Maude

Flip those sheets are expensive, and too small as it happens. But it's giving me ideas. The bakelite sheet would be perfect for single ply black, not quite as jet black and glossy as a modern PVC pickguard sheet. Just the right level of sheen. I'm going to rebuild it tomorrow with the golden brown vomit tort that came with it, and then have a hunt around to something suitable. Either single ply black or very, very dark tort.

There's too much autocorrong in there for me to bother editing. Bug the hello out of me? HELLO!! 😄

I'll probably make my own as with it being a copy Im not sure if it's exactly the the same. The chances of all the screw holes, pickup holes and the outline being an ex act match is proba pretty slim. The body has yellowed outside of the pickguard so if a Gibson one was a slightly different shape an showed the old outline it would just bug the hello out of me. Not point gambling with £50 when I can make an exact copy myself.

BHHMA (Bloody hell, how many acronyms?) 😄

I like single ply, very vintage looking and the celluloid ones were single ply, and almost see through, the routing is visible through the old tort ones. A clean white perimeter line would be too new looking I feel.

Well, very nice, but I haven't really had a proper go. Just a quick test to check it works and then I stripped it down when I got home. The strings were really old and dead and I wanted to give it a fret dress and polish, and a general all over clean. I've got some new strings coming courtesy of D'addario's Players Circle. The both pickups in series but out of phase sounds really cool, like an extremely burpy Jazz but different. Once back together I'll do a little write up on the different tones available.

It already is black on the back. I could just mix some transparent black into some clear lacquer and spray it but the colour would be sat on top. I'd like to find a stain that would penetrate the PVC but I don't think anything will. I'll probably just make a single ply black one.

Gang War - The Members

Staring At The Rude Boys - The Ruts

That L6S is lovely. As you say, it would be a good companion to my Ripper.

That could quite possibly be a Teisco, it seems to have a nicer fretboard wood (and similar to the Teisco in your vid) than most Kays seem to have. My other Kay, Les Paul shape but the same pickup, bridge etc as your Tulip, has some cheap wood that is stained black for a fretboard. Maybe different factories/makers used different woods. Cool purchase either way. 😎👍

When I first heard Oasis and all the press started talking about the Beatles influences, all I could heard was a Slade-esque wall of sound. I guess The Beatles are cooler than Slade when you're trying to sell records, so they tried to sound more like The Beatles with each passing record. I preferred it when the sounded like Slade.

The Night - Frankie Valli Edit : Too slow again. Let's go with, Now I'm Feeling Zombified - Alien Sex Fiend

Dig deep, you're all on the home stretch now! 😂

We're all very proud. 😋

There seems to be serious lack of will power in this thread... but an abundance of excuses so it all balances I 'spose.

So you want his gold bridge then?

Nothing to add other than that title is a great blues backing band name. Blind Willie Fiddler and the Perennial Unwanted B-String Overtones.

The blue, but with the ivory pearl.

Bugger, I must have another one somewhere then. 😁

Cornwall's got competition then has it? 😄

It's a big body but it's relatively thin so that keeps the weight down a bit. Were the Gibsons thin as well? It's not thin like the plywood Kays but thinner than your average P bass and the like. I'd like to get a 'The Ripper' TRC from the somewhere rather than the 'Custom' one on there, and I'm considering putting in string through ferrules to make it more in line with a genuine Ripper. There's an argument to keep it as original as possible, but the mods will make it more like a genuine Ripper. Something to ponder.

It's not too heavy. It's no lightweight but not any heavier than most of my basses. The Gibsons were maple, apart from a couple of years in the late 70s I think, this looks like ash so is probably lighter than the Gibsons. Maybe a wood expert on here could advise? I might see if there's a decent way to darken this scratchplate. If it was almost black with the pattern faintly showing I think it would be better. That's what the originals were like.

I've always liked the look of the Gibson Rippers and Grabbers, and in turn the 70s/80s Japanese copies. That's why when this popped up on facebook not too far from home I had to have it. After a quick message to our resident expert on Japanese basses, @Bassassin, for some much appreciated info I'd agreed a price the seller and I were both happy with. These are the sellers pictures. I picked it up yesterday and had a chat with the seller. He acquired it forty years ago in a swap for a 4x12 guitar cab, the seller is also a guitarist so it's spent the last forty years hanging on his wall, with the occasional play just for his own fun so it's in really nice condition. A couple of dings that were there when he got it and a couple of little issues that have been sorted but obviously have left it non original, which is a shame but can't be helped. Firstly, the original scratchplate was a celluloid one and had started gassing off and crumbling, so he has fitted a replacement. The original would've been a very dark tort, as per the early Gibson Rippers, the later ones were black (I think). I was going to make a single ply black one but I actually quite like one on there now. Secondly, the original three point bridge had snapped and this is a generic replacement. It seems a pretty good copy and looks the part so it'll probably stay as well. The only issue is the strings are higher than I'd like but the bridge is bottomed out, something I'll address. I've pulled it apart for a good clean and polish, and to sort any little issues such as the pots which are a little crackly. Very clean in the cavities and nice, tidy routing. Maybe newer manufacturers could learn something from the Matsumoku workers as I've seen some more modern basses that are much rougher. The electrics look good and all original so just a squirt of some cleaner/lubricant will hopefully quieten things down. You can see the 'burn' marks where the celluloid scratchplate had started to react. It's constructed in a kind of butchers block fashion but build seems really good. The rear with a rather nice grain to it. Three piece neck construction so should be stable. And a set neck. All the wood joins are nice and tidy and in all honesty most of the woods match really well. I'll update in a couple of days when it's rebuilt, set up and been put through it paces with some new strings. Hopefully the pickups will have the same edge to them as the Gibson ones.

Looks fantastic, well it would it's a Thunderbird. Such a cool bass. 😎👍