1977 Gibson L9-FS Fretless Ripper

• Solid alder body • set three piece maple neck • ebony fretless fingerboard • 34 1/2 inch scale.

Despite the rise in interest in fretless bass guitars in the 1970s, most manufacturers still sold considerably more fretted instruments. The Gibson Ripper was no exception, with around 1 in 10 Rippers sold being fretless. This example is one of just 107 fretless L9-FS basses shipped in 1977 - see the Ripper shipping figures for more information.

The majority were in some kind of sunburst finish, usually described as tobacco sunburst; tobacco sunburst usually signifies a brown or black finish that fades through lighter browns to a yellow natural base. This bass, although it has some brown within the burst, is almost black fading directly to yellow. The tobacco sunburst finish on the standard fretted Ripper was not common. In the very early days of Ripper production, other brown/natural and cherry/natural sunburst finishes were used, but usually with wider darker edges - however the older, wider Ripper body style did suit this. With the ebony fingerboard, this colouration makes for a very attractive bass. Some fretted Rippers were shipped in this finish, but these are very much the exception.

Like all Rippers, this bass was built at Gibson's Kalamazoo plant in Michigan, USA, during the Norlin period. The bass pictured is a typical Ripper: Ripper humbucking pickups, Gibson 3-point chrome bridge, and Schaller BM machine heads.

What is slightly unusual in this bass is the mix of mid period features (second Ripper body style, six digit stamped serial number) with later features (five ply scratchplate with engraved tone switch numerals, and pickups mounted to the scratchplate, late 1976 pot codes). This might signify slightly earlier woodworking (mid-late 1975?) and slightly later assembly (early 1977?). This is unusual in most Rippers, as they were generally shipped as quickly as they were produced, but it seems orders for fretless versions were not as forthcoming as Gibson might have hoped.

1977 zone 1 price for the Fretless Ripper in a Tobacco Sunburst finish was $569. The fretless Ripper was also available in Ebony finish at $30 less.

Other than the lack of frets, the Fretless Ripper was identical in construction to other Ripper bass guitars - although fretless models are far more likely to come with a sunburst finish. The tobacco sunburst (as this is described in Gibson literature) usually has no red and more brown within it - but in this case, even the brown is hard to find in places, almost going directly from black to the natural base coat.

Interestingly, the tobacco sunburst finish extends to the neck of this bass, not something that commonly seen on Gibson sunburst finishes. Note the black metal 'string through' plate at the lower end of the body. This is where strings enter the bass, when strung through the body with extra-long scale strings.

The black plastic pickup covers on this Ripper are slightly different from the versions produced in previous years (see a 1976 Gibson Ripper pickup) in that they are now scratchplate mounted with three screws, rather than screwed directly into the body wood with two screws going through the centre of the pickups themselves. The coils themselves are no different. This gives the pickup a little more adjustability, but also simplifies assembly of the electrical circuitry and their mounting to the body/neck.

The controls for the Fretless Ripper are the same as on the fretted models; that is Gibson's especially developed Q-system electronics. A four way tone selector switch, volume, mid range and tone control. A chicken head knob for the four-way switch, and speed knobs for the pots. Unfortunately these controls are a bit complicated in use, but a wide range of sounds was certainly possible. For a more about these controls see Gibson's Ripper controls description, but also listen to the 1974 Ripper promo record; they certainly get some great sounds. Note also that the position numbers are now engraved onto the scratchplate - compare this with a Ripper from the year earlier - they were still using the separate metal marker ring.

Although the Gibson Ripper could be strung through the body for extra sustain, the Gibson three-point bridge also allows normal stringing, which some players prefer; stringing through the body (requiring extra-long scale strings) can make it harder to bend notes. Have a look at a Ripper that is strung through the body here.

By 1977 the Ripper pickups had new covers, each with three mounting screws for scratchplate mounting (rather than directly to the body wood - see a 1976 Ripper pickup). Furthermore the scratchplate material was now five ply solid black-white-black-white-black - which looked especially good on ebony finished models (see a three point bridge was one piece of hardware constant across all versions of the Ripper.

In 1977, a Ripper in tobacco sunburst finish was priced $30 above the base price of $539.

The string-through plate, or four-hole eyelet as Gibson describe it, replaced the four separate holes of earlier Rippers - see a 1975 Ripper

The Gibson Ripper had a large solid headstock, with silk-screened Gibson logo. The truss rod cover has a white revealed edge (compare this to a Ripper truss rod cover from a couple years earlier here - just one ply black). Tuning keys are Schaller BM

Ripper bass reverse headstock detail. Late seventies Gibson basses like this are typically fitted with Gibson-engraved Schaller BM tuning keys. The volute is omnipresent on maple-necked basses of this time. Although the serial number is not visible in this photograph, it is there, and is a six digit impressed type. This suggests an earlier build date; despite the fact that this bass was most likely shipped in 1977, the body/neck were probably produced some time in 1975. (By late 1975, newly produced Rippers had decal serial numbers - see the decal serial number of a 1976 Ripper here).

1977 Fretless Ripper soundclips

Soundclips were recorded on a 1977 alder bodied Ripper with Labella flat wound strings (760FL), plugged directly into a mobilePre preamp.

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