The Last Bass Outpost
Gear Discussion Forums => Bill's Shop: Projects, Mods & Repairs => Topic started by: neepheid on April 24, 2013, 05:20:14 AM
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I spied this on eBay and felt sorry for it:
(http://www.ifb.co.uk/~matthew/pics/ripper/20130419/01_front_all.jpg)
(http://www.ifb.co.uk/~matthew/pics/ripper/20130419/02_front_body.jpg)
(http://www.ifb.co.uk/~matthew/pics/ripper/20130419/04_back_all.jpg)
(http://www.ifb.co.uk/~matthew/pics/ripper/20130419/05_back_body.jpg)
I think it's a 1974/75 Ripper, there's no other clues like pot codes to pin it down further, but I'm going to err towards '75 due to the magnitude of the serial number (574623).
All I've got with it are 8 half pressed in frets (now removed) and the three mounting bolts for the bridge. It's an alder bodied Ripper, so it's nice and light and the ebony fingerboard is a nice bonus - I do like an ebony fingerboard. So I've got a lot of parts to find.
I'll be trying to bring this back to as close to original as I can, but I will be changing a few things.
It will probably be wired like the second diagram in this file: http://www.ak-line.com/medium/L9-S_Ripper_Neck.pdf - out of phase wiring is horrible. Just because one CAN do something, doesn't mean one SHOULD. Maybe I'll try both and see.
It will have a period incorrect 5 ply pickguard (I don't like single ply pickguards)
I'll probably end up reaming out the holes in the headstock for some Schaller BM sized tuners instead of the weird sized ones that used to be on it.
I fancy refinishing it like the "wine red" that some Grabbers came in:
(http://www.flyguitars.com/graphics/1975-Grabber-2.jpg)
I should be able to find most of the things I need, but I'm currently headscratching about the truss rod cover and the string through ferrules for the top of the body. And if I can't find any old Ripper pickups then I'll have to take a deep breath and empty my wallet in Seymour Duncan's direction...
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Surface prep going well so far. All the dings (apart from one little remnant) in the front face of the the body are gone - good old damp cloth and soldering iron.
(http://www.ifb.co.uk/~matthew/pics/ripper/20130422/01_dings_top.jpg)
(http://www.ifb.co.uk/~matthew/pics/ripper/20130422/03_nodings_top.jpg)
(http://www.ifb.co.uk/~matthew/pics/ripper/20130422/02_dings_lower_horn.jpg)
(http://www.ifb.co.uk/~matthew/pics/ripper/20130422/04_nodings_lower_horn.jpg)
It's mostly sanded all over to 120 grit now, but I've still got some pink remnants of the old refinish to get out of the horns. What I'm left with is a rather nice piece of alder, 2 piece but joined down the middle and quite nicely matched.
(http://www.ifb.co.uk/~matthew/pics/ripper/20130422/05_all_120grit.jpg)
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Excellent!
I too feel sorry for some of the Ripper projects I've seen on eBay lately. The poor things seem to parted out just for fun.
I read somewhere recently that only black Rippers came with ebony fretboards (except for Greg Lake, who had maple fretboard on his black one) and judging from the cavities I think this one was black.
Your purchase has made me feel quite guilty I haven't finished my '73 yet...
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Excellent!
I too feel sorry for some of the Ripper projects I've seen on eBay lately. The poor things seem to parted out just for fun.
I read somewhere recently that only black Rippers came with ebony fretboards (except for Greg Lake, who had maple fretboard on his black one) and judging from the cavities I think this one was black.
Your purchase has made me feel quite guilty I haven't finished my '73 yet...
Yup, almost certainly was originally black. I always thought that black top to toe look was a bit too "stealthy" for my tastes.
Using a mashup of the various bass pictures from Jules' site, I've made a mockup of what I hope will be something like the results of my restoration:
(http://www.ifb.co.uk/~matthew/pics/ripper/red_mockup.jpg)
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I like that photo you've created!
My '80 Ripper is all black and I like it a lot. Stealthy yes, but some basses get away with it better than others. I like all black Victories and RDs as well.
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That's going to look sweet once your done! I feel sorry for the poor things to.
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Yes, it's sad, but everything considered, it looks like it was in sound condition. Headstock and fretboard intact, body hasn't been butchered. You can make it look almost good as new.
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Yep, it looks essentially unmolested structurally. That's good news! Looking good so far.
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Looks half way to fretless to me... :vader:
Good luck... :popcorn:
Just out of curiosity - Independence or Union, as you have the vote...?
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Wow, that came out great! It looks like the board is bit funky - have you considered getting small radius block and cleaning the board up a bit? A little 220 followed by some 320 and it would look factory fresh.
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Looks half way to fretless to me... :vader:
Good luck... :popcorn:
Just out of curiosity - Independence or Union, as you have the vote...?
Nah, it's definitely getting refretted. I already have a fretless bass, and I'm not particularly good at it ;)
To be honest, I would have liked the option of a middle ground (Devolution Max - transfer of damn near all powers to Holyrood) but we weren't given it. I'm on the fence - still waiting for convincing arguments and hard facts.
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Wow, that came out great! It looks like the board is bit funky - have you considered getting small radius block and cleaning the board up a bit? A little 220 followed by some 320 and it would look factory fresh.
I was thinking that, there are a few chips from the defret, so would try the ebony dust + super glue approach. A little bit of sanding should get me the dust I require and tidy things up as well.
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When I bought my black Ripper, ten years ago, from the Ebay, it was in the same shape as yours. But my choice for pickup was a black T-bird, just one. Nothing more. One volume, one tone pot. Black pickguard. True beauty! The guitar player in the band thinks it's the best sounding bass he's ever heard!
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I'm thinking a pair of Thunderbuckers would go superbly in that Ripper shell.
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I'm thinking a pair of Thunderbuckers would go superbly in that Ripper shell.
I'm sure they would, but for better or for worse this is going to be a Ripper first and foremost. So that means Ripper pickups, choke and everything. I'm not being totally dogmatic though: colour of refinish was never available, will wire the 4 way differently and practicality dictates that I'll probably have to ream out the tuner holes to 17mm. That's the second set of the weird 16mm tuners on eBay without the ferrules, for the love of all that's sacred :(
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I had a nasty bit of damage on the rear of the lower horn to fix. Wood was actually split in a couple of places. I have no idea how people achieve these things. Anyway, I tried to fix it by making a paste with some dust from my sanding and glue. It worked OK in the sense that it's solid but the filler ended up way darker than the wood. Oh well, it's at the back :)
(http://www.ifb.co.uk/~matthew/pics/ripper/20130425/repair.jpg)
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My daughter suggested peroxide - I might try that on something else I'm thinking about...
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My daughter suggested peroxide - I might try that on something else I'm thinking about...
Ach, the more I look at it, the more I see it as a war wound, a reminder of a previous life, and I think that's a good thing.
A small update - moving up the grades, it's now sanded all over at 180 grit and starting to feel smooth. Also the 4 way switch arrived, and of course it's different to the original ones. A bit of detective work with a multimeter to check how the switch worked (it was pretty obvious really), a translation table was created then I rejigged the switch part of the schematic to suit this new switch.
(http://www.ifb.co.uk/~matthew/pics/ripper/20130427/switch_wiring.jpg)
Position 1: A -> 1, B -> 5, C -> 9
Position 2: A -> 2, B -> 6, C -> 10
Position 3: A -> 3, B -> 7, C -> 11
Position 4: A -> 4, B -> 8, C -> 12
A is wired to ground, B takes the (reversed) hot of the bridge pickup, C is final output to the volume pot. X means no connection.
Position 1 should give both in series
Position 2 should be bridge pickup only
Position 3 should be both in parallel
Position 4 should be neck only.
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I could wait long enough for an actual "THE RIPPER" truss rod cover, so I think I'll make one, as a stop gap at least. I had good results with my Victory printing it onto waterslide transfer paper, applying it to the top of a blank TRC and lacquering over the top, but I have learned that I should use an inkjet rather than a laser if I want it to be nice and black. In the end I found a Victory Artist TRC.
Anyhoo, could someone with a Ripper do me a favour and take a nice big closeup pic of their truss rod cover for me? I've been searching, but I haven't found one detailed enough to work with.
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I could do that tonight. Would it help if I scanned it an emailed it?
There are two variations of the text on Ripper TRCs, by the way. I scored one off eBay a while back for my '73 and the text is a different size than that text on my 1980.
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I could do that tonight. Would it help if I scanned it an emailed it?
There are two variations of the text on Ripper TRCs, by the way. I scored one off eBay a while back for my '73 and the text is a different size than that text on my 1980.
That would be fantastic, thanks! I think I'm going to make a 2 ply one, so I think the later one will apply. Cheers :)
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Did the 240 grit tonight. Mmm, smooth.
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I mislaid my TRC for the RD years back and have often thought of doing something "different" than it had - could be an option for you...? "THE NEEPER"...?
I like the idea of "war wounds" too... ;)
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The TRC on the right is from my 1980 and is 2-ply. The one on the left is the one I bought for my '73 (I don't know what year it is actually from. Note the differences in font sizes, TRC shape and that the early one is 3-ply.
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l111/bigtreebluesea/RipperTRCs_zps2658ea24.jpg) (http://s94.photobucket.com/user/bigtreebluesea/media/RipperTRCs_zps2658ea24.jpg.html)
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Thanks a lot for this, am now trying to vectorise it and sharpen up those edges that time have rounded off :)
Is the one on the left etched into the cover and the right hand one silkscreened? Looks like it. It's definitely the one on the right I'm after, cheers.
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Happy to help!
Both are etched but the early one was done with a finer tip than the '80. It's also dirtier. ;D
I knew the two were different but I was surprised how much different they were.
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Vectorising proved to be a bit of a task so instead I put some of my wasted youth designing ASCII art and sprites to good use and instead proceeded thus:
1. Initial crop of photo:
(http://www.ifb.co.uk/~matthew/pics/ripper/trc/the_ripper_initial_crop.jpg)
2. Straightened, busted down to 1 bit (black/white) and tidied up:
(http://www.ifb.co.uk/~matthew/pics/ripper/trc/the_ripper_tidied_1bit.png)
3. Doubled, curves interpolated, doubled again, curves interpolated again, a little blur applied then scaled back down to 25% for comparison with initial scan:
(http://www.ifb.co.uk/~matthew/pics/ripper/trc/the_ripper_cleaned.png)
What do you reckon? Once it's printed it's only going to be less than 2 inches across after all.
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The third will probably turn out well. Since the etching "bits" or whatever they use can't make a perfect 90º corner, the ascenders and descenders of the letters will probably turn out to be semi-round, which should match the originals.
I completely forgot to measure the length and height of letters. I can do that tonight if you'd like.
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The third will probably turn out well. Since the etching "bits" or whatever they use can't make a perfect 90º corner, the ascenders and descenders of the letters will probably turn out to be semi-round, which should match the originals.
I completely forgot to measure the length and height of letters. I can do that tonight if you'd like.
Good point about the radius of whatever was used to etch the logos. I did it again and actually radiused all the external corners of the letters at the x4 magnification then reduced it back down again. I thought I'd taken quite a lot away at 4x magnification but it's ended up pretty subtle, half the time I'm thinking I'm convincing myself that it's changed because I know I made a change but if you zoom it up there's a single grey pixel in each corner :)
Yes, some measurements would be very handy. Overall width and height of the whole thing ought to be sufficient, cheers :)
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A pair of scissors, some sticky tape and and old, broken TRC I had lying around...
(http://www.ifb.co.uk/~matthew/pics/ripper/20131430/01_trc_mockup1.jpg)
If anything I think the writing is slightly too big, which is a good thing.
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My apologies: I have forgotten to measure out the text for you!
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My apologies: I have forgotten to measure out the text for you!
No worries, I've still to receive my TRC and my waterslide paper so no rush :)
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I would be one to vote for new pickups. I would check out a Ripper if you have not already. The pickups were OK , but certainly nothing to die for. Kind of anemic, but versatile pickups. The great thing about the Ripper for me was its wonderful neck.
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I would be one to vote for new pickups. I would check out a Ripper if you have not already. The pickups were OK , but certainly nothing to die for. Kind of anemic, but versatile pickups. The great thing about the Ripper for me was its wonderful neck.
I hear what you're saying, but my mind is made up that apart from a few minor tweaks (period incorrect pickguard because I dislike single ply, and the neck only wiring mod) it's going to be a Ripper first and foremost, rather than some other guts in a Ripper's body.
It sounds pretty damn nice and beefy in this clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wk8KXdRar9c
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Then there's this guy who's posted lots of bass covers on YouTube, using only a '76 Ripper. It's a great sounding bass.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSEobSp5SJU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wAei44dlAU
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I would be one to vote for new pickups. I would check out a Ripper if you have not already. The pickups were OK , but certainly nothing to die for. Kind of anemic, but versatile pickups. The great thing about the Ripper for me was its wonderful neck.
i had Curtis Novak build me some bisonics insuide the covers and then sound great. But i hear you on the staying origianl. IIRC SD makes these pups now
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Now normally I don't like lashings of chrome on things, but sometimes it's just required :)
(http://www.ifb.co.uk/~matthew/pics/ripper/20130504/01_cover.jpg)
(http://www.ifb.co.uk/~matthew/pics/ripper/20130504/02_cover.jpg)
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I can certainly understand you wanting to keep it as true to original as possible. Not that there's anything wrong with replacement pickups but your whole idea is to rescue a Ripper, not make it into something else.
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I think it should be mentioned that the SD Ripper pickups are the early 2-screw pups, not the later 3-screw versions.
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maybe its my ears but factory pickups are always good enough for me. why people buy a t bird or usa fender and drop in expensive after market pick ups is something i don't get. different strokes...
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I can understand a modern T'Bird owner wanting to try and (inexpensively?) recreate the sound of a 60's 'Bird, knowing they could not afford the cost or the "risk" of owning one and waiting for the inevitable to occur...
Out of curiosity, when was the last time Gibson produced a T II ...?
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Right now I'm waiting for stuff to arrive from the States. Drumming my fingers a bit because it's quite exciting stuff as far as project progress goes:
Pickguard and screws
Machine heads (yup, the weirdos)
a pickup and the ferrules for the aforementioned machine heads
And waiting for stuff right here too (we had what is known here as a "Bank Holiday" on Monday - no post - so that will have knocked everything to hell)
TRC
White laser waterslide paper
Chicken head knob
Pots
Got some house and car related expenditure coming up this month so that's about all the parts acquisition I can handle this month. Will get lacquer for refinish next month.
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I wonder if I could get a local sign shop or placard maker to etch names into TRCs. Hmm...
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There are shops who make signs for companies and homes. I guess they can do that.
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I wonder if I could get a local sign shop or placard maker to etch names into TRCs. Hmm...
Scott knows how this is done and has a source here. Probably you could find one locally.
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I wonder if I could get a local sign shop or placard maker to etch names into TRCs. Hmm...
Trophy Shop would have been the best bet, I doubt they still do it the way they used to.
Re: the laser vs ink jet:
Good laser will beat a good ink jet any day for blacks. The local shop does the blackest blacks for 0.20 an 8x10. They print all my decals for me. You also don't have to coat laser waterslides before applying them, the ink is fused to the sheet
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I'm heading to the Post Office with pickup and ferrules in hand.
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Great, thanks for keeping me posted :)
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Things have slowed down a lot - waiting on a lot of stuff to arrive from the States, and had a slater to pay so no more goodies for me this month. Took care of a wee job - trimming the 4 way switch down to size.
(http://www.ifb.co.uk/~matthew/pics/ripper/20130513/01_trimmed.jpg)
Not the most thrilling update ever, but it's progress with pictures. I could probably take a couple more mm off, but I'll wait until it's in situ in the final assembly before doing that.
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All progress is moving forward! Looking good!
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More progress than a couple of my projects... ;D
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More progress than a couple of my projects... ;D
Ha, ditto!!!
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I'm throwing no stones. My Tele-bass project is stalled while my 280ZX is on blocks in my primary garage work space.
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Ooh, came home to a couple of requests from the Royal Mail for payment of customs fees...
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Painful... :o
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Painful... :o
Always annoying when the Royal Mail handling fee is more than the VAT payable, but hey ho. My annoyance disappeared when I got the stuff together though...
(http://www.ifb.co.uk/~matthew/pics/ripper/20130515/01_all.jpg)
(http://www.ifb.co.uk/~matthew/pics/ripper/20130515/02_body.jpg)
(http://www.ifb.co.uk/~matthew/pics/ripper/20130515/03_head.jpg)
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I hope you didn't get dinged on the stuff I sent you.
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I hope you didn't get dinged on the stuff I sent you.
No actually, yours was a double surprise in that A) I wasn't even expecting it to arrive that day and B) it passed through with no taxation. Cheers for that, and the ferrules are a perfect match for the machine heads (of course).
In fact, it's odd how I have received 3 separate parcels from different parts of the USA, sent days apart all at the same time (well, one day apart, technically). I suspect the first two spent some time languishing in Customs, and your one, despite being sent last damn near caught them up.
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Last of the bits I can afford this month arrived today - 300K pot for volume and some speed knobs.
To my mind, there are three oddities that might cause me trouble.
1) Machine head ferrule washers. I had a look at picture of a disassembled weird tuner (http://www.flyguitars.com/gibson/bass/parts/tuning_key/7374opengear3.php (http://www.flyguitars.com/gibson/bass/parts/tuning_key/7374opengear3.php)) and I see that there is a washer that goes under the ferrule. It has an internal diameter of 5/8" (or slightly more) but I don't know the external diameter or the thickness. In order to find some (or get some made) I'll need to know the dimensions so if anyone knows or can find this out that would be fantastic.
2) Switch dial plate. I read on here that someone (sniper?) was custom making these, but the trail went a bit cold. I know it's purely cosmetic, and I'm not in any rush but it would be nice.
3) Top of body ferrules. What are these little thin things? They look like boot lace eyelets. Circa 7mm diameter hole. I also note that they frequently break under the pressure exerted by the string. Would I be better off installing something like Telecaster ferrules (with other side reamed out for bass strings instead of accepting guitar string ball ends) for extra strength?
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if i recall i don't think sniper was in the best of health. i hope nothing has happened to him.
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if i recall i don't think sniper was in the best of health. i hope nothing has happened to him.
Haven't seen him post in a while. Hope he's OK.
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if i recall i don't think sniper was in the best of health. i hope nothing has happened to him.
Indeed, that's much more important than an insignificant, frankly speaking optional part of my project. Hope all is well.
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His last activity was May 5 so it hasn't been that long. Hope he's okay. He did have a problem with his leg, I thought that was on the mend.
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I do know he moved to Joplin from Texas and is OK, but I can't say much more. I sent him a note and I'm waiting to hear back from him. I'll let you all know what's up when he gets back to me.
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Keepin' them crossed...
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I have heard back and all is well.
Not a big report, but I've ordered my lacquer. I took the body/neck to my mate who will be spraying and refretting it for a look and he was quite pleased with my wood prep but gave me some pointers of places where I could improve a bit (some scratches in the top bevel and there's a slight dip in the back which he suggested I need a bigger flat sanding block and take a mm off or so).
In other news, I have found a more financially palatable option to buying a Seymour Duncan replacement pickup - Aaron Armstrong can clone my pickup for roughly the same price as sourcing the SD in the USA before shipping and import taxes. That might have to wait until next month though.
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I have heard back and all is well.
Not a big report, but I've ordered my lacquer. I took the body/neck to my mate who will be spraying and refretting it for a look and he was quite pleased with my wood prep but gave me some pointers of places where I could improve a bit (some scratches in the top bevel and there's a slight dip in the back which he suggested I need a bigger flat sanding block and take a mm off or so).
In other news, I have found a more financially palatable option to buying a Seymour Duncan replacement pickup - Aaron Armstrong can clone my pickup for roughly the same price as sourcing the SD in the USA before shipping and import taxes. That might have to wait until next month though.
That sounds like a better option for the pickup even if it were more expensive.
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Quick update to say I've got Curtis Novak on the case for a choke, and the body/neck is away on vacation getting a cherry red makeover ;)
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So I'm going to ask Aaron Armstrong to clone the pickup I have and as it's being custom made I thought I might ask advice from the Gibson cognoscenti about whether or not to deviate from the specifications.
Would it be wise to have this one wound a little hotter and put in the bridge? Bridge pickups tend to be weedier sounding due to the lesser string vibration/excursion at that point, so I thought I might try and compensate a bit. Or should I just stick with tradition and have it wound exactly the same, as I believe they were in the original basses?
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I had one rewound to about 10k and wasn't very impressed with the results. It was a little blurrier in the mids and the volume didn't change much at all. I did like it better when I put it into the neck position and rewired the 4 way switch for neck only operation. I did record some songs with it if you want to hear them.
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If I was pleased with the sound of the originals, I would not recommend winding them hotter.
The increase of volume is always altering the sound, unless it is compensated for elsewhere in the pup design.
I have advised many who came to me for hotter bridge pup´s, surprisingly few have tried to balance them by height -
which is free and requires little skills- only time and ears. :)
Of course, there are situations that calls for a hottie too..
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While I've never had a Ripper, I'd leave it as is. Winding hotter usually changes the mids in a way I don't like, makes them too prominent for my taste. If you're dissatisfied with the sound, that's a different matter.
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More winds = Hotter = less high frequency output.
There's a Ripper bridge pickup on Ebay from Reliable Gibson. Started today @ 0.99
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More winds = Hotter = less high frequency output.
There's a Ripper bridge pickup on Ebay from Reliable Gibson. Started today @ 0.99
Thanks for the headsup. I didn't go for it in the end (wrong mounting type - I didn't want to butcher it to suit) and the price ended up being a bit silly. I can get a new one custom made in the UK for that, before taking the USA > UK shipping and the taxman into account.
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Curtis rebuilt my dead ripper pups. he went with a single coil p90ish pup similar to a darkstar without the extra height adjustment stuff. My 0.02 they sound great , alot better than any ripper i ever played. replaced the 4 way switch witha series/parallel switch as i wired it like a jbass. VVT
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Well, my mind's made up to do a straight clone of the pickup. Next month I'll stick the order in. The only change will be the wiring of the rotary switch - out of phase is about as much use in a bass context as a chocolate fireguard.
In other news, my mate Rich sent me through some progress pics of the refinish. He's sanded smoother than I got it, removed some stubborn bits of old finish and sprayed the first sealer coats:
(http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d67/ou7shined/Osprey%20Guitars/Neepheid%20-%20Gibson%20Ripper/Ripper-01_zps75971b89.jpg)
(http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d67/ou7shined/Osprey%20Guitars/Neepheid%20-%20Gibson%20Ripper/Ripper-02_zps94e2a3b3.jpg)
(http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d67/ou7shined/Osprey%20Guitars/Neepheid%20-%20Gibson%20Ripper/Ripper-03_zpse966b211.jpg)
(http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d67/ou7shined/Osprey%20Guitars/Neepheid%20-%20Gibson%20Ripper/Ripper-04_zpsbd374ebc.jpg)
(http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d67/ou7shined/Osprey%20Guitars/Neepheid%20-%20Gibson%20Ripper/Ripper-05_zps9ba38508.jpg)
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Ha, I see a cat worked himself in to the final pic!
That's one nice hunk of maple. Looks great so far!
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Looks great. Nice grain!
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Ha, I see a cat worked himself in to the final pic!
That's one nice hunk of maple. Looks great so far!
He/she can henceforth be known as "Ripper Cat".
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Lookin' really nice!
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That's going to be great when it's done!
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Nice wood!
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And yet back in the day they had covered this nicely matched two piece body in black. For shame.
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And yet back in the day they had covered this nicely matched two piece body in black. For shame.
Yours will look good natural. No doubt they aren't all as nice underneath as yours, but if a dealer ordered one in black, that's what they got, even if the body was nice looking. That's how it works with orders in a fairly good size factory.
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He/she can henceforth be known as "GRRRRipper Cat".
;D
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Yours will look good natural. No doubt they aren't all as nice underneath as yours, but if a dealer ordered one in black, that's what they got, even if the body was nice looking. That's how it works with orders in a fairly good size factory.
I'm sure it would look good natural, but it's going to be translucent cherry red a la EB-0/3/4. So you'll still get a bit of grain coming through, but I just wanted to make something different that still had a nod to heritage.
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Nice...
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I posted a mockup on the first page, but to save you a click and a scroll, here it is again:
(http://www.ifb.co.uk/~matthew/pics/ripper/red_mockup.jpg)
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That is going to look really nice. Can't wait to see the finished bass!
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Very nice!!!
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I'm sure it would look good natural, but it's going to be translucent cherry red a la EB-0/3/4. So you'll still get a bit of grain coming through, but I just wanted to make something different that still had a nod to heritage.
Sorry, now I remember that was your plan, just forgot about it. Too many pages ago for me! :)
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Some updates from my mate Rich who is doing the refinishing:
(http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d67/ou7shined/Osprey%20Guitars/Neepheid%20-%20Gibson%20Ripper/Ripper-06_zps1b182a22.jpg)
(http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d67/ou7shined/Osprey%20Guitars/Neepheid%20-%20Gibson%20Ripper/Ripper-07_zps5c7b3215.jpg)
(http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d67/ou7shined/Osprey%20Guitars/Neepheid%20-%20Gibson%20Ripper/Ripper-08_zpsae4747c6.jpg)
(http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d67/ou7shined/Osprey%20Guitars/Neepheid%20-%20Gibson%20Ripper/Ripper-09_zps1a1c69e8.jpg)
(http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d67/ou7shined/Osprey%20Guitars/Neepheid%20-%20Gibson%20Ripper/Ripper-10_zps46c23d8f.jpg)
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Ooh... 8)
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Wow, purdy!
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Yes! THE Gibson color. Very cool.
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I am speech less & excited at the same time beautiful!
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Man, that looks fine!! Any luck in finding more parts?
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Man, that looks fine!! Any luck in finding more parts?
Yup, I'm almost there with parts. Still got to get off my lazy bum and send the pickup to Aaron Armstrong for cloning, a few caps to get but apart from that I'm pretty much good to go.
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Love that color on that bass!
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Quick but mostly content free update:
Rich has been very busy with his band recently but is back on the case this week - headstock has had its first coats of black and I'm about to hand over the Gibson decal to be applied.
I finally got off my lazy behind and sent my pickup down to Aaron Armstrong for cloning.
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I dropped my project Ripper off at the shop so Terry can sort out the electronics. Finally working on it again!
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Are you still looking for the tuner washers?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-1973-USA-GIBSON-EB-BASS-GUITAR-TUNER-WASHER-SET-EB-O-1970s-/261354484256?pt=Guitar&hash=item3cd9f0f220
Edit: Posted too quick. These are for the M-4S Tuners.
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Haven't seen him post in a while. Hope he's OK.
I'm alive and doing errr well sort of lmao. Here I am last October with one of the most important women in my life = my three year old grand daughter on her birthday.
Thanks for remembering me gang.
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I'm alive and doing errr well sort of lmao. Here I am last October with one of the most important women in my life = my three year old grand daughter on her birthday.
Thanks for remembering me gang.
You get all the beautiful babes, glad you checked in!
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note to self:
1) order blanks from S
2) get blanks and send one to Dar to make new die
3) trim blank
4) send one to Neep
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So good to hear from you CW. Glad you are still kicking! Have a wonderful Christmas!
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Thanks for checking in, CW. Always good to hear from you even if only occasionally.
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Are you still looking for the tuner washers?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-1973-USA-GIBSON-EB-BASS-GUITAR-TUNER-WASHER-SET-EB-O-1970s-/261354484256?pt=Guitar&hash=item3cd9f0f220
Edit: Posted too quick. These are for the M-4S Tuners.
Ahh no worries, thanks for thinking of me and my project anyway. Yup, still looking. I have ones that are 1mm too big so they'll do but they'll need to be carefully kept in place when the ferrule is pushed in, but it would be nice to have the proper ones.
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note to self:
1) order blanks from S
2) get blanks and send one to Dar to make new die
3) trim blank
4) send one to Neep
Thanks for popping into my thread. Nice to hear from you, and as I said before there's honestly no rush for this.
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Any news from me? Well, it turned out that Aaron Armstrong couldn't help me with my pickup and was honest and straight up with me about it. Pickup returned, no worries. So I've splurged on a Seymour Duncan Custom Shop set of Ripper replacements, which are currently languishing in UK Customs somewhere, awaiting the oh-so-difficult calculation of 20% VAT :rolleyes:. I went to see the neck/body at Rich's place a couple of weeks ago and I have to say it's looking even better in real life. I hope to have it back soon, if not before Christmas then early in the new year.
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Thanks for popping into my thread. Nice to hear from you, and as I said before there's honestly no rush for this.
good to be here Neep. had my game set back a year or so but it is coming back slowly. I got the plates ordered from Sandy this morning. it will be after New Years when they arrive and then I have to send a couple to Dar so he can make the die. I know it doesn't sound like much but that last sentence is way more than 300$ so it will take a bit of time for me to pay it off so thanks, it will take a bit of time.
I need to get back going on this anyways and this is a good excuse, in fact a better excuse than most, lol.
I will let you know when I need your address. CW
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hey Neep, got the blanks today and they look quite nice. now to try and get hold of Dar and see how and when he can work his magic.
sorry the picture is a bit fuzzy = seems anymore I am a bit on the shakey side but I can assure you it looks nice. all the periods are there as was NOT the case on my prototype. the fonts a bit off verses the original but they are very close. now I have to get a die made to cut them to the original size.
Sandy has programming to make fonts and these are as close as she could get and she had an original I had sent to her to copy from. the font size is very very close and a Gibson fanatic would be hard pressed to see a difference if he did not have an original to compare with. as it is, I had to make them as close as I could but this way I can claim these to be a reproduction and not an original as it carries the Mallory name and part number.
the plan is to sell these, get filthy rich, buy the world and then send Carlo to Mars.
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hey Neep, got the blanks today and they look quite nice. now to try and get hold of Dar and see how and when he can work his magic.
sorry the picture is a bit fuzzy = seems anymore I am a bit on the shakey side but I can assure you it looks nice. all the periods are there as was NOT the case on my prototype. the fonts a bit off verses the original but they are very close. now I have to get a die made to cut them to the original size.
Sandy has programming to make fonts and these are as close as she could get and she had an original I had sent to her to copy from. the font size is very very close and a Gibson fanatic would be hard pressed to see a difference if he did not have an original to compare with. as it is, I had to make them as close as I could but this way I can claim these to be a reproduction and not an original as it carries the Mallory name and part number.
the plan is to sell these, get filthy rich, buy the world and then send Carlo to Mars.
That looks great, even with being fuzzy. A great finishing touch for my project. I look forward to these becoming available, cheers for keeping me posted :)
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the plan is to sell these, get filthy rich, buy the world and then send Carlo to Mars.
Thanks, but once was enough!
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Their factory is in Slough, west of London... ;D
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Well Neep...how is it coming along or still in holding pattern? I am personally excited having uncovered a very nice '74-'75 all blonde in original condition in the past week. Currently negotiating the price/ trade. I am of same mind as you that the one thing I am not a fan of is the 'out of phase' option and thinking if I can somehow substitute that for something useful
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When Terry puts in my new SDs, he's going to rewire the weird and seldom used #4 position so it operates only the other pickup.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUMPcMsRNcA
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Hey, yeah that mod mentioned in the video is the way to go. Just the neck pup. It seems simple enough to do.
Surprisingly the Ripper I'm looking at is pristine inside. No gas problem.. Actually what I was also thinking of doing was having a nice tortoise ( yellow and brown) guard made up because eventually there might be a gas leak. I know after 40 years if it hasn't when will it? if I'm able to snag it I won't let that happen.
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looks stunning in red
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...Actually what I was also thinking of doing was having a nice tortoise ( yellow and brown) guard made up...
naturals look great with tort
(http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b342/rsteiner/L-9S/body10.jpg) (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/rsteiner/media/L-9S/body10.jpg.html)
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So do 'bursts!
(http://i44.tinypic.com/1hp6e0.jpg)
Well, it is hard to see the old see through tort 'guads on the old Ripper basses. :)
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Sorry, not done much. Refinish is continuing, had to get some more clear coat to finish the job but Rich is on the case. As for me, I got a new soldering iron for Christmas from my wife, so I'm going to put it to some good use and wire it up as far as I can.
Regarding mounting the choke, I'm going to take the later approach of a bracket attached to the pot shaft like a washer and the choke attached at the other end. I'm going to make it out of a PC expansion blanking plate - found a nice stash of 5 completely flat, unstamped ones to experiment with. The earlier approach was to solder a bracket onto the side of the pot casing, but I have no idea if this metal will take solder, hence the mechanical coupling approach.
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Tonight I made the mounting bracket for the choke coil. I took one of the aforementioned PC blanking plates:
(http://www.ifb.co.uk/~matthew/pics/ripper/20140201/01_blanking_plate.jpg)
And after some drilling, bending, cutting and filing I ended up with this:
(http://www.ifb.co.uk/~matthew/pics/ripper/20140201/02_bracket.jpg)
So with it attached it looks like this:
(http://www.ifb.co.uk/~matthew/pics/ripper/20140201/03_mounted1.jpg)
(http://www.ifb.co.uk/~matthew/pics/ripper/20140201/04_mounted2.jpg)
And the choke will sit like this, with an M5 machine screw straight through the whole thing and bolted to the bracket (don't have one at the moment)
(http://www.ifb.co.uk/~matthew/pics/ripper/20140201/05_choke1.jpg)
(http://www.ifb.co.uk/~matthew/pics/ripper/20140201/06_choke2.jpg)
Also tided up the pots - some of them had wires soldered to them and tags soldered to the casings which needed freeing up. I'm going to do all the wiring soon.
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I get my stipend soon and then off to Gar for a die. I'll let you know if it turns out okay.
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I get my stipend soon and then off to Gar for a die. I'll let you know if it turns out okay.
Cool, looking forward to it :)
Did a bit of work tonight - mounted the choke and started the wiring:
(http://www.ifb.co.uk/~matthew/pics/ripper/20140202/01_choke_mounted.jpg)
(http://www.ifb.co.uk/~matthew/pics/ripper/20140202/02_part_wired.jpg)
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All wired up and no place to go (yet) - just the pickups and the bridge wire to add but I think I'll wait until assembly time for that.
(http://www.ifb.co.uk/~matthew/pics/ripper/20140204/wired_up.jpg)
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nice & tidy! good job
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Thanks, it's amazing how much having a decent soldering iron and lovely leaden solder can improve one's soldering skills.
I just got a wee update from Rich - how's about that cherry red now? Really darkened down a treat.
(http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d67/ou7shined/Osprey%20Guitars/Neepheid%20-%20Gibson%20Ripper/Ripper-11_zps90ea0159.jpg)
Won't be long now :)
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I really like that red.
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Looks beaut...
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Awesome job! Yeah that bass looks sweet in cherry!
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Well, it's finally (just about) finished. My mate Rich had to take some time out from all his projects for various reasons but he's recently got back in the saddle and last night we put everything together for the first time. Please excuse the lousy phone camera pics (really doesn't understand that deep cherry red very well).
(http://www.ifb.co.uk/~matthew/pics/ripper/20150530/01_all.jpg) (http://www.ifb.co.uk/~matthew/pics/ripper/20150530/02_head.jpg)
(http://www.ifb.co.uk/~matthew/pics/ripper/20150530/03_body.jpg) (http://www.ifb.co.uk/~matthew/pics/ripper/20150530/04_bridge_exposed.jpg)
Risky, given that we have no idea how long it's been since the neck had any string tension applied to it, but I'm hoping to play it tonight at a gig :)
Very happy with how it's turned out. Delighted with how it sounds. Couple of minor things to sort out. For instance, I think I got the wrong taper for the midrange/tone pots - most of their effect is concentrated in the last 20% of the turn, so I might replace them. Minor cosmetic issue of the selector switch plate to be addressed in the fullness of time. But it's done, and back together for the first time in who knows how long. From a rather sorry looking hunk of wood painted in washed out red to this. Really happy :)
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First Ripper I can honestly say I love and would be proud to own ! Nice job!
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No kidding. Looks fantastic!
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Reet braw beastie, Neep... ;)
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Looks great in the red!!
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lovely
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Beauty!
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That came out very nice.
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Very nice! Now you've given me the idea to paint my black Ripper. Paint it, red, as The Stones almost put it!
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Looks killer! I never played one plugged in, but they sure feel nice.
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Thanks for all the kind words, folks.
I pointed a proper camera at the Ripper tonight (my trusty old Canon Powershot A40 - 2MP, 13 years old!) and took some no flash shots. No tripod, so they're slightly blurry but I feel these far more accurately reflect the colour of the finish.
(http://www.ifb.co.uk/~matthew/pics/ripper/20150601/01_all.jpg)
(http://www.ifb.co.uk/~matthew/pics/ripper/20150601/02_head.jpg)
(http://www.ifb.co.uk/~matthew/pics/ripper/20150601/03_back_all.jpg)
(http://www.ifb.co.uk/~matthew/pics/ripper/20150601/04_all_angle1.jpg)
(http://www.ifb.co.uk/~matthew/pics/ripper/20150601/05_body.jpg)
(http://www.ifb.co.uk/~matthew/pics/ripper/20150601/06_back_angle.jpg)
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Sweet bass! Call him Jack ;)
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Sweet bass! Call him Jack ;)
I like it!! ;)
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Beauty!
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Simply stunning! I love the red/black color scheme.
I am curious, though, as to what's going on with the A string? Missing rear ferrule?
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Simply stunning! I love the red/black color scheme.
I am curious, though, as to what's going on with the A string? Missing rear ferrule?
Nothing so intricate (or annoying) thankfully - simply it's a regular length set of Hartke strings and the A string doesn't have quite the length to go through the body and have enough for a full turn on the tuner capstan on a 2+2 headstock so it's of a mind to slip. Didn't want to take any chances at the gig so top loaded it for safety. Will get a super long set of d'Addarios probably, that's what I got for my RD.