Gibson 1975 bass catalogue, page 5. Right hand page of a double page spread on the L9-S Ripper. Both fretted and fretless models are shown. This was the first Gibson brochure to include a fretless bass model. Along with the cover image, the Ripper was clearly Gibsons great hope for '75, when in fact the Ripper had already had its peak sales year in 1974, and the Grabber was the better seller in 1975.
Interestingly, the Ripper was only offered with a maple or ebony fretboard - this was the first Gibson bass model not to come with a rosewood board as standard. Fretless basses all had the ebony board - the L9-SF was not offered in natural finish.
There were three Gibson US price lists (zone 1) published in 1975. The fretted and fretless Ripper were priced the same at $449 in January and June, rising to $469 in November.
$9000
$3500
$2500
$3800
€350
€299
€1199
£2250
£2950
£2495