I had trouble with some pickups a while ago. Every combination i tried didn't work, I was turning in to Mr Angry Head. Walk away and have a think. I had two humbuckers next to each other on the bench, what I had been doing was testing three wires from one pickup and one wire from the other... Went down the pub!
@@DavesWorldofFunStuff I think Tom Brantley can rewind those, he's based out of North Carolina and used to work with Lindy Fralin. Fralin could probably rewind them as well, or maybe Curtis Novak. Btw, those pickups were originally designed by Bill Lawrence/Wilde, I know you're a big fan (so am I, he made some of the best P pickups ever).
A lot of meters won't beep for continuity if the resistance is above a certain amount. It would be worth switching to a regular resistance scale, just in case.
concept: Let's epoxy our pickups to protect them from damage forever. result: We've made pickups that are pretty well known for dying for no reason and the epoxy making them impossible to repair.
gryzew - they don’t do that just to be difficult, it makes the pickups less microphonic and protects the wiring from general damage. The weak spot is where the wiring exits the epoxy: they could make that more robust, maybe even solderless, but cost etc.
ha, maybe there'll be a sequel episode here. Owner will find some orig. pups somewhere, or will opt to go with something else that will fit in the cavities. Part 2!
Dave your subtle slapstick kills me. Only 14 seconds in and you've already opened with the left/right fart bloom explosion clip then "... It's The Ripper".
Epoxy shrinks and kills the wires inside it. However, the meter may not beep even on good coils. Mine beeps only when the resistance is under 1K (and good pickups never measure that low)
You might try cutting the wires back a few inches because of oxidation or try a little 800 grit emory to remove the oxidation on the wires. Check also to the metal of the pickups for "constant-nudity"!
These basses sound phenomenal, I used to own a blonde 1975 model before it was stolen on the eve of a gig! Still miss it to this day 😭 The most worthwhile mod on these basses is to rewire the "out of phase" position on the selector knob to make it neck pickup only.
You won't see low resistance continuity on a pickup. Coil resistance is typically several thousand ohms. Try switching your DMM to a 10k resistance range and give the pickups another look.
Ripper pickup reproductions are available from Lollar, I believe, and Duncan. Not cheap. Those pickups, sound great, when they work. Ripper basses had a celluloid pickup cover, that always, in older basses -would eventually end up gassing off and literally destroy the pickup windings. Great job Gibson!
My 1st bass was a black Ripper. I was 16 and got it because Gene Simmons sported one on the 1st Alive album cover. It was a decent starter bass I suppose.
The pickups should have a few KOhms of resistance. Most meters will stop beeping at 30-70 Ohms. Even perfectly fine pickups willnot beep (show continuity), as their resistance is too high. I am not saying that tge pickups are OK, as they obviously don’t have any output through the amp, just tgat a continuity test is not the way to determine if a pickup is open. Tge right way is to test the resistance, and if it is a few KOhms to about 20 KOhms, assume the pickup is OK (assuming passive pickups).
ive not seen a Gibson ripper base since the 70s. Gene Simmons use to play one in Kiss when all they used was Gibson guitars. I like the shape and look of it.
He's checking the relief of the neck. Capo at first fret, string pushed down around the 15th fret, check string height at 8th fret. Should be around .012 inches. If less, truss rod should be loosened to add relief. If more, trust rod should be tightened to straighten neck.
After owning exactly one Gibson bass in my 46 years of playing (the P.O.S. Grabber) due to a temporary teenage obsession with KISS and the inability to afford a Fender back in the day, I've always had a morbid fascination to play a Ripper. I may be finally cured of this wretched obsession. Long live Leo Fender's low end progeny!
Maybe the epoxy or whatever they're sealed in caused the pickups to go bad. And maybe Duncan or DiMarzio has some pickups that would fit. If they did this bass may sound better than new.
I had a '74 Ripper I bought new. Nice variety fo sounds, but not many that were useful. An uncomfortable bass to play. I swapped the pups for Seymour Duncans and that helped the sound. Thankfully it was stolen and the insurance helped me get a Fender.
I had a 1975 Gibson ripper for a number of years. Played okay with fingers and pick. Horrible for slapping. And on some of the settings the pickups fed back horribly. Eventually I sold it. I'm not sure why I ever bought it. My music man stingray, Fender precision bass and Jazz basses were all superior in every imaginable way.
What's the deal with the coin/medallion on the headstock? I saw a video of a guy who recently did a bass mod, and he put one between his pickups (*with a hot glue gun, jeeezeus*). Is there something about this that I'm missing? Are they emulating someone else?
Donald Holman You got it! This was an attempt at a "Jack Bruce custom model" that Jack walked away from. Also this was designed to be heavier (literally) than the EB-3.
Those pickups were designed by Bill Lawrence and actually sound really good when working. lol
I had trouble with some pickups a while ago. Every combination i tried didn't work, I was turning in to Mr Angry Head. Walk away and have a think. I had two humbuckers next to each other on the bench, what I had been doing was testing three wires from one pickup and one wire from the other... Went down the pub!
Always a good idea - the pub of course!!
Seymour Duncan custom shop has replacement Ripper pickups. $300 USD for a set.
@@DavesWorldofFunStuff I think Tom Brantley can rewind those, he's based out of North Carolina and used to work with Lindy Fralin. Fralin could probably rewind them as well, or maybe Curtis Novak. Btw, those pickups were originally designed by Bill Lawrence/Wilde, I know you're a big fan (so am I, he made some of the best P pickups ever).
@@DavesWorldofFunStuff Wait of 1-4 weeks: www.bestbassgear.com/duncan-cs-ripper.htm
Best Bass Gear . com has them in stock for $320.00 USD.
A lot of meters won't beep for continuity if the resistance is above a certain amount. It would be worth switching to a regular resistance scale, just in case.
that's true.
Came here to say that
Yea my meter is at about 100 ohms. Since those are my guess 6-9k ohms.
Just checked mine: doesn't beep over 200 Ohms
Just came here to say the same! Shame to trash vintage pickups thinking they're broken if in fact they're fine..
Looking online: Orange is GND, Red is (-), and Black is (+). Resistance should be about 6k between Red and Black
I have a '76 bought new as a teenager. It's a great bass. this one looks like death warmed over! I'm rebuilding mine and it's a lot of fun!
Just traded my black Gibson “The Ripper” for a ‘76 Fretless Fender Precision Bass. Both are great basses.
You don't check p-up coils with continuity test, you have to use the ohms scale. Anything over 100-200 ohms depending on the meter won't trigger it...
I think he checked ohms first, then continuity as a last resort ?
concept: Let's epoxy our pickups to protect them from damage forever.
result: We've made pickups that are pretty well known for dying for no reason and the epoxy making them impossible to repair.
gryzew - they don’t do that just to be difficult, it makes the pickups less microphonic and protects the wiring from general damage. The weak spot is where the wiring exits the epoxy: they could make that more robust, maybe even solderless, but cost etc.
@@stereoroid That's why everyone else uses wax. You can undo wax potting to repair a pickup, but you can't undo epoxy.
ha, maybe there'll be a sequel episode here. Owner will find some orig. pups somewhere, or will opt to go with something else that will fit in the cavities. Part 2!
I like your shirt! The Loop is from my area!
continuity test often needs to be below a curtain lowish resistance , better to measure resistance
Dave your subtle slapstick kills me.
Only 14 seconds in and you've already opened with the left/right fart bloom explosion clip then "... It's The Ripper".
Why? Why?
Two words.
Play Authentic.
Metalbass10000 😂
The same as Apple with their Think Different. Probably great products when they work but to service, well their hardware is just not well-designed
JD Default true facts
"Constant Nudity" That's damn funny right there.
Ha ha...that’s total Dave!!!
Mark Evans from ACDC used to play one of these in the early days.
Great bass I have mine since purchasing it new in 1975 and it still kicks butt :)
Epoxy shrinks and kills the wires inside it.
However, the meter may not beep even on good coils. Mine beeps only when the resistance is under 1K (and good pickups never measure that low)
You might try cutting the wires back a few inches because of oxidation or try a little 800 grit emory to remove the oxidation on the wires. Check also to the metal of the pickups for "constant-nudity"!
These basses sound phenomenal, I used to own a blonde 1975 model before it was stolen on the eve of a gig! Still miss it to this day 😭
The most worthwhile mod on these basses is to rewire the "out of phase" position on the selector knob to make it neck pickup only.
Nice lookin' bass. I like the pickguard. Reminds me of some of the old Soviet guitars they used to make back in the 70s and 80s.
Considering these went for like 10 times what those Soviet basses were worth back in the day I don't know if that's a good thing
There are repop pickups and rewinders specialists out there. don't let it go!
I would find what the diameter of those ferrels get 4 bullet casings of the same diameter, drill out the primer hole, and put them in the body.
You won't see low resistance continuity on a pickup. Coil resistance is typically several thousand ohms. Try switching your DMM to a 10k resistance range and give the pickups another look.
By the way the three wires are red - black coil ends - tied together in the middle. The third wire is hardware ground....
Hope they decide to have you fix it
Ripper pickup reproductions are available from Lollar, I believe, and Duncan. Not cheap. Those pickups, sound great, when they work. Ripper basses had a celluloid pickup cover, that always, in older basses -would eventually end up gassing off and literally destroy the pickup windings. Great job Gibson!
"Gibson" should be remaned "Goochson"
Haven’t seen a Loop Shirt since the early 80s
The other bass like this was called The Grabber! Or G-3... Bill Lawerence designed electronics. My friend had the G-3 with three pickups.
Sliding pickup... Gene Simmons played one
3:00 in and....Firewood!
I do believe that the ripper bass electronics were designed by Bill Lawrence.
Maybe you can contact him for info or replacement pick ups
And iiiiiit's GOOCHED! Haven't seen one of these in a while. Need more gooches for - reasons. :)
My 1st bass was a black Ripper. I was 16 and got it because Gene Simmons sported one on the 1st Alive album cover. It was a decent starter bass I suppose.
Gene was playing a Grabber on the album
The pickups should have a few KOhms of resistance. Most meters will stop beeping at 30-70 Ohms. Even perfectly fine pickups willnot beep (show continuity), as their resistance is too high. I am not saying that tge pickups are OK, as they obviously don’t have any output through the amp, just tgat a continuity test is not the way to determine if a pickup is open. Tge right way is to test the resistance, and if it is a few KOhms to about 20 KOhms, assume the pickup is OK (assuming passive pickups).
Maybe a set of Wilde L90s, trace the pickguard and get a custom one cut?
Yikes! Looks like the soul has been ripped from this authentic Bill Lawrence design!
Sir, what year was Gibson
Ripper bass made?
Repo/ blank pick guard, pick ups that work/ fit, save the old parts for the future "restoration" & just make it work for now?
ive not seen a Gibson ripper base since the 70s. Gene Simmons use to play one in Kiss when all they used was Gibson guitars. I like the shape and look of it.
Shame they're toasted. I've played a Ripper once. Great sounding Bass.
If i purchased your luthier skills, could i also get you to sign the inside of my pickgaurd?
Best basses ever. Grabber/ripper. They record real well cut thru guitars like a 🔪
Maybe that one was the boardroom demo? All looks, no go.
Hey Dave when you do the feeler gauge what are you looking for? I have them but I wanna make sure I'm looking for the right thing.
He's checking the relief of the neck.
Capo at first fret, string pushed down around the 15th fret, check string height at 8th fret. Should be around .012 inches. If less, truss rod should be loosened to add relief. If more, trust rod should be tightened to straighten neck.
Doesn't look like the original pick guard anyway
but they shouldn't beep because they should have 7 or 8 kohms resistance, right?
Dave, please let me know if the owner of the ripper bass would want to sell it as-is. I like the bass.
After owning exactly one Gibson bass in my 46 years of playing (the P.O.S. Grabber) due to a temporary teenage obsession with KISS and the inability to afford a Fender back in the day, I've always had a morbid fascination to play a Ripper. I may be finally cured of this wretched obsession. Long live Leo Fender's low end progeny!
Love the shirt!
Looks like this one will take some sleuthing to get restored. Best of luck Dave!!
I love it. “There’s a lot of shit on the truss rod”.
Great T shirt... (from Chicago)
Maybe the epoxy or whatever they're sealed in caused the pickups to go bad. And maybe Duncan or DiMarzio has some pickups that would fit. If they did this bass may sound better than new.
I've had one of my Ripper pickups rewound, it is possible
"Ripper" Is an Australian expression meaning Good or great.Maybe Gibson were targeting the Australian market............................
Hopefully not the Whitechapel market.
Is this guy for sale? I’d buy this in an instant if so. Big Ripper fan!
I had a ripper pickup rewound np, harden up Dave lol
saw a gutted one(no electronics) on reverb today...
I had a '74 Ripper I bought new. Nice variety fo sounds, but not many that were useful. An uncomfortable bass to play. I swapped the pups for Seymour Duncans and that helped the sound. Thankfully it was stolen and the insurance helped me get a Fender.
"The Flatulator"
Dave love the word mangulator
I think the guy that designed those pickups, was named "Gooch"
Boy. That's something.
Somebody got rippered off....
who has ripped pickup coils? And how?
I had a 1975 Gibson ripper for a number of years. Played okay with fingers and pick. Horrible for slapping. And on some of the settings the pickups fed back horribly. Eventually I sold it. I'm not sure why I ever bought it. My music man stingray, Fender precision bass and Jazz basses were all superior in every imaginable way.
There needs to be a model of bass named the Mangulator.
A nice bass to throw in a bonfire.
What's the deal with the coin/medallion on the headstock? I saw a video of a guy who recently did a bass mod, and he put one between his pickups (*with a hot glue gun, jeeezeus*). Is there something about this that I'm missing? Are they emulating someone else?
Drew Kane Brian May glued a British sixpence on the headstock of his Red Special. He uses said sixpences as picks
R.I.P. Ripper
Turkey Festival Mission.
Send those pickups to Kent Armstrong for a rebuild.
As you probably already know Seymour Duncan makes Ripper bass pickup replacements
This is the kind of bass Greg Lake was playing in ‘73-‘74.
I think Lindy Fralin does rewinds.
Wait never mind I watched the rest of the vid.
These things sell on eBay from $2k to $4k depends on conditions. Worth an investment.
RIP to the RIPper pickups... just rip them out... let 'em rip...
“You’re in for a surprise....you’re in for a shock”
Comedy, Cooking and Guitar Repair, sort of....GO BRUINS, haha Dave
You didn't check to see if the wires were broke inside the insulation.
Seymour Duncan makes Ripper repro pickups
Seymor Duncan makes custom shop gibson pups
Seymour Duncan . Make the guy order some
@@DavesWorldofFunStuff Ah Ok . hmmm back to the drawing board .... Cant wait for "part 2 " Dave .
This looks like it should be kept for the summers barbecue.
ya gooched it again Dave.
Measuring Pickups across the coil will not have a beep/continuity . you need to go to the OHM setting to get a reading .
I’LL BUY IT!!!!!
It´s your constantnuditymeter that is not capable of doing this :) (it doesn´t see a couple of k-ohms as constantnudity)
Turkey Festival shenanigans lol
BASS player here, Seymour Duncan Custom Shop Pickups got then, not cheap!!! ;)
Did a quick internet search, for you!!!
Turkey festival mission....lol....epic.
How can a company make such near-perfect guitars (ES-335, Les Paul, SG, V, etc.), and then make this p.o.s.? Mind boggling....
They are not perfect and this bass is not a "p.o.s"! Just needs new pickups.
Mark Evans!
seymore duncan makes a replacement for this bass
As in “jack” the .......
Donald Holman You got it! This was an attempt at a "Jack Bruce custom model" that Jack walked away from. Also this was designed to be heavier (literally) than the EB-3.
Even if this bass worked, it's a P.O.S. - But, If you want to restore it, you can do it for 300 % more than it will EVER be worth.
Why? WHy?? WHY???
Call this thing Jack.
🤔
Makes me wonder, The Ripper, The Grabber, The Nighthawk ...
did Gibson marketing have a fetishist in there for awhile?
I suppose the Ripper sounded a bit cooler than the Tooter.
God that is an ugly finish and pickguard combo if I've ever seen one
Rippers only look passable in a solid color with a black guard
I HATE that bass. It’s like the Pontiac Aztec of basses.