Help! '76 Ripper With Unusual Electronics

[stevenhakes]

Hello everyone!

 

My name is Steven, and this past week my dad bought a 1976 Fretless Ripper. We noticed that the electronics are different than any Ripper we'd seen, and we are dumbfounded. Instead of 4 pots and the 4-way chickenhead selector, this one has no selector and three knobs, one of which is a dual knob and controls the volume. Even more strange, there are no holes in the pickguard where the other knobs are supposed to be, and their positioning on the body looks different to me too. So I guess what I'm asking is has anyone seen something like this before? I haven't taken off the back plate to look at the actual electronics inside, but it doesn't look like an aftermarket job, so I'm wondering if this is a Gibson variation.

 

Also: The guitar is currently set up with active EMGs. We also have the original humbuckers, I just don't know if this is like the type of rewiring someone would do to put in actives.

 

Thanks for any understanding you can give me and my dad!

 

-Steven

[rd_artist]

Yes it is an aftermarket job and probably a custom pickgaurd.

here is link to information about the Ripper.

 

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

[rd_artist]

is there a back plate on your bass? Rippers had their electronics mounted on the pickguard(this was a money saving measure at the time.)

[ramone57]

I agree with rd_artist. the pickups, electronics and pickguard are aftermarket modifications. how does it sound?

[stevenhakes]

Thanks for the info!

 

There probably isn't a back plate for the guitar, I just assumed there would be since the gibson guitars ive seen have them. The thing that made us question whether it was aftermarket or not was the pickguard: I knew that they didn't make a ton of Rippers, so I figured getting a replacement pickguard with custom knob holes would be next-to-impossible. I'm assuming that whoever put the active pups in also changed the electronics and the pickguard. Whatever the case, whoever did the mods did a really nice job. I'm currently at school and haven't gotten a chance to play it yet. But my dad said it plays amazing (it's facing some steep competition; his other bass is a '66 J-Bass). When set up hotter, it has a really nice funk tone. Tone it down and it almost sounds like an upright. I can't wait to go home this weekend and try it out!

 

Thanks again!