Gibson® RD Artist 1977, Natural - Sold

During the late 70s synthesizers were hitting an all time high in popularity. With Gibson and Moog being co-ownd by Norlin at the time, these two companies got together hoping to recapture ground that electric guitars were apparently loosing to the new synths. The result was the launch of a new line of electric guitars and basses in 1977 called the RD series named after the research and development team which brought electronic circuitry to Gibson instruments for the first time.

Three RD electric guitar models were made (the RD Standard, the RD Custom and the RD Artist), one of the more interesting features of these guitars is that some were fitted with a Bob Moog compression and expansion preamp circuit board (complicated bits of kit for the time). Also, these are rare examples of Gibson guitars that had the 25½" scale length more commonly associated with Fenders. Despite Gibson's ambitions, RD guitars were short lived. Some players loved them, including John Williams (the famous British classical guitarist during his breif art rock jaunt) but not enough it seems to keep them in production beyond 1982. So there aren't that many of them out there and like many guitars that weren't too popular to begin with (The Flying V and the Les Paul bursts of the late '50s being the best examples) they have become highly collectable.

This guitar had the unreliable active Moog electronics and original pickups removed and replaced with a 'Black Ice' preamp (engaged with the extra large knob you can see in the pictures) and two Bare Knuckle Black Dog humbuckers. Otherwise the guitar is original, it has the stock tailpiece and tune-o-matic bridge, ebony finerboard with block inlays, three-piece mahogany neck, gold plated parts and a pearl headstock logo. It has its share of minor dings and surface marks but as you can see from the pictures, it is in pretty good shape for a vintage piece that is now over thirty years old.

Sale Price: $2 200.00

Freight cost (contiguous USA): $35.00

Reference #: 2770

Out of stock.

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