In 1977, Gibson looked to expand their
guitar offerings by releasing a new batch
of instruments intended to keep pace with
the keyboard and synth craze happening at
the time. Introducing the RD series (short
for Research and Development), this line
of guitars and basses were equipped with
electronic circuitry for the first time in
Gibson’s history. The RD family offered
a trio of 6-string guitars with the RD
Standard, RD Artist, and RD Custom
models, along with a pair of 4-string basses
named the RD Artist and RD Standard.
The RD Standard models lacked the active
electronics that were developed with Bob
Moog shortly before he left the Norlin
Corporation (who owned both Gibson
and Moog in the late ’70s). Some notable
RD artists include Jimmy Page who
wielded his ’77 RD Artist during Zep’s
performance of “Misty Mountain Hop”
at Knebworth in 1979, and U2’s Adam
Clayton, who used his Gibson RD Artist
model during the
Achtung Baby sessions in
1990 and 1991.
The model pictured here is a 1979 RD
Artist with a maple body and Firebird-like
cutaway that wasn’t received warmly
by guitarists—similar to the infamous
Firebird X. Constructed with an ebony
fretboard atop a 3-piece mahogany neck,
the Artist models had a 24.75" scale
length. For those wanting to venture into
Fender territory, the RD Customs offered
a 25.5" scale length. This RD Artist features
two humbuckers, four control knobs,
a 3-way pickup selector, Tune-o-matic
bridge, and a TP-6 tailpiece Additionally,
the Artist model was outfitted with 3-way
switch for mode selection—neutral, bright,
or front pickup expansion with back pickup
compression. Ultimately, the RD Artist
experiment died in 1982 with a total of
just 2,600 units manufactured. As part of
Gibson’s 48th Guitar of the Week series in
2007, the RD Standard bass was reissued
in silverburst, with a limited edition run of
400 instruments.
A special thanks to Jeff Sadler and Rock N
Roll Vintage for the opportunity to feature this
fine instrument and its story.