75 Gibson Ripper Unlined Fretless with Maple Neck

[Brianvw]

Hi, All;

 

I was hoping to find out more information about a beautiful bass I just lucked into.

 

As you can tell from the topic title, it's a 1975 Gibson Ripper unlined fretless with a maple neck. At least I think it's a '75; the serial number starts with 99, so if I understand correctly, that means it was manufactured in 1975.

 

I've not been able to find any other Rippers with unlined maple necks on the internet, so I'm looking for a resource that can give me more information. I'd love to know how many were made, and the current value.

 

This is my first fretless, and I absolutely love this thing!

 

I'll attach a couple of pics.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Regards,

Brian

[Brianvw]

By the way, you'll notice that a previous owner replaced the original Gibson bridge with a Badass bridge for some reason, then filled in the string holes. I'm looking for a 3 point bridge and grommets and will have my tech replace the Badass bridge and return it to string-through glory.

[Bassilisk]

Nice! Unlined fretless - you don't see too many of those, that's for sure. Congrats, and enjoy!!

 

http://www.flyguitars.com/gibson/bass/L-9Sripper.php

 

Those bridges do come up on ebay, and Allparts also has a replacement.

[pfox14]

Very cool fretless bass. How does it play?

[Kelvinator]

By the way, you'll notice that a previous owner replaced the original Gibson bridge with a Badass bridge for some reason, then filled in the string holes. I'm looking for a 3 point bridge and grommets and will have my tech replace the Badass bridge and return it to string-through glory.

 

 

Nice bass Brian!

 

Unless you want the 3 point bridge for originality, the Hipshot Super Tone would be a good option. I think it would cover the Badass mounting holes and allow for string-through. http://store.hipshot...ct_detail&p=264