Ripper Bass

From The Unofficial Epiphone Wiki

Epiphone Ripper Bass

Gibson Ripper

The Gibson L9-S Ripper is a model of electric bass guitar made by Gibson Guitar Corporation. The Ripper was manufactured from 1973 until 1983. The Ripper is "cousin" to the Gibson Grabber (G1) and Gibson G3 models also manufactured by Gibson around the same time. The three are vintage in today's world, though the "Grabber II" and "Ripper II" are being released for Gibson's "Limited Run Series". The Grabber II came back in January 2009 for the opening of the series.

Epiphone Ripper

The 1998-2000 Ripper Bass was Epiphone's version of the 1970's Gibson Grabber. It featured a single humbucker pickup, 3-point bridge and natural headstock.The Ripper was reissued by the Epiphone "Custom Shop" for a limited edition run in 2006-2008. The Ripper Bass is Epiphone's version of Gibson's Grabber Bass.

Epiphone Ripper Prototype

As far back as 1983, Epiphone was experimenting with creating a Ripper bass with an American-made protoytpe called the B-450. The B-450 had three single-coil pickups and a covered bridge on a Ripper/Grabber body with no treble horn. It also featured a maple neck with a Flying-V style headstock with an open-book top and "Made in the USA" stamped on the back. The Epiphone logo on the front is the same as the Kalamazoo USA-made American Series made from 1982-1983.