A 1977 Gibson RD Standard solid body electric guitar, serial #72427019, in a natural finish, owned and played by Randy Bachman, who has sold 40 million records worldwide as a member of The Guess Who, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, and as a solo artist. Also formerly used by Canadian-American guitar legend Lenny Breau during his Nashville years.

Released in 1977 alongside the Custom, the RD Standard was a stripped-down version of the RD Artist model, which featured Moog-designed electronics with built-in compression, boost, and expansion circuits. Very fun, but also prone to issues common to guitars with such complex signal paths. The Standard did away with all of that in favor of the typical-for-Gibson scheme of two pickups, a selector switch, two volumes and two tones. Aside from the stoptail/Tune-O-Matic hardware, the guitar also managed to break from tradition with its radical, oversized body shape and 25.5” scale length, more commonly found on Fender-style instruments. All of this adds up to an atypical Gibson playing experience, one that’s as memorable as it is potent. Other features include a natural-finished maple body, a three-piece maple neck, a 22-fret rosewood fingerboard with dot inlays, the usual 3x3 Gibson headstock, and chrome hardware.

PROVENANCE From The Collection of Randy Bachman

Guitars & Instruments, Randy Bachman