Gibson RD Electric Guitars

Gibson RD electric guitars, while not a big seller when they were first released, are now extremely valuable and are looked for by collectors of Gibson guitars as well as by professional and amateur guitarists. Because of their disappointing sales, they're a rare find now, and collectors who acquire one of these innovative instruments can count themselves lucky.

Introduced in 1977, Gibson RD electric guitars were named after Gibson's Research and Development department. They represented a possible new line for Gibson, as the company tried to recoup some of the sales they were losing as synthesizers became more and more prominent in the music marketplace. In an attempt to appeal to this group of musicians, they equipped Gibson RD electric guitars with a moog board, making these the first Gibson guitars to incorporate electronic circuitry.

In addition to the electronic elements, vintage Gibson RD electric guitars featured two humbucker pickups, chrome hardware, a 22-fret fingerboard, and a Tune-O-Matic bridge. The wood hard-body featured an unconventional shape with two cutaways, somewhat resembling a reversed version of the Firebird, which was a more successful model of Gibson electric guitars.

Two models of bass RD guitars were also available. The bass RD Artist line had the same body design with 2 mark V active humbucker pickups, nickel-plated hardware, pre-amped circuitry, and neck and body of maple with maple or ebony fingerboards.

The unconventional electronics, as well as the odd shape, ironically enough were factors that led to the Gibson RD electric guitars' lack of popularity. Instead of appealing to the synthesizer crowd, the electronics failed to capture the mainstream guitarist crowd, and the line of vintage RD guitars was discontinued.

However, Gibson RD electric guitars have lately experienced an upsurge in popularity among collectors. In response to this demand, Gibson introduced a reissue of the RD Standard in 2007. With the same solid-body double cutaway design, this new generation of Gibson RD electric guitars features a mahogany body and neck, with an ebony fingerboard, two "Dirty Fingers" humbucking pickups with three selector switches and a flashy silverburst finish.

You can see current listings for Gibson RD Electric Guitars here: