Epiphone Limited Edition Ripper Reisssue

2006 Korean-made 4 strings, Hard maple body, Hard maple bolt-on neck
Maple fingerboard with 20 jumbo frets, Brass nut for added sustain
Single-coil/split-coil passive pickup combination
2 Volume and 1 Master Tone controls
3-way switching

What can I say, I play this beauty through an Ashdown 30w amp, and it sounds amazing, when tone control is on 10 its has a very bright tone, one of the reviews said there is no tone change from 1 to 10, i beg to differ since on my ripper there is a difference in tone from 1 to 10.

The bass played great straight out of the box, No fret buzz, every thing was perfect, pretty lucky to be honest, I needed no set up.

This things built like a tank, when I first got it through delivery tho one of the bottom strap pins was broke, no biggy really, quick easy replacement, this bass will become my main live and recording bass.

Have not yet had to deal with customer support.

Really good bass, especially for people who love a bright deep tone.

2006 Korean-made 4 strings
???70's Gibson Ripper design;:
Hard maple body
Hard maple bolt-on neck
Maple fingerboard w/20 jumbo frets
Satin neck finish w/polyurethane finish on fretboard
Brass nut for added sustain
Single-coil/split-coil passive pickup combination
2 Volume and 1 Master Tone controls
3-way switching
No-name cloverleaf open-back tuners
1.66" nut width
34" scale length
Antique natural finish
No case was included

I can't really critique a bass in this section because so much depends on your amplification system. I use a early 1970's Peavey F-800B Super Festival head with 4 cabinets - the 2 Tweeter cabinets have 2/15" speakers in each, and the other 2 are folded horn cabinets housing 1/18" speaker each. I can make a 60's Norma or Tiesco Del Rey pawn shop bass sound like a Pedulla or an Alembic. A great amplifier can compensate for any shortcomings an instrument may possess, so I will just comment by stating if you have a professional amplifier system, this bass should provide all the Thunderous BOOM and Jazz tones one could wish for. The pickups are very quiet, but the Tone control is useless...almost NO tonal change when rotated from 0 - 10, so it doesn't really matter what setting it is on...just use your amp. to adjust to your liking. My rating is based on the useless Tone control.

I don't place too much importance on "factory set-up", as I always adjust any bass to my personal preferences. The neck is beefy, with nicely filed and dressed frets. The bridge is stupidly designed and a nightmare to adjust....it's not difficult, but extremely time-consuming, because there's 16...Yes, you read correctly..."16" tiny allen screws in the entire bridge - 4 per saddle !! In each saddle, 2 screws adjust string height, 1 screw anchors the height piece in the bridge after ajustment, and 1 screw anchors the saddle in the bridge after intonation ajustment. If you are like me and use the same gauge strings all the time, you won't have to spend any more time on bridge ajustment after initial set-up. Intonation on my bass was almost perfect - 3 strings were dead-on, but the D string was horribly off the mark.. Also, a BIG minus is string height. The bridge saddles were ajusted all the way down, yet string height was like a pawn shop instrument...much too high !! I had to "shim" the neck to get decent action, then ajust the truss rod and 8 string height screws. Spending almost a full day ajusting a Brand New instrument to make it playable doesn't impress me to any great degree. BUT, I do have to keep in mind that this bass cost only $279.00, so I have to remember to keep my expections low.

This bass is extremely well built, construction-wise. It is very solid and holds up well when traveling. I wouldn't hesitate using this bass as a solo instrument on a gig.

I will not rate this catagory, as I have never delt with Epiphone. Bass comes with a Limited Lifetime Warranty.

I used to own weveral Gibson Grabbers and Rippers way back in the '70's, and recently wanted another one, but I find the price for used ones now rather prohibited, so when I saw this bass for less than $300 bucks, I grabbed it up. It's not a bad instrument really, simply a good "medium quality" one...a Real bargain at around $300.00. But I wouldn't pay much more than that, because that's about all they are worth.

Made in 2006, Korea, 4-strings, glossy clear finish on maple, two volume and one tone control, Passive P-J configuration, maple neck and body, bolt-on ABM style bridge, brass nut grover-style tuners.

I was delighted to find this reissue, as I briefly owned a Gibson Ripper in the mid-seventies. This one has a very big, round sound with great presence in the neck p/u and an overall woody-crunch characteristic of Gibsons and better-made epis. The output from the pickups is strong, and the switch allows use of neck, bridge or both. It does resemble a P-bass overall, but can make some very bright sounds as well. The brass nut does provide added sustain. It's proved to be a workhorse on stage in the hot and humid environs of Florida.

I did have considerable difficulty intonating the bolt-on bridge, as it required allen-wrench adjustments without any spring-mounted saddles, but my local tech--while admitting it was a bear--was able to make it near perfect. The bridge itself closely resembles the expensive german-made ABM, albeit not quite as solid. The tuning keys are rock solid and sealed, and the nut is brass. The body is a beautiful maple and resonates qyuite loudly unamplified. The beefy but C-shaped neck is maple as well with a maple fretboard and required just the slightest tweaking to straighten upon arrival; it has since held up under horrendous heat and humidity conditions inherent to outdoor gigs beneath the Florida summer sun.

I bought this to be a beater, and beat it I have. It is a very durable and stable slab of an instrument. I added Dunlop strap locks and black-coated D.R. strings for looks and a big, ringing sound. The finish is a deep gloss and appears to be indestructible. I've played it without a backup from the start, as there are no batteries to fret about. I'd say this instrument compares favorably with any other passive bass out there. It's not a high-end or "boutique" bass, but a really solid hunk of gutsy, thumping rock and roll history.

I've dealt with the helpful folks at Gibson several times in the past and this time too, as I noticed right away that the size of this instrument precluded use of a normal gig bag. They recommended the stock Gibson hard-shell case but I found it will fit--barely--into the minimally padded Fender cheapie gig bag; I later found that the spacious Coffin bag works perfectly.

I've been a weekend player in a number of bands for some thirty-eight years, playing classic rock, oldies, and a sprinkling of newer stuff. Also own several Fenders (MIM Jazz with upgrades, MIJ '62 P-bass reissue, and a Sting '53 reissue), a Warwick fretless and a beat-to-death '65 Hagstrom (my first). The Epi Ripper is a fine quality instrument--far better than I'd hoped upon an essentially whimsical purchase (I've had issues with Epis in the past). I may upgrade the pickups, but really can't justify it as they are far stronger than the MIM stock pups you find on Fenders. It's heavy, kind of ugly, but has good balance and evokes favorable comments from fellow graybeards while standing out from the pack. I do miss the string-through feature of the original Ripper, but find the overall quality to be very, very good. Buy it, beat it, and enjoy!