RIPPER Characteristics

[copacetic]

I have a line on a Gibson Ripper '74. I got my hands on it and loved the way it felt, played etc and light weight. It actually reminded me in some ways of my Les Paul Signatures except in the solid body version. Now there was no amp about to hear it and it will take me several days to lug an amp over to hear it. In the meantime what say ye all about the tonal characteristics of the Rippers?

[Aussie Mark]

The tone is less aggressive than a T-Bird or TB Plus-equipped Gibsons.  It's a good all round tone for classic rock or blues, almost closer to a P bass tone than anything else.

[Hornisse]

[chromium]

They sound good to me!




There's a black Ripper with my name on it out there somewhere... (someday...)

[Stjofön Big]

Yeah, great bass sound. And playing. In fact, I think everything about that band was great. And Costello, on top of it all. Did anyone here listen to his latest, National ransom? With his usual crew at the bottom of the soundscape. Very good album.
By the way, for anyone whom I haven't told: I've got a black Ripper of my own. Though the pickup, pots and all is changed to a T-bird pup with company. Very, very nice bass. Wouldn't wanna be without it.

[Denis]

I have a line on a Gibson Ripper '74. I got my hands on it and loved the way it felt, played etc and light weight. It actually reminded me in some ways of my Les Paul Signatures except in the solid body version. Now there was no amp about to hear it and it will take me several days to lug an amp over to hear it. In the meantime what say ye all about the tonal characteristics of the Rippers?

Go for it! I have a '73/74 which weighs much less than my black '80 Ripper (which weighs almost as much as my Victory).
Try searching for anything by The Band since Rick Danko seemed to favor Rippers.

[uwe]

Ripper fans do not fear, I won't bash the sound this time, I've made my peace with that bass. It's an even sounding, all-rounder instrument, not aggressive in tone, but with a rich texture. A bass for an adult who doesn't go for extremes. Bass is ample, but not subwoofy, mids and treble are there, but not overbearing.

If you go to www.zentralstudio.de and hit kundenlogin inserting 'raintunes' as project name  and then 'raintunes' again as user name and 'plainingjet' as password you can choose the tune 'Venus Found'. That is me with a Ripper II which echoes the typical Ripper sound by about 80%, a vintage ripper would sound a little less there and focussed (but then again so may a 2009 Ripper II in thirty years from now). Only the lead melody in the chorus is played with an added doubletracked (distorted/undistorted) EB-0F. I would not call the sound of the bass that I got on that rough mix exciting, but it is certainly wholesome and satisfying for its totally undoctored state.

To me, a Ripper sounds a bit like a docile Ric - i.e. without the Ric sound components that people either love or hate.  


Elvis Costello needs to shave more, he looks horrible in that vid! 

[Droombolus]

So if Uwe keeps his peace I guess I'll have to be the one ...... My problem with the Ripper is that it doesn't seem to have a characteristic sound and it easily vanishes in the mix ....... Jack Bruce was to be its sponser but he bowed out when presented with the finished product because he found the PUPs were much too weak ....... 

[Basvarken]

So why don't people equip their Ripper with mudbuckers or Thunderbird humbuckers?
You hardly ever see a modified Ripper

[uwe]

You do. I've seen atrocities with EMGs and P/J combinations. And the Ripper pups are, after all, very tamed down mudbuckers.

The low output benefits their eveness in sound, some people like that and say volume is something you can increase with your amp. Any radical sounding bass pup will always sacrifice some frequency range for it. Avoiding that is the concept of Recording/Triumph and LP Sig basses, old Lester was no frieind of strong pups that colored the sound too much in his view. The Ripper was meant to be versatile and do away with the old Gibson sound cliché from EB-days. I guess it was intended to not sound like people in the early seventies perceived Gibson basses to sound.

Greg Lake made his Ripper "clank" in true prog style, the guy from The Band made it sound fuzzy and warm, Peter Cetera made it sound like a mellow Jazz Bass which it is possible most akin to. 

[Basvarken]

The Ripper was meant to be versatile and do away with the old Gibson sound cliché from EB-days.  

With a name like that I thought it was meant to rip... 

[Stjofön Big]

Well, Rob, I did change the pups. But I didn't have no choice. My Ripper was already messed with when I got it, 8-10 years ago. The original pups were gone, a copy of Pre-bass pup was there instead. And, as I had a T-bird pup lying around, I did the only reasonable thing, and got me a Tripper. A day tripper, and a night cruiser - for the price of one! Now, ain't that the real deal?
Concerning The Band, and their great singing bass player Rick Danko, that tune, Makes no difference, is a personal favourite of mine. I get the goose bumps every time I hear that introduction, in the same way as when hearing the intro to The Byrds live Lover of the bayou. Wow! And when Garth Hudson picks up his alto sax in around 3.38, well by then, I'm almost in tears. And it's not even Friday night yet! How will such a weekend end? Maybe Mitch Ryder's Jenny Jenny will get me started?

[Droombolus]

the guy from The Band  

I've heard stories that Rick Danko modded his Ripper ( post Last Waltz ) with Precision PUPs but I never saw proof .........


[Edit] Look what I found ........... not Danko but yours truly circa 1976 ........ 

[jumbodbassman]

i got one a few months ago with dead pickups.. i  am thinking about having them rewound instead of replacing them.  maybe i will have them rewound at a plus 10% or more.....

[Pilgrim]

That Elvis Costello clip is interesting.  I agree, that's very close to a P-bass (with flats) sound.