Gibson RD-guitar

Jens

Junior Member
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37
I´m contemplating ordering a neck and body for a Gibson RD-type guitar. Probably korina body & neck, simply ´cause there are none.
Any thoughts on what scale-length to go for?
I´ve got an ´77 RD Std. which is 25½" and the "Guitar of the week"-reissue RD which is 24 3/4". The shorter scale is a lot more comfortable to play, but it doesn´t handle the lower tunings as well and...it doesn´t look as cool as the ´77.
Geez, I feel silly even typing this stupid question, but any thoughts would be appreciated.
Anyone built one of these?
 
I have no idea what an RD is.
EDIT:

Ok that is cool.  its like a firebird/explorer
p46932h-3a77507d11db8983f40b5b5c049165e1.jpg
 
Kinda looks like an firebird/explorer/LP, with a hint of Tele, all rolled into one... :dontknow:
 
I'm not feelin' it.

oh and I know they say DIRTY... but when I first saw it i thought they said BUTT FINGERS hahaha ;)

which according to some people is an accurate discription of the tone. :laughing7:
 
Me too.

In fact, I couldn't see it as anything else. I just thought I would have been exposing myself as a juvenilely-minded cretin if I had said anything.  :eek:ccasion14:
 
exalted said:
I just thought I would have been exposing myself as a juvenilely-minded cretin if I had said anything.  :eek:ccasion14:

Yeah I didn't mind because I figured it's already too late for me.  :laughing7:
 
Hm, I'm not a fan.  I'm not a fan of the Firebird shape in general actually.
 
Dirty fingers? Try neck heavy.

I worked on a friend's Edwards version of one of these (based on an ESP signature version). We ended up drilling 7/8" steel rods into the upper wing to balance it out.

I've always loved the way Firebirds look and sound, but I hate the way they hang on you. I tell people to try out guitars standing up so they can see what it feels like.
 
whitebison66 said:
I've always loved the way Firebirds look and sound, but I hate the way they hang on you. I tell people to try out guitars standing up so they can see what it feels like.

I've always had a thing for Firebirds too, then one day I was shopping around for a guitar and tried one out. I didn't like the way it felt, sitting or standing. Needless to say, I was crushed.
 
Johnny Winters and Gatemouth Brown disagree. ^^^   
I say go for it.  Tis true there ain't many of these around.  You say you've got one with the 251/2" scale?  Use what you know.  Do you want the same thing, only different woods, or do you want something else entirely?  If it were me, I'd do the 24 3/4" scale, and I would consider string through TOM.  That silverburst is pretty cool on the example there.  Are you going to get a body blank and cut it out yourself, or send in a tracing and have Warmoth do it?  Anyway, I like the out of the ordinary, it's not a Strat or Tele projects (nothing wrong with Strats or Tele's, mind you, I have a Warmoth version of each) so do it!  My next Warmoth project will be my own version of a not very often seen guitar as well, so I feel where you are coming from, man.
 
I think the originals had maple necks and all-maple bodies, so any reviews the originals get should be read with that in mind...
 
GP said:
Johnny Winters and Gatemouth Brown disagree. ^^^   
I say go for it.  Tis true there ain't many of these around.  You say you've got one with the 251/2" scale?  Use what you know.  Do you want the same thing, only different woods, or do you want something else entirely?  If it were me, I'd do the 24 3/4" scale, and I would consider string through TOM.  That silverburst is pretty cool on the example there.  Are you going to get a body blank and cut it out yourself, or send in a tracing and have Warmoth do it?  Anyway, I like the out of the ordinary, it's not a Strat or Tele projects (nothing wrong with Strats or Tele's, mind you, I have a Warmoth version of each) so do it!  My next Warmoth project will be my own version of a not very often seen guitar as well, so I feel where you are coming from, man.

Yep, basically the same design, but with different woods. I´ll probably go for the 24 3/4", it just seems more convenient. String through TOM is exactly what I´m planning! I´ll probably just stain the Korina wood a little darker. Just did that with a drumset I completed and it came out pretty good.
I think I´ll trace one of the guitars I have and let Warmoth cut it. I probably could do it myself, but since it´s my first guitar project I don´t want to take any unnecessary risks screwing it up.

I do love strats, teles and Les Pauls as well, but I´d rather build/assemble something I know is impossible to find.  :)

Thanks!
 
ErogenousJones said:
whitebison66 said:
I've always loved the way Firebirds look and sound, but I hate the way they hang on you. I tell people to try out guitars standing up so they can see what it feels like.

I've always had a thing for Firebirds too, then one day I was shopping around for a guitar and tried one out. I didn't like the way it felt, sitting or standing. Needless to say, I was crushed.

I know, but it´s a whole other story with the RD.
They don´t seem unbalanced at all to me, nothing like a Firebird.
 
Luke said:
Holy crap man! So did I!

I didn't want to say anything..

:laughing7:
...for the record, those Dirty(butt) Fingers do suck. I replaced them with some nice Lundgren´s right away!
 
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