[bassdroid]

Nice bass! Pretty dark for a Cherryburst :

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... %26ps%3D54

[doom]

An early one, just like the one Mark Evans of AC/DC used. I suppose the red has turned brownish from sunlight just like many cherry EB's have.

[bassdroid]

Originally Posted by doom

I suppose the red has turned brownish from sunlight just like many cherry EB's have.

Could be. That's certainly one of the cleanest CB Rippers I've seen. Interesting history too.

[jules]

yeah, I like that burst, not quite as much as the actual red one, but that still looks good.

[bassdroid]

Its very likely that this one has "browned out" over time. It just seems so natural and even...it makes me wonder if there wasn't some variation or experimenting with the pigmentation on the very early basses. It doesn't seem that this one has seen a lot of hard use, UV rays or what have you. It looks like this guy really took great care of it and if the back story is to be believed, probably sat in it's case for good part of it's life.

[swood]

Man, I would love to get my hands on a cherryburst Ripper some day.

This one, to me, looks like it was originally a "brownburst" as opposed to a cherryburst. It's true that the older cherryburst finishes from the '50s and early 60's sometimes fade to brown over time. By the 70's the paints were more stable and so, in general, cherryburst basses stayed that way. Of course, with Gibson there are always exceptions to every rule, but I would guess this bass always looked that way. Cool, though!

[doom]

Hmm, I don't know. My Cherrt '69 EB-3 has turned brown on the sides of the headstock. Kind of odd.

[jules]

I suppose the original color will be under the scratchplate....

[bassdroid]

Score. I'm looking forward to checking this one out. Seller says that they looked under the scratchplate and the tobacco finish matches the rest of the bass.

[bassdroid]

Got the bass yesterday. Holy mackerel! It's an alder body (late '74???) and the sunburst is much darker than the pics let on. It's most certainly a tobacco sunburst. It's all there and the only modification is the strap button having been moved to the heel. The finish is not 100%, but definitely a very solid 90%. No major bumps or bruises. Pots are dated 1973. The case looks like it came out of the showroom yesterday. Also inclded were the original owner's leather strap and heavy duty coily lead ca. 1975!

I took this out on a gig the night it arrived. Amazingly light and responsive. Strung w/ heavy gauge flats = thunderous bottom end. This one's a keeper!