Ripper

[PhilT]

A few weeks ago I thought I was buying a 78 Ebony Ripper. Then it all fell through and I went off looking for consolation buys. Then last Thursday it was all back on again, and now here it is.







It's in reasonable nick for its age, missing the bridge cover (is that worth replacing?) and the story is the bridge pup was rebuilt by Kent Armstrong to the original spec. Poles are black, whereas the neck pup's are bare metal. Position 2 is powerful, 1 and 4 are less so but nice, 3 has much less volume and not much in the way of bass. Having had a fairly uneven history with Gibson/Epi basses I'm hoping this one sticks. We'll see - it's kind of a sentimental replacement for the Gibson J50 I had when I was 21, which I finally admitted I could never play properly and sold a few months ago.

It's got D'Addario Power Steels on now. I've got flats of varying types on everything else, is that a bad idea?

[chromium]

Nice one- congrats! 

[godofthunder]

Beautiful ! Black is the color for these ! Imho of course

[TBird1958]

Cool Bass, I've always kinda thought I should have one, if it doesn't stick let me know! 

[Denis]

Congrats, I have a twin!
Mine's an '80 though, and weighs nearly as much as my Victory! It's pretty strong and positions 1 and 2 on the switch give the nicest sounds. 

[TBird1958]

Kitteh says: RAWR!

Nice basses guys.

[Nocturnal]

Beautiful ! Black is the color for these ! Imho of course

Black is the color for these. They seem tame in natural finish.

[PhilT]

Thanks guys. Having seen the Nirvana Lithium clip I'm planning to treat this bass with extreme respect. It is heavy, Novoselic was lucky it didn't take a lump out of his skull.

Denis, yours looks much less roadworn than mine. And I love tabby cats.

Mark, I think a Ripper would suit you pretty well. But get your own.  (You wouldn't like the shipping and exchange rate deficit anyway).

[Stjofön Big]

Gotta, once again, talk about my Ripper. Black. When I bought it, some years ago, on the 'bay, the original p-ups were gone. Some P-basslike stuff was on it instead. Changed the pup to a black T-bird pup I had, someone made a pickup cover in black. Bought me some old tuners. After I had me a bridge cover, everything was just fine. As late as yesterday, I did what I've been thinking of for two-three years: Put on a chrome cover over the p-up. Not a Gibson one, but what do you do when these are impossible to get hold of? Looks great!
Concerning the sound: one of the guitarists in my combo, Shake Down, thinks it's the best bass sound he's heard, later years. His preference is Martin Turners, of Wishbone Ash, during Argus. Which I believe to be a Rick, though the inner sleeve pic is of a Bird.
So, if you're ever in thoughts of changing p-ups...
And the bass itself? Love it. Don't know the weight, but it feels quite light. Neck is definitely thicker than both the Embassies and the Bachbird. More in the style of my old P-65. Bit chunky, but in a nice way, as the lady said.

[jumbodbassman]

does anyone know if these pickups are the same as the one sliding pup on the grabber.***  I see those once in a while on ebay and actually bought one with the whole sliding piece a few years back.  never see the ripper pups...   my blondy needs both pups replaced.  seeing these i tend to agree i like the black but whatever..  my g-3 is TSB - closer

*** No, these are G-3 single coils only used for the G-3 bass, courtesy of Bill Lawrence. The slider pup of a Grabber is a humbucker, abeit a rather cheap and nasty sounding one (same as on Explorers and Q-80ies), it is wider and has "Gibson" embossed on it. Uwe

[uwe]

Back in black!!! Nice one.

[Denis]

Denis, yours looks much less roadworn than mine. And I love tabby cats.

It's been around but the guy I got mine from told me it sat in it's case in a closet for 16 years. The cat is Nick, who turned 18 last month! He's great and lately has decided that sitting on the bass cases is his choice when in that room. 

In the past year I've seen at least six Ripper pickups on eBay, and two of those were the early ones. That's not a lot but there are some out there. Seymour Duncan also makes Ripper pickups.

[jumbodbassman]

In the past year I've seen at least six Ripper pickups on eBay, and two of those were the early ones. That's not a lot but there are some out there. Seymour Duncan also makes Ripper pickups.
[/quote]

i have been avoiding feebay so i stop buying......   I have seen the SD but haven't heard them.  they are pretty pricey and not sure they would be any better than the original ones witch are ok at best. 

[PhilT]

Pickups seem ok to me, so far. Won't get to take it out of the house till December, then I'll really find out.

The back of the neck is quite sticky and cloudy, like someone's used polish on it that they shouldn't have. Any advice on cleaning, is this a nitro finish I need to be careful with (guitar stands too)?

[ramone57]

I wipe mine down with naptha first and then #0000 steel wool.