[jimclass]

I was playing a gig in a bar called the Cock & Bull in West Palm Beach Florida back in 1975. I had my Fender Telecaster bass and my EB-0 which I had modified to an EB-3 myself. We shared the gig with another band whose bass player had a tobacco sunburst Ripper which he played left-handed, upside-down. He liked to play very high up the neck and the cutaway did not make it very easy. He asked to try my EB-3, and enjoyed the freedom of the double-cutaway. I had never seen a Ripper before, as they were pretty new in 1975. We ended up trading basses (I threw in $50 to sweeten the deal). I never saw him again. I returned to Miami and the band broke up all within a week. I have had this beauty ever since. When I saw the movie "the Last Waltz" with the Band, There was my exact bass in the hands of Rick Danko. I had never seen another like mine before or since. I am assuming this is a rare instrument, and possibly pretty valuable. Does anyone out there have knowledge of a fretted tobacco sunburst Ripper circa 1975? According to the Gibson site, only 5 were manufactured.

[doom]

Those are indeed rare and only 126 ever made according to Shipment Totals. I think I've seen one up for sale.

[jules]

There was some variation in the sunbursts. Can we see a picture of yours?
Don't see many fretted ones coming up.

[jimclass]

I'll try to get a shot of it and post tomorrow

[bolmsted]

I got a fretted '75 sunburst Ripper as well. Would be interested to know how many are out there. I saw one on ebay about a year ago from somewhere in Canada. I assume the '75's are the rarest of sunbursts since they were alder bodies (instead of maple), they had the vintage sunburst shape (egg shape instead of mimicing the body shape), and had the original fat body with more blunt shaped horns (instead of pointy). I assume all these attributes are unique to the '75 versus Rippers made from '76 to 82.

[jimclass]

Gruen guitars confirms that Gibson records show only 5 were made that year. It seems hard to believe, but if you have one, I have one and Rick Danko had one only 2 more are not accounted for.

Are you the original owner? Where did you get it? What do you mean by "mimicing the body shape"? What body shape? Fitting the player's body, or mimicing another bass body style? Mine is pretty round in the body. I still have to post a pic

[jimclass]

Here is a photo link to my 1975 Ripper. It is in pretty good condition. How does it compare to yours in body shape?

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm27 ... er1975.jpg

[Redbird]

That looks new. Great looking bass.

[jimclass]

Bolmsted-

I just realized what you meant by the sunburst being egg-shaped. I did notice that the one Rick Danko played in the Last Waltz had a rounded egg-shaped sunburst, thus leaving the horns dark and solid color. The movie came out in 1978; I have no idea what year his bass was made but I assumed it was '75. Maybe it was later. As you can see by the photo I posted, my sunburst pattern does follow the body shape. And I know it is from 1975 because that is when I got it. It would be nice to be able to get more info from Gibson...

[bolmsted]

Here are some pictures of my bass. I guess mine has more of a cherry coloring to it now that I see your pictures. Is the body wood on yours alder or maple? The yellow/cherry coloring is actually quite different between the neck (maple) and the body (alder). This didn't come out on the photos very well, you'll just have to trust me on that. I'm always amazed at how different the coloring looks depending on the light. Mine doesn't have as much yellow in it as Rick Danko's bass had. Another '75 ripper sunburst bass is seen in the early AC/DC videos Jailbreak and Long Way to the Top.

I am not the original owner, I got this bass about two years ago on line from a used guitar shop in MN. The story told to the guitar shop from the owner was that Gene Simmons sold/gave it to him in the mid seventies when the owner and his band were rolling through LA. I'm not sure I believe the story, I've never seen a picture with gene playing a ripper. Maybe gibson made it for him and he didn't like it (How can a demon play anything but a black colored bass?). Like I said, I don't know the validity of the story, but it is interesting. Never got the name of the owner either, but the reason he sold it was to "thin out his collection".

[img]
Not sure i know how to add pictures.[/img]