Gibson Ripper Bass Copy?

[Nicko]

I was given a crappy old bass guitar that belonged to my late brother.  There's no brand name on it or on any of the parts, and I assumed it was just a cheap bass that he'd picked up.

 

I've just stripped it down to donate the parts to @Useless amateurand its the first time I've really looked at it.  

 

The headstock is Gibson shaped so I started looking there.  It's also got quite an unusual pickup, mounted direct to the body by two screws which sit in line with the pole pieces and a rotary pickup selector.

 

All looks like the Gibson Ripper except its a top loader.

 

Any ideas what this was?  

 

ps. the scratchplate stripes are bits of tape that someone added on and the bit of wood is what I attached the pickups to.

 

 

[Dad3353]

That can't have been easy to play with the neck joined in the middle like that..! 

 

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[BigRedX]

Looks exactly like a Ripper copy to me. What is different to the Gibson version?

[Nicko]

8 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

Looks exactly like a Ripper copy to me. What is different to the Gibson version?

As I said, not strung through body.  The strap button is in the wrong place (at the neck joint not on the upper horn) and I'm not sure if the tort pickguard is right. The jack socket is a fender strat type arrangement rather than the tele type on the ripper but it's possible my brother modified that because he was a leftie.  Other than that it looks a pretty close copy from what I can see on the net.

Edited September 20, 2021 by Nicko

[neepheid]

Tort pickguard is correct for an early Gibson Ripper.  Corroded, unpotted pickup windings are also common in early Rippers when the pickguard decomposes.  Noice.

 

This is/was a pretty competent copy, I'm especially impressed with the pickups - that is how earlier Ripper pickups mount with the two screws through the pickup into the body.  Later ones had a three screw arrangement which were on lugs sticking out from the pickup body and attached to the pickguard instead.

[Bassassin]

I suspect a 70s Matsumoku Ripper copy. Most common badged Aria but no-brand ones would've existed, like with pretty much any Japanese copy. Think I've seen these branded Kimbara too.

 

Shame you didn't ask the BC Hive Mind before writing it off as crap & parting it out, tbh, would have been a nice & pretty straightforward looking resto project, & worth a few quid these days too.

 

https://reverb.com/uk/item/6350520-aria-pro-ii-lb-650-ripper-bass-natural-1970s

[Grahambythesea]

Wasn’t there a copy branded “Melody”?

[cetera]

10 hours ago, Grahambythesea said:

Wasn’t there a copy branded “Melody”?

 

Yep.... and another called Avon...

[Nicko]

22 hours ago, cetera said:

 

Yep.... and another called Avon...

That's interesting as I was actually looking for an old Avon/Rose Morris SG Bass copy in the loft when I decided to make some use of the Ripper copy.

[Nicko]

On 20/09/2021 at 17:20, Bassassin said:

I suspect a 70s Matsumoku Ripper copy. Most common badged Aria but no-brand ones would've existed, like with pretty much any Japanese copy. Think I've seen these branded Kimbara too.

 

Shame you didn't ask the BC Hive Mind before writing it off as crap & parting it out, tbh, would have been a nice & pretty straightforward looking resto project, & worth a few quid these days too.

 

https://reverb.com/uk/item/6350520-aria-pro-ii-lb-650-ripper-bass-natural-1970s

Funnily enough the Aria copy in your link is a bolt on, whereas this is a set neck job.  If it had been bolt on I'd have sent the whole bass to Jon for him to work on as I could have shipped it much easier.

[Bassassin]

23 hours ago, Nicko said:

Funnily enough the Aria copy in your link is a bolt on, whereas this is a set neck job.  If it had been bolt on I'd have sent the whole bass to Jon for him to work on as I could have shipped it much easier.

There were both. The set necks were far less common.

On 20/09/2021 at 22:27, Grahambythesea said:

Wasn’t there a copy branded “Melody”?

 

On 21/09/2021 at 09:04, cetera said:

 

Yep.... and another called Avon...

The Melody & Avon copies were Grabbers, not Rippers, and from different factories. Melody was an Italian manufacturer.

[EssentialTension]

In the early 1980s I briefly had a black defretted Ripper-style copy labelled Columbus, if i remember correctly.

 

It was an OK bass.

[Bassassin]

1 hour ago, EssentialTension said:

In the early 1980s I briefly had a black defretted Ripper-style copy labelled Columbus, if i remember correctly.

 

It was an OK bass.

Interesting - never seen a Columbus Ripper, but they did have a Marauder guitar copy so that was probably sold as its bass couterpart.

[EssentialTension]

42 minutes ago, Bassassin said:

Interesting - never seen a Columbus Ripper, but they did have a Marauder guitar copy so that was probably sold as its bass couterpart.

Maybe my recall is inaccurate, it was forty years ago. If it wasn't Columbus, I'd guess at Antoria and I'm not certain it was a Ripper copy not a Grabber. Either way it seemed an OK instrument in those days.

[Bassassin]

45 minutes ago, EssentialTension said:

Maybe my recall is inaccurate, it was forty years ago. If it wasn't Columbus, I'd guess at Antoria and I'm not certain it was a Ripper copy not a Grabber. Either way it seemed an OK instrument in those days.

 

I had an Avon Grabber a few years ago, given that Avon had a reputation for being the cheap & tatty end of the market, this was a really good bass & a very accurate copy. Could almost have been passed off as original, with a few hardware swaps & a new headstock sticker.