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61

Gibson Basses / Re: A few questions about Ripper basses

« on: January 19, 2016, 08:50:18 PM »

So an update on the ripper.
It's been in for repairs,
1. New nut
2. Chip in fret board fill with ebony dust concoction
3. Bridge pickup rewound with vintage spec'd wire
4. New pick guard
5. Replaced the 4 way rotary with a 3 way selector ala Les Paul, neck/both/bridge
The 4 way was not salvageable so the 3 way will be temporary.
So in the mean time I'm on the hunt for a 4 way rotary. Anybody know were i can source a decent replacement and a gig bag that fits would be good too.
cheers

62

Gibson Basses / Re: Music videos that feature Gibson Les Paul basses...

« on: January 08, 2016, 05:53:20 PM »

LP bass got the blues baby!

63

Gibson Basses / Re: Music videos featuring Fat-Bottom Girls (Rippers, Victories, etc)

« on: November 29, 2015, 03:57:47 PM »

Here an odd one. G3 or is it a Grabber?

64

Gibson Basses / Re: A few questions about Ripper basses

« on: November 27, 2015, 02:58:04 AM »

I got it. It's awesome however it smells like beer and cigarettes

The back of the neck is really sticky, any DIY remedies?

65

Gibson Basses / Re: A few questions about Ripper basses

« on: November 26, 2015, 01:58:23 PM »

I showed the pic to my local luthier and he thinks it could have chipped off when the nut was removed. He suggested making an epoxy/ebony dust mix to fill it in with.
I'm hoping to pick this up today.

66

Gibson Basses / Re: A few questions about Ripper basses

« on: November 23, 2015, 01:29:38 PM »

Not yet, I'm waiting on finances.
Couple of pics.
I think it may have had a headstock repair because the thick layer of paint over the serial number also further down the neck there's two layers of black paint wearing away?? I don't know maybe that's just how it was sprayed??
If it is a headstock repair it seem to be a good job.

67

Gibson Basses / Re: A few questions about Ripper basses

« on: November 20, 2015, 06:12:34 PM »

They accepted my offer of $1500 Aus, so I'll go in and have a look under the pick guard to see if all the bits are intact.
What do you guys think?

68

Gibson Basses / Re: A few questions about Ripper basses

« on: November 20, 2015, 04:00:28 PM »

Quote from: veebass on November 20, 2015, 03:16:14 PM

Is it the one at Music Swop Shop? A few hints in your posts.
I had a look at the pic of that one online-

I think it is too dear for the condition. I'm with Aussie Mark- it appears a bit knocked around, in our fair land $1200 or so, maybe less if there are some issues. Make an offer- the owner will either accept, reject it or haggle.
Ripper parts aren't easy to get, if some need replacing, although they do come up occasionally. The low $AU adds to the cost if you need to get something from O/S.
A few things- check the neck out for twist etc- there are a couple getting around with bad necks. Not saying this is one of those but a twisted neck on a Ripper is a big problem.
Having said that, I really like Ripper necks- they are among my favourites. I have an unbound ES 335 Bass and the neck is very similar.
I had a pickup die in a big bodied 74 Ripper a while back. I got some great advice from the guys here.
I ended up going with a rewind of my pickup by SD Custom Shop- MJ there was great.
The cost was a bit cheaper than a SD CS one out here but not inconsequential when factoring in two way postage- over $AU200 from memory.
I really can't pick a difference between the original pickup and now that it is rewound.
Rippers are a thing all of their own soundwise- you either like them or don't IMO.
I really like mine for our amplified acoustic set- it works really well with the guitarist's Maton ECW80- but Rippers are quite versatile.

Yep that's the one. I made a fair offer but haven't heard back yet. From memory I didn't notice a twisted neck. I might let this one go and wait for one in decent condition to come up.

69

Gibson Basses / Re: A few questions about Ripper basses

« on: November 19, 2015, 09:09:48 PM »

It a black Ripper

70

Gibson Basses / Re: A few questions about Ripper basses

« on: November 19, 2015, 08:58:11 PM »

This is the clip where he talks about the pickups being" toast"

71

Gibson Basses / Re: A few questions about Ripper basses

« on: November 19, 2015, 12:30:45 PM »

Thanks everyone.
The shop sells used gear on consignment only so that's why the price is high and they won't pay for any repairs because technically it's not owned by them.
My concern about the pick ups comes from watching Ed Friedland clips on you tube and he talks about Ripper pickup loosing tone and having low output because they weren't sealed.
I thought the pickups on the Ripper sounded sweet but I can't compare it to other Rippers.

72

Gibson Basses / A few questions about Ripper basses

« on: November 19, 2015, 01:37:42 AM »

A 74 Ripper (Alder body) has come up for sale locally, I had a play of it and instantly fell in love with it however it has some issues and I’m looking for some advice from the experts.
They’re asking $1999 AUD = $1430 USD
1.   The fret wire is universally flat and wide. This didn’t affect the notes just found it odd compared to fender frets.
2.   The 3 point bridge was screwed down to the body, the overall setup was nice but does that indicate a neck adjustment problem?
3.   The nut has been replaced and it doesn’t match the space of the old one, it's smaller but the string grooves are fine.
4.   There's a chip taken out of the ebony fret board between the 1st fret and nut, didn’t affect playability but should deduct from the premium price they’re asking.
5.   The vari-tone dial is loose and didn’t work but apparently it does intermittently by wiggling it.
6.   The pickups sounded OK
So I’m thinking it’ll need some work and the price is pretty high.
Thanks

73

Bass Amps & Effects / NAB FENDER TB-600

« on: July 07, 2015, 11:26:28 PM »

Fender TB-600 is essentially a Fender Bassman/Showman front end which was reintroduce a few years ago as the TBP-1 preamp.
This thing is a beast, featuring a value front end with SS power in spades delivering a warm vintage tone that suits the Americana style boogie, country, blues band I’m in.
The bass fit perfectly in the mix with enough tone and volume to drive the band but not get in the way of the other instruments.
I found the classic tone stack to work really well however I had to do quite a bit of research.
I set it to 2-10-3 bass, mid, treb this gave me a solid warm tone without honky mids, the highs are subtle, this was with my Gibson SG bass with flats.
Foot pedal is awesome with built in tuner/mute, boost channel for kicking in the during guitar solos, the
OD channel adds girth and balls, had it on for all songs except for the less rockin’ country singer songs, where the simple valve tone stack sounded perfectly warm and supportive.
The TB-600 also had a tonne of headroom only turning the master up to 2.