Danko with Butterfield: Bob Sanderson/Wikimedia Commons. Rick Danko plays a natural-finish L-9S Ripper in 1979, while on tour with Paul Butterfield. To set it apart, Gibson created a sliding pickup that could evoke different tones simply by moving it. Its only fretboard option was maple, and, on many examples, the headstock was also natural maple instead of black. Like the Ripper, in ’75, it acquired an alder body, and a natural finish became available in ’76. The model began its run in Wine Red or Black finishes. In late ’74, Gibson introduced the Grabber, which had a bolt-on neck, used the same body (but with a semi-pointed headstock reminiscent of a Flying V). Perhaps its most notable appearance was in Martin Scorcese’s The Last Waltz, the renowned 1978 documentary featuring The Band wherein bassist Rick Danko played one. The Ripper did gain several frontline users/endorsers, including Greg Lake, Mel Schacher (Grand Funk Railroad), Suzi Quatro, Louis Johnson, and Chicago’s Peter Cetera, who posed with one for an ad in ’79. Interestingly, one earlier ad for the Ripper showed a smaller pickguard, with the treble pickup mounted apart from it. A fretless version was introduced that year, with sunburst as a finish option (along with natural and black). The model underwent changes by 1975, including the body shifting to alder and the sunburst finish discontinued in favor of black. Gene Simmons used a Grabber in the early heyday of Kiss, and posed with it for the cover of Alive. The L-9S Ripper had two Super Humbucking pickups and an electronics configuration dubbed the Q System, which interpolated a Master Volume, Tone, and a midrange roll-off with a four-position rotary pickup selector that, according to the owner’s manual, worked as follows: 1 was both pickups in a “series in phase configuration,” 2 was the bridge pickup only, 3 was both pickups in “phase, parallel wiring,” and 4 had both pickups in “series, out of phase.” This ad for the Grabber shows one with a tortoiseshell pickguard. Debuting in ’73, it was offered in a sunburst finish with an ebony fretboard, or natural finish with a maple fretboard with pearl position markers. All had a new body style that measured 141/2″ wide and 11/4″ deep, maple necks with 20 frets on a 341/2″ scale. Their travails continued until both were sold to new owners – Fender in ’85, Gibson in ’86.Įxemplary of those unsuccessful instruments was a trio of solidbody basses made by Gibson from the mid ’70s until ’82. Guitar enthusiasts have long heard that the 1970s were the “downer decade” for Fender and Gibson, both of which introduced a few duds and struggled with quality control. Gibson Grabber, Gibson L-9S Ripper, and Gibson G-3 in natural finish.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |