony Ripper bass in 1975. Although it had more highs and lows than my 68 Jazz bass I was using at the time, it got lost in the mix (din) of the loud, hard rock band I was in at the time.

A couple friends had purchased maple Rippers after seeing me with mine, and they had similar presence problems. I later added P pickups between the Ripper pickups and changed the mid control (which they never used) with a volume to bring in the P pickup. In one bass, I used a Dimarzio P pickup, and in the other, a P pickup I had left from a Dimarzio install in a P bass. Both basses were great after the addition of the P pickup.

The one with the Dimarzio was stolen in Nashville in the 80's along with the 64 P bass I sold to that owner.

I would like to ask, are these generally considered to be decent basses, or not? I had a thought I might like to own one someday.

I just had to highlight those words because amps have come a loooong way since those days. IME it's very difficult to get lost in the mix anymore, I thought the Ripper sounded pretty killer.

Decent? well-built certainly. A lot of people really like the sound, but quite a few don't... I suspect you'll have to try one - luckily you can flip them quite easily and get your money back if you don't.

Several of the tone settings require balanced pickup outputs, and I wonder whether some of the people that don't like them have pickups at different heights, and therefore unbalanced outputs.