The plot thickens, or maybe it doesn't.
The tone alternatives on this bass didn't match any of the descriptions I've seen here or anywhere else. On 1,2 & 4 it was harsh and aggressive, the E string overpowering, the other strings very bright, really not musical at all. On position 3 there was no power, no bass, no definition.
When I got it the pickups were very high, touching the strings. I screwed them down as far as I thought they would go. Then last night I took the pickguard off to have a look at the electrics and saw there was a few millimeters further they could go, so I screwed them right down, put everything back and - complete transformation. Tone now absolutely matches everything I've read, it's like a different bass, and much more to my taste.
So I thought, great, but I'm surprised small differences in pickup height would make that much difference. Having slept on it, I now wonder if, in poking about very tentatively in the wiring, I've accidentally fixed something else. The only thing I can think of is maybe a wire trapped between the pickguard and the body.
I wouldn't know stock wiring for a Ripper if it bit me, but I can see it's been extensively copper shielded and earthing wires have been added from one of the pots and from the back of the neck pickup (also shielded) to the cavity shielding. Soldering's not the best I've seen, but seems to be holding.
Any thoughts on whether this could be a pickup height issue, or what else I might have "fixed"?