Hi im Angelo Demaria From Italy! Ii like ur page! 
i m a ripper player too! i play with 'BERMUDAS' an Italian 'surf n roll' band (we live just near Montecarlo).
I m happy to have an epiphone ripper '98 now upgraded with a 76 grabber pickup...
and a gibson ripper '70-'72 coming from chicago! It is  professional green painted by his last owner but the other things are totally original! its rock! its beautiful!
u can see our myspace band page at : www.myspace.com/bermudas
there are some songs loaded that are into ours new cd - 'in gino we trust' they are all recorded with my gibson ..just  'dark city' is played by the epiphone!
theese basses really rock and i love them!
i wish u enjoy the page!
see ya !
Ange

BERMUDAS

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Angelo's Rippers

Paul Swingewood - GUNN RUNNER

 Hi there I came across your grabber site whilst trying to find a new pickup for my grabber. 

Like a few I guess it was Mr Simmons that inspired me to pick up a bass guitar at the tender age of 13 and i've never looked back since. I always wanted a grabber and when one finally came up at a Kiss auction I had to have it. My grabber is a 73 edition the serial number on mine is a sticker (not etched ito the wood) and is difficult to read nowadays. It's hardly out of my hands with rehersals and gigs. I play through a Trace Elliot rig SMX12 preamp with a PPA1200 low end and a PPA600 highend. I have to admit the grabber does seem to strain a bit to drive the preamp (hence looking for a new pickup) but I just love it....!
 
Regards - Paul

Gunn Runner website

BOB KELLY

I've worked on guitars/basses for a long time, I cut a new, clear pic guard, then changed where the chord plugs in. My brother Leo - (the guitar player in Wicked Liz & the Bellyswirls) did the paint job. It sounds fantastic.

I own:
2-mid-70's Gibson Grabbers
1-mid-70's Gibson Ripper
1-mid-70's G3

I've heard people say that the Ripper was the best of the 3, but I have yet to find anything that compares to my natural finish Grabber. I keep the pick-up a thumb's width away from the top, the volume all the way open, and the tone at about a 7.
There is nothing like the Gibson Grabber for a great "growl" and also a clear mid-range punch. With the slidding pick-up you can get a LOT of different tones out of it. I'm a "find what you like and stick with it" player. When we recorded our last project we worked with Gold Record Producer Tom Tatman. We spent hours getting guitar tones right. I walked in, plugged in, and Tom was immediatly satisfied. We litterally did NOTHING other than remove the screen from my cabinet.
Bob Kelly

At the moment Mark is band-less, having recently returned to Australia after living in Indonesia for a couple of years,
Mark lives in Sydney, Australia, and his 1973 Ripper is original apart from some screw holes that suggest a previous owner may have experimented with a different shaped pickguard at some point in time. This Ripper was imported to Australia by Mark from the USA, with the previous owner being Steve "Dude" Barr of Vintage Bass Trading Company and Dudepit fame.

Mark says - "I've owned several Gibson basses, and despite the size of the body, the all-maple Ripper is lighter and more ergonomic than other Gibsons I've played.  The body is actually quite thin, hence the light weight, and the neck is a pleasure to play.  Ripper pickups don't have the balls that, say, a Thunderbird or long scale Les Paul bass has, but the Ripper does have a great sound that lends itself to a variety of musical styles.  I've recently sold quite a few of my basses because my young family is expanding, but the Ripper is a definite keeper"

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The Retreads from Muncie, Indiana

I picked up that Grabber around 1998, for about $450. I played it in the Retreads and the Beatnik Termites. I had another one that I bought from Aaron Smith from Brazil (braziltheband.com) in 2000 and the serial number was within 100 from my first one, although this new one was in better shape. This one is now owned by Steve from the Giveups (dayton ohio). I'd been playing Fender P basses and Jazz basses, but the weight of the Fenders got to me. The Grabber looked huge, but was much easier on my back. Also the great tone and classic look matched the other Gibson purists in my band. I think I first wanted a Gibson after seeing Dee Dee Ramone play a black Ripper in the shower scene in Rock n Roll High School. Also, I believe Chris Novoselic of Nirvana played a yellow Ripper in the early 90s. I like the Grabber headstock much better than the Ripper, and the sliding pickup is pretty sweet. I ripped the finish to the bone and have gotten plenty of sweat, beer, and blood on the fucker and it keeps on ticking. Choice axe all around.

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That's very cool that you're compiling a list of people who play those Gibsons! Not very many bass players play the Ripper or Grabber due to its weight and size, but I love the tone mine gets and it suits my Motown / ClassicRock / Southern Rock band's sound perfectly. My Ripper is a 1974, and is made completely of Maple. If you look closely, you can see that the bridge pickup is not original. Back in 2000, the electronics on the bass ceased operating, and I had to have them rebuilt by NAU Engineering. The bridge pickup is a custom humbucker made from two Fender Lace Sensor pickups wired together (with the red writing on them: the most powerful configuration produced by Fender). The Neck pickup looks totally original however. But it's NOT! It is a cleverly modified Grabber pickup. It is now impossible to identify it as such without removing the pickguard. I also had to have the switch replaced with another old Ripper switch. Finally, the tuning machines were upgraded about 30 years ago to Schallers (by the first owner). Replacing the pickups has actually been a blessing because it gives the bass greater versatility, allowing it to sound both mellow, and very funky, with deep lows, and crisp highs. The original pickups were not as good. I currently use the bass with my band The Jennerators

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JD sent this Period Gibson Ad from the 70's

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1976 Gibson© "The Grabber"™.
Serial number 00182691. Ebony finish/pickguard (w/sliding pickup), nickel plated hardware, 20 fret rock maple fingerboard w/pearl "dot" inlays. Bolt-on neck. I bought that 1976 Grabber on eBay after I got my accident settlement. I moved the strap button from under the upper horn to above the neck plate so it wore more like Gene Simmons' Grabber.
More "Gene emulation"!(Check out the cover of KISS "ALIVE!")

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The Darker Hues at the Abbey Lounge, Jan 2008

Joseph's 1978 Gibson Ripper

Ok, lets see.
My name is Joseph, "Boo" Thomson. I have been playing bass longer than I have not, and the bass is a 78 Gibson Ripper. I got it for 750$ off of the Ebay and have had it for 3 years now. Before the ripper I played a mexican P bass but I gave that to a friend the day I first played the ripper. the bass is all original with the original case, the handle is missing...kinda a pain, I have yet to get it repaired. I play it through a Sunn 300T with matching 4-ten speaker cab, I am in the process of getting another Sunn 4-ten cab, as I feel the Ripper deserves it! ha! it is my number one! I am in love with that bass! I play bass and half vocals with "The Darker Hues" out of Boston Ma. We have been a band for about a year now, prior to that I was in "the magic is gone" out of Burlington VT, that was a 7 year stint, great little band. See more of  The Darker Hues on their MySpace                                                                  BACK