For fans of Gibson RD and Ripper basses...

A couple of fellow Gibson fans and I were hanging out one night, setting up my protools rig to record a demo for Taylor(Insouciance)'s band, Oblivion.

Taylor, Andy(JagStang68), and I have a fancy for vintage Gibson RD and Ripper basses. We like them so much we decided to take a family portrait.

From left to right: Taylor's ebony RD Artist ('78), blonde RD Artist ('78), and ebony Ripper ('78); My blonde RD Artist ('77); Andy's ebony Ripper ('78), and blonde RD Standard ('77).

To the three of us and anyone else who loves these basses as much as we do, this is about as good as having six super-hot chicks in bikini swimsuits sitting (edit: dancing) on that couch. I figured I'd share the fun here on TB.

sbassface said:

Are rippers the bomb, as in good, there is a 78' for sale near me, I like chunky necks.

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The answer to this question is a firm "Yes."

Barkless Dog said:

The Rd possibly the best modern bass they made, certainly active.

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IMO, the RD's short lifespan in the Gibson catalog was all because the Artist circuit (and the RD shape, for that matter) was a little ahead of its time.

Now that active basses are commonplace, I think the RD series is in need of revival. That being said, I'm afraid for the possible future of the RD line, and for the future of Gibson as a whole. I don't know how many other people out there were disgusted at the new Ripper II, but I just don't understand why they went with such decisions like the fact that they only offer it in natural gloss, no string-through-body option, and that ugly, shortened headstock. Six position varitone??? Overkill. Nobody need that many pickup selections, and I'd be willing to bet that many of those combinations sound the same. They even shortened the scale length by 1/2"!! LAME! That extra length is a big part of the tone for the Rippers and RDs. Also, remember that silverburst RD Standard guitar they came out with a few years back? ***, mates? The whole concept behind the RDs is Research and Design, and they reissue a lame version of the Standard??? Who is coming up with these ideas???

The unknown future of Gibson is frightening to me. Someone needs to convince them to spend less time on turning guitars into Robots and focus on the Gibson heritage. Have you ever noticed that signature models and futuristic gimmicks have found a more permanent place than the basic original models in the catalogs of pretty much every major guitar maker? This is wrong. Limited runs should be for things like the signature models and special editions. What happened to keeping a decent range of standard-issue models with options as the bread and butter of the catalog? What happened to creating instruments based on the one thing they were made for in the first place - TONE!!! And not somebody else's tone, but the Gibson tone. As for research and design, nobody wants an android for a guitar, and if they do, they're probably a techno musician or something. The RD was created to better serve the musical purpose of the bass. That is the kind of research and design that needs to continue.

I could continue to rant about this for days, but I need to get ready for work.