Gibson Ripper Pickguard

[Hörnisse]

I was looking at some on Ebay and came across this one.  It states in the auction that it is NOS but I can't understand the holes around the pickup openings.  They are unlike any I've seen on The Ripper.  The originals had no pickup mounting holes while the later ones had a sort of triangular arrangement.  Any theories?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-old-stock-Gibson-Ripper-pickguard-from-the-70s-/171111453253?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item27d7099245

[Lightyear]

Looks right to me - three pots, varitone and input jack.  The reflection of the ceiling through me off initially.

[Dave W]

He's asking about the pickup mounting, not the control holes.

Some pickups do need that hole configuration but I've never seen a Ripper pickup that did.

[godofthunder]

Those pick up openings look much bigger than Ripper pups. more like Mudbuckers. Early Rippers are pictured with Mudbuckers, is this a pg from the prototypes? Also Ripper pgs are one color, tortise or black this is b/w/b.

[dadagoboi]

Mudbucker ones had a smaller guard, like this



Could it be from an Asian copy?

[hollowbody]

Based on what looks like oversized holes and the screw config I'd say it was set up for Guild sludgebuckers.

[Lightyear]

OK, I guess I should read all of the words

That said the pic of the back side has "72" written on it with what looks like grease pencil.  Might be a prototype piece.

[hollowbody]

[amptech]

Mudbucker ones had a smaller guard, like this

Love this ad! But I´ve never seen a ripper with muds in real life. Are they common?
Or was this just a prototype too?

[dadagoboi]

Love this ad! But I´ve never seen a ripper with muds in real life. Are they common?
Or was this just a prototype too?

No clue, popped up on EBay.  Here's a similar Grabber ad from the same period, check the thru body strings and tort.

[uwe]

That pg is a strange beast. I have several Rippers, prototype, early oversize body model, mid-period model and final run as well as modern day Ripper 2, the pg wouldn't fit a single one among them. That is not to say that there might never have been a prototype at one point where it might have matched, but certainly no regular series Ripper.

[Dave W]

Definitely not for Guild pickups.

We've seen Kalamazoo surplus from greatdealz1967 that was never from anything actually issued. This could be another example. Could have been intended for a prototype that was never even built.

[Hörnisse]

Love this ad! But I´ve never seen a ripper with muds in real life. Are they common?
Or was this just a prototype too?

Uwe has a prototype Ripper with Mudbuckers.  

[uwe]

Yup, that bass is a monster in weight, no wonder they started routing out the wood as the model progressed. Those pups look like mudbuckers, but they are not. More akin to what eventually found its way into the series Ripper, albeit under a different cover.

[Hörnisse]

I found a photo of a Ripper with what appears to be a similar pickguard, but it has the early type pickups.