gibson ripper help

[schwartzbass]

I just purchased a 74 ripper. I own several other gibson basses
but have never owned a ripper. I thought something was wrong with it when i couldn't use the neck pickup alone.then,
I did the research and found it's wired that way. My question to those who own an older one is that , do you just accept that or is there an easy wiring change to modify this?
thanks,
martin

 

[NKBassman]

I'm sure there is a way you could re-wire it, but then you would lose the hum cancelling of the neck/middle together.

 

[JTE]

I'm sure there is a way you could re-wire it, but then you would lose the hum cancelling of the neck/middle together.

What? There is no middle pickup on a Ripper. The factory wiring is:
1. Both PUPs in series and in phase
2. Bridge only
3. Both in parallel and in phase
4. Both in series and out of phase.

Here's a schematic (a real one, not a "wiring diagram") of the Ripper controls from Gibson
Invalid Link Removed

You can of course rewire it any way you want to, but that 4-position rotary switch is almost impossible to replace (I tried to find one last year for about six months) so be very careful how you do the soldering. If it were mine, I'd leave it stock as it's one of the only two basses*​ Gibson ever made that really worked as a bass and not a low tuned Gibson guitar...

John

*​The other being the Victory Bass

 

[AltGrendel]

JTE is right, you do not want to modify this beastie unless you really, really, absolutely have too.

 

[NKBassman]

Sorry. I was thinking of the Grabber G3.

 

[BassChuck]

I had one. I agree to leave it alone and enjoy that it is a truely unique bass. I changed my pups and other things and really ruined it. Thankfully it was stolen and I got some insurance money out of the deal.

 

[Roscoe East]

I thought something was wrong with it when i couldn't use the neck pickup alone.then,
I did the research and found it's wired that way. My question to those who own an older one is that , do you just accept that or is there an easy wiring change to modify this?

I owned a Ripper for a few years back in the 1970s, and to be honest, until I read this thread today (!) and saw JTE's description of how the Ripper was wired, I never knew how the pickups were configured and it never occurred to me that I might want to change the way they were wired. It is what it is: I'd just select the position that sounded like what I wanted it to sound like, and never gave a second thought to how Gibson achieved that sound.

 

[schwartzbass]

ok, thanks for all the advice. I'll leave it alone then.

 

[aquateen]

I got one about six years ago that had been rewired bby a previous owner, but wasn't fully finctional. I decided to just rewire like a LP (2v2t, 3 way switch) because I wanted to be able to solo the neck pickup. I know I 'ruined' the value of a vintage instrument, but I don't plan on selling it and I'm happy with it.

 

[Jazzcat]

Hey Aqua, do you have a full body pic of your tort Ripper you can post? I am thinking of doing a new picguard with mine and want see more of yours.

 

[aquateen]

here you go, Randy. hope it helps. I used a brown tort, the red was a little too red for my tastes.

 

[Jazzcat]

Very nice. It's a bit unnerving seeing a Ripper PG in anything but black.