Gibson Ripper rescue

[neepheid]

I spied this on eBay and felt sorry for it:






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:



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...

[neepheid]

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.






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.

[Denis]

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...

[neepheid]

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:

[Denis]

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.

[godofthunder]

 That's going to look sweet once your done! I feel sorry for the poor things to.

[Dave W]

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.

[drbassman]

Yep, it looks essentially unmolested structurally.  That's good news!  Looking good so far.

[Highlander]

Looks half way to fretless to me...

Good luck... 

Just out of curiosity - Independence or Union, as you have the vote...?

[Lightyear]

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.

[neepheid]

Looks half way to fretless to me...

Good luck... 

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.

[neepheid]

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.

[Stjofön Big]

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!

[Aussie Mark]

I'm thinking a pair of Thunderbuckers would go superbly in that Ripper shell.

[neepheid]

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