danieloneill Posted April 19, 2011 Share Posted April 19, 2011 I have an old bass that I'd love to get some more info on. I bought it on Ebay about 8 years ago, got it in for about $300 CDN. I bought it as a "Gibson Ripper Fretless", knowing about nothing about the bass other than I'd liked the shape of the one I'd seen Jesse from DFA play (a Grabber) as well as Danko in the last waltz. So when I saw one on ebay for cheap, I bought it. Got it in to the house and... things were weird. It looked like someone had spray painted the entire guitar black. The headstock was completely covered, no logo on it. The bridge had been replaced with a badass, which had had the badass logo unceremoniously ground off. The string through cavity, holes on the front and the three peg holes for the bridge had been filled and then painted over as well. The pick-guard and truss cover had been replaced with a shiny piece of aluminum or something. I figured that it must be a Gibson knockoff, given the lack of a logo on the headstock, but I'm not totally sure that its not just sprayed over. It did, however, come in a fitted case with a Gibson logo on it. At some point in the time I had it before it went into storage, it stopped working on me, but in the last few weeks I've developed an interest in trying to fix up the rigs I have around the house that are not in playable shape, so I've been digging into this guy over the last couple of days. Since I've been working on it, I got interested in trying to determine what it really is. I took a bunch of detail pictures for you guys to look at. Anyone with some knowledge of rippers, take a look and let me know what you think it is, if its a Gibson or a knockoff. Here's a bunch of info on it to go along with the pictures: Its black head to toe, seems like it was probably done with a can of spray. The fingerboard is ebony fretless, with fret markers imbedded into the fretboard, so perhaps it was defretted at some point in its life instead of being a factory fretless. There is a number pressed into the back of the headstock that is partially obscured by the paintjob, the last four numbers visible are 0233. There is 1/2 of a 0 before the other zero, and nothing else visible to the left. The one pot that I can see the #s stamped into them are as such: 70-021 and 1377452 (which comes up as a CTS brand pot from 74 in a pot serial number search, consistent with a gibson ripper.) The three original tuners in the headstock are the proper shape for a Gibson bass, but don't have the Gibson logo stamped on the back plate, which I can't determine is something that works. The headstock seems to have the correct shape for an actual Gibson as well. Its a set neck, with the little divot between the neck and the body. Along the side of the neck it looks like the neck was originally not black, but clear/yellow (is it maple?). The pickups seem to match what is in a real Gibson Ripper, the older model, screwed into the body instead of mounted to the pickguard. I replaced the pickguard with one from WD. The original that came in the case is one ply black, white-ish on the back, with foil over the electronics section. There is a circular metal scratch plate that goes under the pickup selector switch with Mallory USA printed on it along with the numbers 1 through 4. Any info would be amazing. Let me know if anyone wants any more pics, its lying on the table by the camera ATM. My big questions are these: Is it really a Gibson Ripper? If it is, does it look like a stock fretless, or a fret removal job? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icethirteen Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 Hi, Off subject but my pots are from 74 and my serial on my Firebird is 00250, I don't know a lot about Gibson but these guitars probably went out right next to each other. My bet is that's a Gibson Ripper for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spinynorman Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 I've got 2 Rippers, a 75 natural and a 78 in black. Your wiring loom looks very much like mine, with the varitone and the choke, and 70-021 is a Gibson pot code, so I think you've most likely got a Gibson. The pickup selector plate stamped Mallory is right for Gibson and the single ply black pickguard sounds right too. Serial numbers on the earlier necks were lightly stamped and they're all easy to fill with paint or sand out. You might be able to get the logo back if you're careful - maybe rubbing lightly with something like acetone on a cloth. Regarding the neck, there was a factory fretless version, but not lined. Are you sure the fretboard is ebony? My black Ripper has an ebony fretboard and it's very smooth. I just wonder whether you've got a maple fretboard that was defretted and stained black. Incidentally, the pot codes aren't very reliable for dating, the 74 pots could have been used as late as 76. From your first picture it seems you have a later body shape (narrower with more pointed horns) but with early pickups and electronics. One of the things I've had to get used to about Rippers is there isn't as clear a dividing line between the variations in body shape, body wood and pickups as you might hope. Makes dating difficult. It'd be interesting to know what you find under the paint. There were some nice burst finishes later, but natural and black are most common. The body of my 75 was sprayed black when I got it - all over the body, pickguard and pickups. It was messy work getting all that off. Fortunately the neck and headstock had been spared. Other places to get information .... http://www.flyguitars.com/gibson/bass/L-9Sripper.php http://forums.vintageguitars.org.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=19 http://bassoutpost.com/index.php?board=3.0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.