I finally got an RD Artist today. It may be my favorite guitar I’ve ever played. It’s a 78 that I believe was a single owner case queen. The electronics on the guitar actually still work and theres barely and flaws on it. I am so freaking happy.
Bought an RD because of you years ago. Had a custom brass engraved truss rod cover that read “Phil Campbell Edition” (of Motörhead) and had a signature inside the truss rod cavity. Recently had to sell it due to hard financial times to s guy in Missouri who said he was able to authenticate it back to Phil Campbell and supposedly the one Jimmy Page played in that very photo you showed. Huge regret.
Ghost was the first time I noticed the RD and I though they looked really cool. I then saw one of the guitarists for Devildriver using one live and knew I had to buy one. Although I do not have an actual Gibson RD, I did buy the Lee Malia Epiphone RD artesian model and I absolutely love it.
I bought one last year and it's becoming one of my favorite guitars. It sits comfortably, is decently balanced, looks amazing, and the stock pickups sound great out of the box. Even though it's not really made for it and sacrilege to some, I slotted the nut, added 14-68s, and put it in drop A. The medium output pickups paired with mildly overdriven amp slammed with boost in the front end can't be beat. There are a few caveats though. The bang for the buck is right on point, but there's definitely a huge difference in quality between a Fantomen and one of its higher priced cousins. The wiring looks like it was done by candlelight with the cheapest wires/electronics known to man and one of the push/pull pots became just a pull as in it just pulled out of the pot entirely shaft and all the second day I had it. All of the chrome metal components including the bridge and tuner knobbies look great, but they're just cheapo pot metal. It also does have more feedback and hum than all of my other guitars including my '68 CIJ Reissue Strat, so playing one without a noise gate is out of the question. Note for anyone who wants to buy one, they all ship without a case in a set of boxes more suited for carrying potatoes than a guitar and are very unprotected from damage. There's a guitar shaped box and an outer rectangle box, the problem is the inner box just ping pongs inside the outer box without anything keeping it from moving around as it makes its trip from overseas. The point on the headstock will poke out of the top of one or both boxes and chip badly as UPS/FedEx drop kicks and drags one to your house. I got mine through AMS and it took them three tries before I received one undamaged. After the second one, I called and asked them to specifically open mine, inspect it, and pack like a dead pharaoh. I'd recommend to anyone, skip all the headaches and just do this from the get-go no matter who you're buying it from. Anyway, rock on \m/
Great video! I got my 77 RD Custom in Minneapolis in 2000 , in a little music shop downtown next to the now defunct Music Tech where I was a student. I got it for $450, and it was well played but everything worked and it played well. The next day I brought it to my lesson with the legend Mike Elliott, who informed me that he was on the design team when he worked for Gibson. It blew my socks off. Love the thing to death, love how it feels in hand and the balance even though it's a bit of a boat anchor. I put different pickups in it when the active electronics went wonky, but kept all of the original stuff. Just got it back today after having a pro put it back to original and refurb it and it has the weirdness that I always loved restored.
a sunburst 79 RD artist just followed me home from my holiday. One previous owner from new, all the electronics fully functional; its an interesting guitar. Hasn't gone out of tune since I restrung it. The key to getting good sounds is understanding how the electronics work. Volume on 5 is normal volume...from there it's effecively a boost. With the compressor on it sustains for days. Doesn't sound like anything else I own which opens up a world of possibilities. YMMV
Back in '77 or '78 a rock band came to my high school to play and the guitarist played an RD Artist. I wanted one ever since. When I saw Ghost in a video playing RD's, it renewed my interest in them.
Niclas Engelin plays a reissue RD Standard. I have always liked the way his guitar looked. Maybe I’ll find a guitar like that in left hand one of these days.
Really want an RD now. I love offset models too. my first electric was a BC Rich Mockingbird copy, and i still love the shape. that mixture of explorer, les paul and SG, and super comfy to play sitting down.
Bram Tchaikovsky played a RD Artist, the guitarist for the Motors and his own band. Songs- Strange Man Changed Man, Girl of my dreams and the coolest cover of I’m a believer.
Ace, a vid on the RD. I have owned a tobaco burst std for around 30years. its an all original 1977 apart from a dirty finger pickup in the bridge. it is THE best guitar i have owned, still use it to this day, sounds amazing, comfortable and looks awesome
I have a 1978 RD Artist in natural finish with Moog compressor still active, I bought mine back in the 90’s after I saw Dave with his! Probably got mine in 1997. I love my RD!
I came so close to buying a 2018 RD but just didn’t have the money to throw around like that. The RD is my second favorite Gibson model, behind the explorer. I have 8 explorers and a custom built one on the way from Texas toast guitars. I would love for Gibson to reissue an original spec RD as part of the USA line.
I´m a huge RD fan. Got a 78 Standard and a 77 Artist. I also have a Silverburst and a white 2014 reissue. I totally agree on the reissues not being up to specs. Theay are nice guitars as well but they missed so many tell tale signs of the original. What bothers me most is the lack of proper cut off on the corner. I think it´s one of the most significant details that make the shape so awesome. The silverburst have non at all and the 2014 a little tiny one. Another issue is that the reissues are much thicker in the body. Maybe a weight balance thing. There´s a swedish guitar company called Green that has a RD. They´ve got the shape right but the jack is still on the wrong plase and only one tone knob (Yeah, whats that about on the gibson reissues). However, cool video. I´m happy you love them as much as i do.
I completely forgot about that guitar! It lookes a bit like a mixture of an explorer and a firebird. In the early eighties I discovered this guitar in a nice book (from the local library) about electric guitars. It described the active pick up system of the guitar, but at that time I didn't understand much of it because I had never owned an electric guitar and Gibson's were way above my budget anyway. Nice review!
Got my natural 77' RD Artist Custom (in my profile pic) in 87' for $350 bucks, I leaned it against a stack in the early nineties and it fell over and cracked the circuit board and I had to "jump the board" to fix it but it never worked right so years later I removed the electronics and installed dimarzio's. Plays and sounds great, and very well balanced as well. I will never sell it.
They are rare here in Europe but I own a ‘77 and a ‘78 standard RD. One of those is being restored right now to it’s original black because some former owner thought it was cool to make it blue with a black stripe down the middle.
got ahold of a 79 artist, all original condition a couple years ago, I can't thank Ghost enough for getting me into such a cool, rare, and now expensive instrument *to add a fun fact, in the photo of Ghost you used, the Sunburst is in fact a vintage 77 RD that the guitarist bought himself
I love the RD artist guitar and basses, are so beautiful and so confortable to play and have a tone with that heavy maple bodies, I wish gibson make more nowadays, great video and great history
The RD is probably one of my favorites from the Norlin-era of Gibson. It looks pretty sick with the Victory headstock, now you got me GASing for one of those! I have an '81 Gibson Victory MV2, which has been my unicorn for years until I found a great deal on Reverb a couple years ago. Never letting it go.
I've had my 1978 RD artist for about 40 years - it's still my favourite guitar. (No dowel pegs or finshed-over nicks on mine) and such an amazing range of sounds ranging from brittle trebles to deep and smooth jazz tones. The clairty of sound is unbelievable for an active circuit (-play a modern ESP after this and feel disappointed with the muddiness of todays active circuits) The Moog circuit can optionally put compression on the neck pick up giving sustain that lasts for ever. (I played an "E" back in 2001 and it is still ringing!) The heavy maple body and ebony fretboard also help with the incredible sustain. Another well-known RD Artist player was Classical Guitarist John Williams when he played in his rock/classical fusion band 'Sky' - they were really successful here in the UK charting at No.1 and platinum albums
Had an offer years before the hype, I was 17 or so...it was a Pelham Blue RD Standard from the 70s (only two are known world wide). Loved the shape and the sound...but hadn’t the right amount of money such was like 1000€ at that time...
I’d love to know more about a guitar that I own which is kind of RDish. I have 1981 Gibson Firebird artist II cmt I love it but it needs some love any ideas electronics or pickups wise to upgrade, I still want that beautiful mojo but I want it to be reliable, thanks in advance
Ghost started off with nice LP Customs. Then they got their RD's. Then they had awesome looking Hagstroms and now they are playing RD shaped Dunables. Now they are pulling out the occasional white Strat live from time to time. If it was not for Ghost the RD shapes would have near vanished forever.
Kevin Cadogan played one when Third Eye Blind first came out. His was sunburst. I believe he said in a guitar world interview that it was what he could afford.
What pickups did you put in the Standard? I'm trying to figure out something similar to the original Series VII pickups so I'm interested in your take. For the record, I paid $300 for my Standard about 20 years ago.
Bought a 2018 RD reissue. Love it and I like the fact they're rare and pretty unknown. And for that kinda money in the Gibson lineup I think it was by far a better guitar than their similarly priced models.
I bought a '78 Artist back in February for $2200. It was a case queen. The only wear was on the pickups and the bridge. It plays like a dream, and I honestly really like the Moog electronics.
I always thought that the RDs (and even the Marauder) were some of the coolest-looking offset guitars from Gibson, the design looks super funky and you’ve also got a good selection of musicians that have used them (Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic and Ghost for the RD as Fluff mentioned, and also guys like Paul Stanley of KISS and Deryck Whibley from Sum 41 for the Marauder)
YES! Thank you, Fluff, for bringing more attention to this model. Though mine is a reissue... and a bass, unfortunately, I appreciate you making this so that hopefully the value increases! Bring on the MONEY! HAHA!
okay everyone, i have a question: im not very good with specs in terms of scale length and such. does the original rd with the longer scale length fit B standard or is it still too short? thanks in advance
If you use thick enough strings you can tune in B standard. I wouldn't try it with normal 010's. Maybe get a heavy bottom 011 set or a 012 set, then it should be fine.
Used to see these in the old Music Emporium catalogs and was fascinated by them and loved the look of them. It wasn't until the late 90's that I finally got a chance to actually play one. I found it unwieldy, the same way I always felt about Explorers. It was disappointing.
Thanks, I needed to want another guitar I have noticed once before. Good move if you are about to list yours, I bet the prices will all go up for a bit.
I remember thumbing through the Gibson catalog at a music store back in the late 1970s when I was shopping for a new guitar, and seeing the RD's. I thought maybe they took some leftover explorer bodies and chopped them off lol. I ended up buying a brand new Ibanez Artist for half the price.
I just picked up a '77 Gibson Walnut RD Custom "Time Capsule/Case Queen" , and the Moog circuitry still operates. I might be willing to sell this guitar because it's not very usable in it's stock form. I know if I gut it and install new pickups and wiring to make it usable, it'll destroy the value of the guitar. Riffs,Beards and Gear, reply to this post with your e-mail address if you're interested in buying this piece of history.
I think there’s a video of Bill Kelliher playing one but I could be wrong. I’m debating getting a new guitar soon and the balaguer version of these is in the running.
I use an early 80's rd artist. Long scale, Bill Lawrence designed pickups, crazy Moog active electronics, with the weird bridge with fine tuners. I looooove It! I find it a little tough to play in standard tuning. So I play it in either open d or g with 0.011 strings and it is very happy there. If you want to hear and see it in action, check out Super Moon Hellen Keller Band on TH-cam.
I really REALLY enjoyed this video. While the guitar might not bey preference, to learn about it's history is truly fascinating. Would love to see you do more of these. Perhaps one on the music man sting Ray's. Or even the axis from the as well.
I loved the video. It's a shame that you modified the Artist since it's such a unique guitar, but as you said - it is YOUR guitar :) and if it sounded weird, yeah, definitely make it sound good for you! The reason I am commenting on a video is actually you saying you couldn't find many artists playing the RD. I come from Serbia (former Yugoslavia) and one of the best bands to ever come out of our country is called EKV. They played kinda '80s/alternative rock with very deep lyrics. They basically didn't fit into the time and place they existed in and to bring even more mystique to the band, all the founding members are dead and the bend died with them. ANYWAYS, Gibson RD Artist was the main guitar of the guitarist/frontman and you can hear it across their catalogue. Amazing songs, amazing riffs and bass lines and nice grooves , so give them a listen, it will definitely be something interesting and new for you. A few suggestions where I'm pretty sure he used the RD Artist: EKV - Sinhro EKV - Pored mene (Beside me) EKV - 7 dana (7 days) --> amazing solo at the end of the song EKV - Stvaran svet oko mene (The real world around me) EKV - Ljubav (Love)
Nadao sam se da će neko navesti Milana, on je definitivno glavni kad je ova gitara u pitanju. Zapadnjačko ignorisanje muzike koja nije sa Zapada, kao i obično.
Slight correction. While Ghost got some reissues of the RD from Gibson, they were actually using original ones before that (this is what prompted Gibson to get involved). In the screenshot you showed at 9:29, you can actually see this. The burst RD on the left is an original with the front mount jack. The white one on the left is a reissue with the jack on the side. I do believe all of the RDs Ghost used were 25.5" guitars as one of their guitarists mentioned liking the extra scale length in an interview. Of course Ghost no longer uses them live as they have custom Hagstrom Fantomen born out of their partnership with Hagstrom.
There’s only a two letter difference between unusual and unusable. That circuit killed what could have been a long running and successful model from Gibson. Great vid!
I own an RD Artist Bass and I love that thing. It sounds monstrous and very aggressive and the active electronics (the bright switch in particular) makes it almost unusably bitey, but I love it, nonetheless.
I like the RD. If I had the $$$, I would do a Gibson Custom Shop RD, with the Les Paul "Dark night" finish. Black chrome hardware, and Fishmans. Charcoal grey binding threw out.
I just love the design of these, way better balanced (visually) than the Firebird for instance. Now, I get the original pickups might not have been great but now I want one just to upgrade it..
This is really cool, doing similar to a five watt world video with a lesser known instrument. Perfect! I'm still waiting to see a Schecter based history if you want to do another
Why anyone would tear out the circuit is beyond me. The dynamic range of this guitar is bananas, although it sounds much better going in directly than through an amp, or at least my amp. With the compressor and some overdrive, it sounds like an analog synth. The expander is shrill without any additional effects, but it’s something no other guitar can do. This is a studio guitar. It’s very heavy and the pots are sensitive. You can get a million sounds out of this thing, unless you tear out the board.
I have the tobacco sunburst standard. All original with original Gibson case excellent guitar almost mint condition. Bob Weir from Grateful Dead played one in a concert I saw many many years ago
i bought a 2018 reissue when my son was born in 2018. Pickups are trash but replaced them with Fishmans Fluence Modern in drop C, it's another guitar with these in.
I see more RD style guitars on your channel than anywhere else! I absolutely love these style guitars and the Explorers. I love the RD looks like a single cut curvier version of the explorer. I had the opportunity to buy a Krist Noveselic signature bass when they were only $1200 but I chose to use the money to work on my Les Paul Junior instead and go all out on the mods. I love Epiphone but I don’t like how the only RD they offer is the really ugly Lee Malia BMTH signature. Not a fan of the colour. Are there any alternatives you can recommend?
I finally got an RD Artist today. It may be my favorite guitar I’ve ever played. It’s a 78 that I believe was a single owner case queen. The electronics on the guitar actually still work and theres barely and flaws on it. I am so freaking happy.
LOVED this
Bought an RD because of you years ago. Had a custom brass engraved truss rod cover that read “Phil Campbell Edition” (of Motörhead) and had a signature inside the truss rod cavity. Recently had to sell it due to hard financial times to s guy in Missouri who said he was able to authenticate it back to Phil Campbell and supposedly the one Jimmy Page played in that very photo you showed. Huge regret.
Ouch ! Well, at least you played it for a time. My sincere regret sir.
@@shovington67 Thank you sir. It was a fun guitar and owned it for 3 or so years but all good things must come to an end I suppose
heartbreaking im so sorry. is the new owner playing it or keeping it for show?
danielle he told he he’s gifting it to a friend and it’s going to be living in a glass case apparently
Dam, if only Randy Rhodes could've had his own signiture one, we could've had the laughing guitar, RDRR
ThunderBulb Underrated comment
Genius!
Dude, I’m probably buying one in less than a month. I hope this vid doesn’t bump up the price or make em even higher demand/harder to find.
It happened to me when ghost spiked their popularity, they went from 2.1k to 4.2 k.... I got an lp instead :( hope you get your RD
Get you a Dunable R2 and be just as happy.
CESARIUX2596 yeah dude, never even heard of them until then. But now I’ve got the Hagstrom version and love it
@@hommedammn7132 Dunable‘s R2 are amazing altough i think that nothing beats an Original Gibson RD
@@Meganer69 having played both, I gotta stick with Dunable for reliability and fret access.
Ghost was the first time I noticed the RD and I though they looked really cool. I then saw one of the guitarists for Devildriver using one live and knew I had to buy one. Although I do not have an actual Gibson RD, I did buy the Lee Malia Epiphone RD artesian model and I absolutely love it.
same bro, really love mine too :3
we are 3
The Hagstrom Fantomen, Ghost's version of the RD, has the larger 25.5" scale.
Those are dope. I have a Hagstrom Alvar and love it! C standard tuning... nails the QOTSA tone... but yeah, the Fantomen looks killer.
@@mattvgyo it is. Got mine for 550€ on reverb, no regret whatsoever.
I bought one last year and it's becoming one of my favorite guitars. It sits comfortably, is decently balanced, looks amazing, and the stock pickups sound great out of the box. Even though it's not really made for it and sacrilege to some, I slotted the nut, added 14-68s, and put it in drop A. The medium output pickups paired with mildly overdriven amp slammed with boost in the front end can't be beat.
There are a few caveats though. The bang for the buck is right on point, but there's definitely a huge difference in quality between a Fantomen and one of its higher priced cousins. The wiring looks like it was done by candlelight with the cheapest wires/electronics known to man and one of the push/pull pots became just a pull as in it just pulled out of the pot entirely shaft and all the second day I had it. All of the chrome metal components including the bridge and tuner knobbies look great, but they're just cheapo pot metal. It also does have more feedback and hum than all of my other guitars including my '68 CIJ Reissue Strat, so playing one without a noise gate is out of the question.
Note for anyone who wants to buy one, they all ship without a case in a set of boxes more suited for carrying potatoes than a guitar and are very unprotected from damage. There's a guitar shaped box and an outer rectangle box, the problem is the inner box just ping pongs inside the outer box without anything keeping it from moving around as it makes its trip from overseas. The point on the headstock will poke out of the top of one or both boxes and chip badly as UPS/FedEx drop kicks and drags one to your house. I got mine through AMS and it took them three tries before I received one undamaged. After the second one, I called and asked them to specifically open mine, inspect it, and pack like a dead pharaoh. I'd recommend to anyone, skip all the headaches and just do this from the get-go no matter who you're buying it from. Anyway, rock on \m/
Great video! I got my 77 RD Custom in Minneapolis in 2000 , in a little music shop downtown next to the now defunct Music Tech where I was a student. I got it for $450, and it was well played but everything worked and it played well. The next day I brought it to my lesson with the legend Mike Elliott, who informed me that he was on the design team when he worked for Gibson. It blew my socks off. Love the thing to death, love how it feels in hand and the balance even though it's a bit of a boat anchor. I put different pickups in it when the active electronics went wonky, but kept all of the original stuff. Just got it back today after having a pro put it back to original and refurb it and it has the weirdness that I always loved restored.
Bought my RD in December of 1977. Still plays like a dream!
I have a blonde Artist. The Moog stuff was out but I only paid $250 for it at Brook Mays music in Dallas in 1988.
a sunburst 79 RD artist just followed me home from my holiday. One previous owner from new, all the electronics fully functional; its an interesting guitar. Hasn't gone out of tune since I restrung it. The key to getting good sounds is understanding how the electronics work. Volume on 5 is normal volume...from there it's effecively a boost. With the compressor on it sustains for days. Doesn't sound like anything else I own which opens up a world of possibilities. YMMV
The Bearded Troglys Guitar Show. All jokes aside, this is very informative and I absolutely love this video. I'm very interested in buying one
I’ve wanted one since they came out.
Back in '77 or '78 a rock band came to my high school to play and the guitarist played an RD Artist. I wanted one ever since. When I saw Ghost in a video playing RD's, it renewed my interest in them.
Niclas Engelin plays a reissue RD Standard. I have always liked the way his guitar looked. Maybe I’ll find a guitar like that in left hand one of these days.
i wish they made one like his...thats the only reason i clicked on the vid niclas is amazing
I have been dreaming about a lefty RD for over 20 years. Don't waste your time ...
Really want an RD now. I love offset models too. my first electric was a BC Rich Mockingbird copy, and i still love the shape. that mixture of explorer, les paul and SG, and super comfy to play sitting down.
Bram Tchaikovsky played a RD Artist, the guitarist for the Motors and his own band. Songs- Strange Man Changed Man, Girl of my dreams and the coolest cover of I’m a believer.
Ace, a vid on the RD. I have owned a tobaco burst std for around 30years. its an all original 1977 apart from a dirty finger pickup in the bridge. it is THE best guitar i have owned, still use it to this day, sounds amazing, comfortable and looks awesome
I have a 1978 RD Artist in natural finish with Moog compressor still active, I bought mine back in the 90’s after I saw Dave with his! Probably got mine in 1997. I love my RD!
I had a '78 standard, at one time.. It was my 1st guitar. Walnut colored
Lee Malia From BMTH has a custom that is heavily based on the Gibson RD. Sounds modern and looks sick af
I came so close to buying a 2018 RD but just didn’t have the money to throw around like that. The RD is my second favorite Gibson model, behind the explorer. I have 8 explorers and a custom built one on the way from Texas toast guitars. I would love for Gibson to reissue an original spec RD as part of the USA line.
I´m a huge RD fan. Got a 78 Standard and a 77 Artist. I also have a Silverburst and a white 2014 reissue. I totally agree on the reissues not being up to specs. Theay are nice guitars as well but they missed so many tell tale signs of the original.
What bothers me most is the lack of proper cut off on the corner. I think it´s one of the most significant details that make the shape so awesome. The silverburst have non at all and the 2014 a little tiny one.
Another issue is that the reissues are much thicker in the body. Maybe a weight balance thing.
There´s a swedish guitar company called Green that has a RD. They´ve got the shape right but the jack is still on the wrong plase and only one tone knob (Yeah, whats that about on the gibson reissues).
However, cool video. I´m happy you love them as much as i do.
I completely forgot about that guitar! It lookes a bit like a mixture of an explorer and a firebird. In the early eighties I discovered this guitar in a nice book (from the local library) about electric guitars. It described the active pick up system of the guitar, but at that time I didn't understand much of it because I had never owned an electric guitar and Gibson's were way above my budget anyway. Nice review!
Got my natural 77' RD Artist Custom (in my profile pic) in 87' for $350 bucks, I leaned it against a stack in the early nineties and it fell over and cracked the circuit board and I had to "jump the board" to fix it but it never worked right so years later I removed the electronics and installed dimarzio's. Plays and sounds great, and very well balanced as well. I will never sell it.
One of my favorite Gibson oddballs. Denver Dalley from Desaparecidos and Statistics made me aware of these.
They are rare here in Europe but I own a ‘77 and a ‘78 standard RD. One of those is being restored right now to it’s original black because some former owner thought it was cool to make it blue with a black stripe down the middle.
I think Thrice's Dustin Kensrue plays an RD on the video clip of "Stare at the Sun".
Was literally looking to see if someone commented on this. That video is how I found out about it was a guitar and not just a bass
got ahold of a 79 artist, all original condition a couple years ago, I can't thank Ghost enough for getting me into such a cool, rare, and now expensive instrument
*to add a fun fact, in the photo of Ghost you used, the Sunburst is in fact a vintage 77 RD that the guitarist bought himself
I love the RD artist guitar and basses, are so beautiful and so confortable to play and have a tone with that heavy maple bodies, I wish gibson make more nowadays, great video and great history
I remember my older brother's friend having an RD bass, early 80's I think. It was just too cool for school. Just a great great guitar design.
Back in the late 1970s my band mate purchased an RD Standard with the 25.5" Scale Length, it was a very nice guitar.
The RD is probably one of my favorites from the Norlin-era of Gibson. It looks pretty sick with the Victory headstock, now you got me GASing for one of those! I have an '81 Gibson Victory MV2, which has been my unicorn for years until I found a great deal on Reverb a couple years ago. Never letting it go.
I've had my 1978 RD artist for about 40 years - it's still my favourite guitar. (No dowel pegs or finshed-over nicks on mine) and such an amazing range of sounds ranging from brittle trebles to deep and smooth jazz tones. The clairty of sound is unbelievable for an active circuit (-play a modern ESP after this and feel disappointed with the muddiness of todays active circuits) The Moog circuit can optionally put compression on the neck pick up giving sustain that lasts for ever. (I played an "E" back in 2001 and it is still ringing!) The heavy maple body and ebony fretboard also help with the incredible sustain.
Another well-known RD Artist player was Classical Guitarist John Williams when he played in his rock/classical fusion band 'Sky' - they were really successful here in the UK charting at No.1 and platinum albums
Fluff!!! This was AWSOME!!! I have one I’m currently restoring... it was butchered and I had NO IDEA what it was back in 94...ish...lol great work!!!
Had an offer years before the hype, I was 17 or so...it was a Pelham Blue RD Standard from the 70s (only two are known world wide). Loved the shape and the sound...but hadn’t the right amount of money such was like 1000€ at that time...
I’d love to know more about a guitar that I own which is kind of RDish. I have 1981 Gibson Firebird artist II cmt I love it but it needs some love any ideas electronics or pickups wise to upgrade, I still want that beautiful mojo but I want it to be reliable, thanks in advance
Ghost started off with nice LP Customs. Then they got their RD's. Then they had awesome looking Hagstroms and now they are playing RD shaped Dunables. Now they are pulling out the occasional white Strat live from time to time. If it was not for Ghost the RD shapes would have near vanished forever.
I agree with you totally love the shape of these guitars I own the Hagstrom copy of it and it is my favorite guitar that I own
Adam Arling of The Last Vegas plays a silver burst RD in the "Whatever Gets You Off" video. Great band, by the way.
It *IS* the perfect Firesplorer love child. One of my favorite body shapes. Your Ballaguer is awesome too. Love a nice, tight perimeter Silverburst
Dustin from Thrice also used one during their Artist In the Ambulance era. It’s also in their Stare At The Sun video
Idk if this is the first of a new series of videos but I love it. Keep them coming, I'm here for it!
Kevin Cadogan played one when Third Eye Blind first came out. His was sunburst. I believe he said in a guitar world interview that it was what he could afford.
Thank you! I've been trying to confirm for a while that it's an RD he has in his hands in that blurry photo on the back of the 3EB debut album
@@Drforrester31 No problem ! Glad to be of help
Dustin Kensrue from Thrice used to use a RD on the Vheissu tour
I prefer his later Nash guitars but the RD has such an interesting vibe to it
What pickups did you put in the Standard? I'm trying to figure out something similar to the original Series VII pickups so I'm interested in your take. For the record, I paid $300 for my Standard about 20 years ago.
Great and informative vid - thanks man ❤
i like that when i hit the thumbnail and video plays as if it was a transition!!
Loved this!! Great to learn so much about a design that's been seen but rarely spoken about
Great and informative video! Also like the "new" camera angle!
I believe the guitarist from my ruin used a black one of these. I wondered what it was. Thanks for the video.
Cool video! Love my Epi RD. Can’t afford the Gibsons yet...
Bought a 2018 RD reissue. Love it and I like the fact they're rare and pretty unknown. And for that kinda money in the Gibson lineup I think it was by far a better guitar than their similarly priced models.
Great video! I love the RD vibe but never knew much of the history. Thanks.
Definitely the love of my life 😂. I love the weird shape, the weight of it and omg, the sound is a killer
I bought a '78 Artist back in February for $2200. It was a case queen. The only wear was on the pickups and the bridge. It plays like a dream, and I honestly really like the Moog electronics.
I always thought that the RDs (and even the Marauder) were some of the coolest-looking offset guitars from Gibson, the design looks super funky and you’ve also got a good selection of musicians that have used them (Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic and Ghost for the RD as Fluff mentioned, and also guys like Paul Stanley of KISS and Deryck Whibley from Sum 41 for the Marauder)
Add Sheena Ringo, japanese superstar singer/guitarist/composer
I picked up a ‘81 RD with a victory headstock. I ripped out the moog and pickups and put in fishman pickups. It’s never sounded better.
YES! Thank you, Fluff, for bringing more attention to this model. Though mine is a reissue... and a bass, unfortunately, I appreciate you making this so that hopefully the value increases! Bring on the MONEY! HAHA!
Nice little history! You should check out the Dunable R2, they look rad!
There's been a recent surge in interest in RDs, great!!!
okay everyone, i have a question:
im not very good with specs in terms of scale length and such. does the original rd with the longer scale length fit B standard or is it still too short? thanks in advance
If you use thick enough strings you can tune in B standard. I wouldn't try it with normal 010's. Maybe get a heavy bottom 011 set or a 012 set, then it should be fine.
Used to see these in the old Music Emporium catalogs and was fascinated by them and loved the look of them. It wasn't until the late 90's that I finally got a chance to actually play one. I found it unwieldy, the same way I always felt about Explorers. It was disappointing.
Thanks, I needed to want another guitar I have noticed once before. Good move if you are about to list yours, I bet the prices will all go up for a bit.
I remember thumbing through the Gibson catalog at a music store back in the late 1970s when I was shopping for a new guitar, and seeing the RD's. I thought maybe they took some leftover explorer bodies and chopped them off lol. I ended up buying a brand new Ibanez Artist for half the price.
I just picked up a '77 Gibson Walnut RD Custom "Time Capsule/Case Queen" , and the Moog circuitry still operates. I might be willing to sell this guitar because it's not very usable in it's stock form. I know if I gut it and install new pickups and wiring to make it usable, it'll destroy the value of the guitar. Riffs,Beards and Gear, reply to this post with your e-mail address if you're interested in buying this piece of history.
Great video! Would love to try one of these!
Nice research! Thanks for the report. I got the Tony Bacon book too.
I think there’s a video of Bill Kelliher playing one but I could be wrong. I’m debating getting a new guitar soon and the balaguer version of these is in the running.
I use an early 80's rd artist. Long scale, Bill Lawrence designed pickups, crazy Moog active electronics, with the weird bridge with fine tuners. I looooove It! I find it a little tough to play in standard tuning. So I play it in either open d or g with 0.011 strings and it is very happy there. If you want to hear and see it in action, check out Super Moon Hellen Keller Band on TH-cam.
I really REALLY enjoyed this video. While the guitar might not bey preference, to learn about it's history is truly fascinating. Would love to see you do more of these. Perhaps one on the music man sting Ray's. Or even the axis from the as well.
This was great, I really enjoyed this!
I loved the video. It's a shame that you modified the Artist since it's such a unique guitar, but as you said - it is YOUR guitar :) and if it sounded weird, yeah, definitely make it sound good for you!
The reason I am commenting on a video is actually you saying you couldn't find many artists playing the RD. I come from Serbia (former Yugoslavia) and one of the best bands to ever come out of our country is called EKV. They played kinda '80s/alternative rock with very deep lyrics. They basically didn't fit into the time and place they existed in and to bring even more mystique to the band, all the founding members are dead and the bend died with them. ANYWAYS, Gibson RD Artist was the main guitar of the guitarist/frontman and you can hear it across their catalogue. Amazing songs, amazing riffs and bass lines and nice grooves , so give them a listen, it will definitely be something interesting and new for you.
A few suggestions where I'm pretty sure he used the RD Artist:
EKV - Sinhro
EKV - Pored mene (Beside me)
EKV - 7 dana (7 days) --> amazing solo at the end of the song
EKV - Stvaran svet oko mene (The real world around me)
EKV - Ljubav (Love)
Nadao sam se da će neko navesti Milana, on je definitivno glavni kad je ova gitara u pitanju. Zapadnjačko ignorisanje muzike koja nije sa Zapada, kao i obično.
I have a 1980 RD Artist and a 1981 RD CMT. Both are just under 9 lbs. and both are the short scale with neck binding.
Slight correction. While Ghost got some reissues of the RD from Gibson, they were actually using original ones before that (this is what prompted Gibson to get involved). In the screenshot you showed at 9:29, you can actually see this. The burst RD on the left is an original with the front mount jack. The white one on the left is a reissue with the jack on the side. I do believe all of the RDs Ghost used were 25.5" guitars as one of their guitarists mentioned liking the extra scale length in an interview.
Of course Ghost no longer uses them live as they have custom Hagstrom Fantomen born out of their partnership with Hagstrom.
Thank you for sharing! Absolutely a unique guitar.
Always liked the RD's.... Very cool guitars.
I have a Sunburst RD Artist. It is stamped Second on the headstock. Kind of cool.
Great Video, Also Awesome Job On Revamping The Intro Music, Sounds Awesome.
-Kevin
Drop C intro is best intro. Fantastic video Fluff! Big Ghost vibes.
Just picked up a ‘77 RD Standard. Have you found any modern Gibson hard cases that are compatible?
There’s only a two letter difference between unusual and unusable. That circuit killed what could have been a long running and successful model from Gibson. Great vid!
Great informative video. Thanks for sharing!
There was a music store in Macon, GA that had new ones hanging into the late 80's I wonder if they ever sold them.
I own an RD Artist Bass and I love that thing. It sounds monstrous and very aggressive and the active electronics (the bright switch in particular) makes it almost unusably bitey, but I love it, nonetheless.
I like the RD. If I had the $$$, I would do a Gibson Custom Shop RD, with the Les Paul "Dark night" finish. Black chrome hardware, and Fishmans. Charcoal grey binding threw out.
Should mention the more recent Epiphone RD signature version? 🎶🎸
yeah, very surprised he didn't mention that
I just love the design of these, way better balanced (visually) than the Firebird for instance. Now, I get the original pickups might not have been great but now I want one just to upgrade it..
Pretty cool guitar, didn’t know about the RD’s until very recently. That’s pretty much the shape of Fluff’s signature Balaguer isn’t it??
This is really cool, doing similar to a five watt world video with a lesser known instrument. Perfect! I'm still waiting to see a Schecter based history if you want to do another
Would love to hear your opinion on the Dunable RD style guitars.
Why anyone would tear out the circuit is beyond me. The dynamic range of this guitar is bananas, although it sounds much better going in directly than through an amp, or at least my amp. With the compressor and some overdrive, it sounds like an analog synth. The expander is shrill without any additional effects, but it’s something no other guitar can do. This is a studio guitar. It’s very heavy and the pots are sensitive. You can get a million sounds out of this thing, unless you tear out the board.
I have a 1980 Gibson SG R-1 that has a simplified version of the MOOG electronics. It only has the treble boost.
Nice picture of Ryan Patterson of Coliseum holding his First Act Delgada. Coliseum was great, I hope they return someday.
I know it's kinda loaded but is there any good rd style guitars now under 1000? I've found some from overseas companies but nothing from big companies
I have the tobacco sunburst standard. All original with original Gibson case excellent guitar almost mint condition. Bob Weir from Grateful Dead played one in a concert I saw many many years ago
I would love to see more videos like this one from you. Very cool video that was professional, to the point, interesting and fun.
dude you forgot thrice! stare at the sun video, even so, this is a great video thou, cool to see you again with the okd RD´s
i bought a 2018 reissue when my son was born in 2018. Pickups are trash but replaced them with Fishmans Fluence Modern in drop C, it's another guitar with these in.
I see more RD style guitars on your channel than anywhere else! I absolutely love these style guitars and the Explorers. I love the RD looks like a single cut curvier version of the explorer. I had the opportunity to buy a Krist Noveselic signature bass when they were only $1200 but I chose to use the money to work on my Les Paul Junior instead and go all out on the mods. I love Epiphone but I don’t like how the only RD they offer is the really ugly Lee Malia BMTH signature. Not a fan of the colour. Are there any alternatives you can recommend?
what are you using for pickup?
sounds so awesome!!!
please tell me!