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1978 Gibson Ripper

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Strings removed to check electronics.

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Fellas I just had one of these land in my lap (along with an American Strat!). My wife's friend asked me to sell 4 guitars for her, I initially thought the bass looked like a beater but when I googled it I was surprised at the high asking prices. It's sort of beat up, needs a good cleaning and doesn't put out any sound (no biggy I'm good with electronics), so it needs TLC. I'm trying to figure out a fair price to offer her. I'm pretty sure she'd take anything, but I don't want to be a d*ck. n The strat also needs strings and cleaning, I was thinking of offering $500 for both. :)

I'll post some pics after dinner.


Luke

Um... sounds like you are about to rip your wife's friend off. Just sayin'.
 
Cool. I see the strat is worth something. I'll clean that one up and sell it for her. The bass needs work though and isn't in great shape. If I like how she sounds and plays I may make an offer.

All of the guitars she brought over need strings, cleaning, TLC etc.


Luke
 
Very cool find, man!

Looks like the Ripper is all original. Natural finish. Fretted. I assume that’s an OEM case. Take a look at the Ripper completed listings on eBay and you can get a feel for the going rates. For a local sale, and especially between friends, I think a deep discount is in order. Especially with you taking the risk of a fixer upper.

That Ripper is a set neck instrument. I haven’t heard about Rippers losing their set, but check that neck set for gaps or movement. A neck reset can cost $300 and take away from the value if the luthier has to damage the finish for the reset.
 
If the case interior is royal purple and there's a gold Gibson diagonally emblazoned on the outside, it's the original case for the Ripper.

Most went out the door with fitted cases since it had a unique shape that didn't slot too well with anything but the case originally designed for it. There also weren't a huge number of 3rd-party cases you could buy back then. Not like today where a 3rd-party case is often less expensive and better built than many OEM cases.