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Mine was original white. Bought the bass in 1979. It is about a ‘75 with the clear pups. It was plastic and huge. It fell off when I was changing strings once and I could see the molding marks on the bottom. Definitely plastic.
The black head paint ends at the nut so if you take the nut off, you know how wide it has to be. No pre-cuts available that were wide enough. I just took mine to a builder and he cut a new real bone nut for me.
So I’ve been circling an ebony model that’s abailable locally.
Lightweight, alder like I like, and at a decent enough price at $1850 (comes with HSC), but—I’ve been reluctant to pull the trigger in a hurry because it has some issues.
Granted, I don’t think they’d be too hard to fix—a new harness needed since the original has been tampered with(?), causing the choke not to work and the bass to not sound very Ripper-like, and potentially new pickups, as their output seems a little inconsitent at times. It does this weird thing where upstrokes or too soft of an attack doesn’t get picked up.
Should I keep waiting for another to appear like I’ve been? Or is this a better deal than I think it is? It just seems a little much work for the price.
Lightweight, alder like I like, and at a decent enough price at $1850 (comes with HSC), but—I’ve been reluctant to pull the trigger in a hurry because it has some issues.
Granted, I don’t think they’d be too hard to fix—a new harness needed since the original has been tampered with(?), causing the choke not to work and the bass to not sound very Ripper-like, and potentially new pickups, as their output seems a little inconsitent at times. It does this weird thing where upstrokes or too soft of an attack doesn’t get picked up.
Should I keep waiting for another to appear like I’ve been? Or is this a better deal than I think it is? It just seems a little much work for the price.
On pickup note - do you know anyone locally that could potentially re-wind them at lower cost than acquire Duncan custom shop replacements?
Wiring harness shouldn't be too difficult to source, or if you simply need a new choke, there's a few options on the market (Novak, Kent Armstrong, perhaps Wilde pickups).
Is the bass negociable? If so, i'd try to haggle a little more off given the electronics state, & if the rest of the bass is in fairly good condition (superficial dings/scratches, frets still have good life, truss rod works & isn't broken, no neck twist either, or extra holes drilled for strap pin location), then i'd say yes it's a good price, if the HSC is original to the bass itself, & also is in good knick, get it. Haggle, but get it.
You make good points here—I hadn’t thought of having the originals re-wound. I know one tech, but I have to see if he or someone he knows does re-winds.
I’ll see again if they’re willing to budge any on the price. It already dropped a bit from where it was when I first met it, but maybe there could be some wiggle room.
As for everything else about the body and neck, it didn’t seem to have anything glaringly wrong—mostly cosmetic, with its buckle rash and the pickguard being warped around the jack, and the speed knobs looking a little yellow.
I didn’t get a super good look at the frets, but again nothing jumped out as bad.
The sound was the main thing bugging me, comparing it to a minty (and much pricier!) one I tried not long before this one.
Ageing knobs & hardware is part of it. If it's been kept in its case for a while, that'll also do in some oxidisation here & there. I'd ask the person a few solid questions, when the last set up was & such. & if you really want it, start haggling a little. See where they'll let it go for.
I put a new Seymour Duncan bridge PU in my 76 Ripper and wow! I'm currently running a 3 way switch and VVT.
The neck PU is from a MIJ copy.
I was thinking of going back to original style wiring, but now I have three different (great) tones that are all similar in volume.
Does anyone really use the mid control?
The neck PU is from a MIJ copy.
I was thinking of going back to original style wiring, but now I have three different (great) tones that are all similar in volume.
Does anyone really use the mid control?
I’ll take a number…
After many years, I finally found a Ripper, here on the Classifieds. In sunburst, too!
I could scarcely believe it when it came up in my alerts via email—paid a much nicer price for this, too, than either of the ebony finish examples on offer locally.
Plays wonderfully—and very light, too (8lb 11oz per the listing). Seller was unsure of the year, but my guess is early 1974 because of the wide body, and the use of alder.
Gonna pick up a TRC, selector switch poker chip, and a case for this soon.
Maybe a better stand as well, one that’s nitro safe. I put a cotton shirt over my spare since I wasn’t sure if I should put the bare finish on the rubber.
All in all, very happy!
After many years, I finally found a Ripper, here on the Classifieds. In sunburst, too!
I could scarcely believe it when it came up in my alerts via email—paid a much nicer price for this, too, than either of the ebony finish examples on offer locally.
Plays wonderfully—and very light, too (8lb 11oz per the listing). Seller was unsure of the year, but my guess is early 1974 because of the wide body, and the use of alder.
Gonna pick up a TRC, selector switch poker chip, and a case for this soon.
Maybe a better stand as well, one that’s nitro safe. I put a cotton shirt over my spare since I wasn’t sure if I should put the bare finish on the rubber.
All in all, very happy!
That's a sweet looking bass, congrats on the acquisition! Also, it was my understanding that all pre 75-76 Rippers/grabbers were all Maple. Some might've been heavier than others, while your example is on the lighter side. My 75 grabber in wine red is really light, & super resonant (my guess is around 7 lbs).
Very cool, & pretty clean for a burst model 74!
I guess it could also be lighter maple, but I was guessing alder since it feels so much like the two alder Rippers I played locally.
My theory was perhaps it was a transitional model—early enough to still be made with the wide-body tooling, but new enough that they used alder rather than maple.
I guess there’s no way to really know for sure! All I have for dating on it besides those body clues is the S/N—no pot or PU codes because it has completely new electronics from Kellingsound, and the Duncan PUs.
Also wow—7 lbs on the Grabber! That must be really comfy to play!
That’s a beautiful bass! I love those older sunburst Rippers. The body style makes it a 74 for sure. It looks like the Picard is not original because it has a white edge and they didn’t start doing those three-plys until 75. Like many of the older pickguards, the one on yours likely destroyed itself by gassing. That’s consistent with the electronics being replaced, because if a bass is left in a case for a long time while the pickguard gasses it’s common for the electronics to be destroyed, too.
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Thank you! I’m a big fan of the burst ones as well—they’ve been a dream of mine since I saw the cherryburst used by Mark Evans of AC/DC in their early promo videos.
I’ve seen yours posted here before, and it’s really pretty, too!
The pickguard is a replacement as well, yes. I agree the original probably gassed away.
Shame they do that, because I think those super dark tort guards you only notice in the light were a really cool concept—kinda like when the sun hits a black cat just right and you see it has stripes or spots.
I’ve got a few ‘74s with dark tort guards like that. I keep them out on stands to slow down the gassing process, but I suppose it’s inevitable.
Alder was used as well, flyguitars has a detailed image set of a 74 natural finish alder bodied ripper with the earlier body style.
1974 Gibson Ripper Bass Guitar >> FlyGuitars
Pictures, soundclips and description of an early slab-body Gibson Ripper bass guitar
www.flyguitars.com
If I recall correctly the maple gloss and natural (alder) finishes bushes were distinct, at least on the later models. In the ripper shipping totals they have natural satin and maple gloss, but they don’t appear to overlap. Fitting with your understanding they only show figures for ebony and maple gloss in 1974, and the 1975 catalog only offers burst on the fretless models, but clearly there are burst models from the time.
1975 Gibson 'Electric Bass Series' Catalog, Front Cover >> Vintage Guitar and Bass
The 1975 Gibson bass catalog featured Peter Cetera of Chicago on the front cover playing the L9-S Ripper. It also contained the following basses. Ripper L9-S, Grabber, EB3, Les Paul Triumph and Les Paul Signature
www.vintageguitarandbass.com
On the maple vs natural alder: The later 70s models for example have some really nice figured maple whereas the alder models look more plain. I had a G3 with the nicely figured finish. If I have my finishes right that’s the maple gloss vs satin natural. The grabber and G3 shipping info shows overlap in shipping of the maple gloss and natural satin.
Gibson Grabber bass shipping totals >> FlyGuitars
Detailed shipping statistics for the Gibson Grabber / G-1 bass guitar, 1973-1979
www.flyguitars.com
The Gibson G3 Bass Guitar >> FlyGuitars
Gibson G3 bass guitar - pictures, info, shipping stats and soundclips of the G3, or Grabber 3, bass guitar
www.flyguitars.com
IT definitely is, i should've specified though m y75 Grabber is alder bodied. Sounds thick & growls like no other bass i've got.
I wouldn’t put too much stock in the Gibson shipping totals from that era. For instance, they show zero tobaccoburst Rippers shipped in ‘74. We know that’s wrong: Bitterminnows post above of a beautiful tobaccoburst is clearly a ‘74, and I’ve got one tobaccoburst (and sold another) which are clearly ‘74s as verified by the body style and pot codes. And, of course, we know there some cherryburst ‘74 Rippers. Mark Evans had one, and I’ve got 2 which are verified again by body style and pot codes. And somebody on TB bought a NOS ‘75 cherryburst Ripper a few years back, snd there was an ‘80 cherryburst for sale on Facebook a few years ago. The shipping totals don’t mention cherryburst Rippers at all. Who knows what other unicorns are out there?
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I love finding unicorns like that, it’s interesting to speculate on the circumstances surrounding their manufacture—were they special orders?
I’ve seen some interesting ones in my search for mine.
There was what appears to be a late 70s Ripper in a burst finish… with a maple board? I suspect a refinish, since bursts came with ebony boards. But who knows!
Or this wide-body ripper in an ebony finish?
Very interesting.
I reckon that tobacco burst is a refin, looks too shiny!
The ebony doesn't look wide bodied to me? Could be lack of coffee. The G3 is the interesting one for me in the second link - looks like a reissue neck on OG body!
