NGD! 1977 Gibson RD Custom

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errrrrl

errrrrl

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100% impulse buy on this 1977 Gibson RD Custom. Scored it locally for $975 with original hardshell case. It has PRS dragon pickups installed and also came with the original weird circuit board pickups designed by Moog.

The body is a single piece of maple with maple neck and maple fret board.It has really wide, low, flat frets which earned its nicknamed of the "fretless wonder" in the 70's. And unlike most other Gibson RD's the 1977 Custom (and Artist) came with a 25½ scale neck vs the normal Gibson 24¾ scale on the RD standards. So same scaling as a Fender guitar which I kind of dig. Thats just the specs, otherwise this thing feels really nice and is fun as hell to play. Can't wait to get off of work lol.

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Your on a bit of a roll hear lately..hahahaha! Congrats! That seems like a pretty unique find, enjoy
 
Wow, those frets are really low! It does look like a fun guitar and I think that was a great price, too. Awesome!! Happy NGD!!!
 
ChurchHill":18y6598z said:
Wow, those frets are really low!
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They are on all the 70's models.

Nice price!! I sold my '77 and '79 recently. Really like the "modern" versions with the 24.75" scale.
 
Thanks guys. It's such a cool guitar, I'm stoked to have gotten it for a good price. I even told my wife about it lol... I pretty much had to, she would have noticed it, doesn't look like the others in the stable ;)
 
I really like the fact that it's all maple. I think it makes it stand out more, especially compared to the other RD models. Might be a little bright, but it should be a good, solid tone. The long scale should add some snappiness to that, too. I'd think it could be really versatile.

Just curious, how much does it weigh? Also, what do you think of those Dragon pickups? I've heard good things about them, so I'm curious what you think.
 
ChurchHill":ykm5mdfe said:
I really like the fact that it's all maple. I think it makes it stand out more, especially compared to the other RD models. Might be a little bright, but it should be a good, solid tone. The long scale should add some snappiness to that, too. I'd think it could be really versatile.

Just curious, how much does it weigh? Also, what do you think of those Dragon pickups? I've heard good things about them, so I'm curious what you think.
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I was gonna weight it today and mess around with it but had to go out and stock up on supplies, hurricane Lane is supposedly going to hit Oahu in a day or two =/ It's not heavy though at all. Similar to my Firebird if I had to guess. I'll get back to you on the dragon pickups.

ke2":ykm5mdfe said:
Very cool axe!
I'd have to get it refretted, those are VERY low frets :lol: :LOL: :lol: :LOL:
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Thanks.. I'm still not sure how I feel about these frets yet. I have an Orville LPC that also has low frets like this, has its pros and cons. I find it easier for chords in general but a little weird on bends.
 
Hope Hurricane Lane doesn't wreak too much havoc for you. I was hoping to spend some time there next month for work, but unfortunately, that won't come to fruition. Oh, well... Last year, I spent about a month at the Marriott on the beach. I drove by that green dumpster several times a day. LOL!

Anyway, back to our scheduled program...
 
Truth be told, the flats...err, FRETS were a big part of the reason I sold both of my vintage RDs. Just couldn’t embrace them. I also really didn’t bond with the Moog preamp, but didn’t want to gut all that out of it due to the collectibility of these guitars. I have the RD I would have wanted in the Artist Reissues I have - two 2014 white ones and the 2018 tobacco burst.
 
Found this thread and had to revive it.

I’d always thought these were such unique and interesting guitars, and always wanted one.

They’re so hard to find in any shop to try that I was never able to audition one over the years.

Now in recent years they’ve became very pricey in good condition.

I lucked out 2 years ago and scored one locally in near mint condition with all the circuitry intact and working.

My ‘77 Gibson Walnut RD Custom
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I have a 1978 RD Custom. And you're not kidding, prices have gone through the roof on these guitars!

Great looking fiddle man! Enjoy! \,,/
 
Devin said:
Are they heavy as fuck?
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Yea they are Devin

One heavy MOFO

I Really want to change the pickups out so badly, but since it all original and it all works, I’ll screw up its collectibility for the future.

Oh well, I have a lot of other guitars I can play.
 
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Score!
I had a 77 for a few years, the board took a dump so I gutted it and went with a regular setup in it, its probably hard to really tell what the Dragons sound like with the board in there, I went with an Anderson H3 and some kind of PAF neck pickup before I gutted it, and I noticed more definition when I took the board out. I think most of the problem was the compression circuit, but it was hard to nail it down because of the complexity of the whole thing. Anyway, cool score!
 
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