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Gibson Ripper Club!

How good is the Ripper?


  • Total voters
    121
Bought mine in new in 1975 L9-S THE RIPPER it has been with me since than many, many memories together.
out of all 13th still my favorite bass.
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I figured I'd post a pic of my new (to me) 1975 fretless Ripper. I put a lot of work into getting this one up and running, it was in really rough condition when I received it. Also ditched the 4-way knob for a 3-way switch as I only liked 2 of the original settings, and want to be able to solo the neck. What a weird, unconventional and awesome instrument!

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Which position did you not like? I don't like the 4th, but like to keep my options open.

The first two positions sounded best to me, but only slightly different from eachother. The solo pickup position was great, but I want that option for both pickups. The fourth position was just not usable for me. So the three-way just works better for me. I’m really digging playing around with that weird mids knob...
 
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I figured I'd post a pic of my new (to me) 1975 fretless Ripper. I put a lot of work into getting this one up and running, it was in really rough condition when I received it. Also ditched the 4-way knob for a 3-way switch as I only liked 2 of the original settings, and want to be able to solo the neck. What a weird, unconventional and awesome instrument!

View attachment 2857574
Oooh! Very nice!
 
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Reactions: Jakeman
The Ripper is one of the basses I’ve always been curious about but never had a chance to try one out. A few months back one showed up locally, and I was able to work out a swap for a skinny stringer I had. I’ve been enjoying it since, and figured it was time to share.

It’s a ‘78 based on the serial, and in remarkably clean shape. The sunburst on these is interesting - first bass I’ve seen where the black doesn’t continue on to the sides the whole way around which is a cool touch. Like many Rippers, she’s a bit of a heavyweight at 11+ plus but the tone more than makes up for it. The flats are nice and thumpy (light blue silk - not sure what brand). Came with the bridge cover intact and the original case.

Granted, my intonation still needs work, but this bass is a blast to play- totally different vibe from the Fender/Music Man box I normally play in. Here are some pics from when I got it - flipped the truss cover around the right way since:

106696A0-A401-46B7-9AA3-77DD0F0C24B3.jpeg C0231323-C0DF-4408-ADD0-0A00DF181B90.jpeg 0CE8E46A-BC22-4F56-A1C8-9078F75BF65D.jpeg A6BA2E31-E6A6-4844-93CB-607E3BB86E65.jpeg 67C677F8-6CB9-4EFD-9E8B-A23DCFA78BE5.jpeg 6D489647-8763-47B6-A10B-0B3A12FAD01D.jpeg
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Always wanted a Ripper bass but mostly played Rickenbackers. I recently decided to sell one of my Rics to buy a Ripper bass. SO glad I did. It's everything I could ask for out of a bass, honestly. I love how it cuts through and has so much punch. Plays awesome and sounds amazing. With the 4 way selector I usually find myself using the bridge setting or the parallel setting. My bands music is kind of like grunge/indie rock so going from a Ric to a Ripper really made a big difference for what I was trying achieve with tone. Got the Ripper for $1000 so I got to pocket some extra cash from selling my Ric.
 

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This would have been awesome if the headstock wasn't hideous.
I fail to see anything hideous about the headstock, though I gather it could have gone the Rickenbacker route rather than the Gibson route. This is a custom built from the ground up instrument. It isn’t some hack job made by some hack