Throughout most of the 1970s, Les Pauls ruled the guitar roost. But toward the end of the decade, some players became interested in more-sophisticated electronics, especially active circuitry. Suddenly, souped-up guitars by Alembic, B.C. Rich, Ibanez, and Aria Pro II surged in popularity. This new trend did not take Gibson by surprise, and the challenge was met with one of its more interesting lines – the RD Series. At the top of the line was the luxurious Artist, introduced in ’78. Looking a bit like ungainly reverse Firebirds, the RDs were developed in ’77 with input by jazz/fusion ace Bruce Bolen, who Gibson had hired in the mid ’70s to conduct clinics on its Maestro effects line. Whether or not you find the shape attractive, there’s no denying that the RD Artist was well-appointed. Featuring a maple body and glued-in maple neck, the head sported a fancy engraved “winged f” inlay. Most of the ebony fingerboards were unbound, but had huge mother-of-pearl block inlays. The RDs were Gibson’s first foray into the longer 251/2" scale. Hardware was gold-plated. Finishes were Natural, Fireburst, and Ebony. Sales literature at the time claimed that the shape was specifically designed to help balance the long scale, and RDs are indeed very comfortable to play. However, the real interest in the RD Artist comes under the hood. The Artist was outfitted with a new set of Series VI humbuckers hooked up to a traditional three-way toggle. The pickups were preamped, with an onboard transformer and 9-volt battery. Each pickup had its own active volume control that was at maximum “normal” volume in the middle. Roll it down and cut the volume, roll it up and boost output with the preamp. Both pickups shared the tone controls, which were separate knobs for treble and bass. Similarly, these were at normal high output in the middle, with frequency boost or cut on either side. Already, this is pretty interesting… but wait, there’s more! The RD Artist was equipped with a second three-way toggle called a “trick switch.” The middle position was “neutral,” allowing the active electronics to work as described. The front position was a bright switch that boosted the treble frequencies for cut-through on lead solos. The back position activated expander/compression circuitry. In this mode, when the bridge pickup was selected, expansion kicked in, making the guitar more responsive to picking. Expansion gives a fast, explosive response with rapid decay. When the front pickup was selected, compression was activated. With compression, you reduce the initial attack response and increase the signal sustain of the notes. This makes for a very expressive guitar. Gibson’s RD line also included the Custom with just the bright switch and the Standard without the active electronics. The 341/2"-scale RD Artist and Standard basses followed suit. 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.