Man, this looks awesome to me. I always loved the RD but am definitely a J bass/ Single Coil type guy. I had heard the Krist's RD was modded and always wanted to do the same thing but couldn't bring myself to spend the dough on a vintage instrument just to rip its guts out and devalue the thing. It's too bad I'm just not in the market for a new bass right now. I'd snatch this thing up in a heartbeat.
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Krist Novoselic Gibson RD Review
- Thread starter TBird1958
- Start date
This makes me miss my old blk/blk RD ARTIST. Still got the stereo cord and polish it came with! I liked the moog switches it had even though they were hard to reach back there behind the bridge. Does anyone know WHY Krist chose to scrap the humbuckers for J's? Those stock pups were wicked.
- Mar 13, 2008
- 18,915
- 142,437
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist Mike Lull T Bass pickups, The Bass Shop, Seattle WA.
Thanks for the review. How is the fretboard? It was originally ebony (or maple), they did now use something else? I have a 1978 RD Artist, I love it, but I think I'd prefer the 34" over the original 34.5". Otherwise I prefer sunburst over black, Schaller tuners over Grover tuners (and the Artist inlay over the signature) and I just like the old Moog electronics and I use it. Did the original RD Standard use the (Bill Lawrence-designed) single coils of the Grabber G-3?
Mine looks the same. Though the black is not a real black but a very very dark brownish red. Serial No. 72268157. I also have a '78 RD Artist guitar which can be a very bright sounding guitar (almost like single coils), good for funky stuff. The compressor could be used almost like sustainer device. Since Gibson had John Entwistle as endorser for the Artist in mind it is possible they tried to replicate his Alembic sound. Bass and treble, as well as attack (with the Limiter) can be used to the extreme on these. I wonder why nobody liked the electronics.
He had an artist and a standard
he replaced the pups on the standard with j's because the gibson ones were too muddy apparently.
which were basically gibsons version of jazz pups.
anybody who rips the guts out an artist has got to be a mad man!
I guess you could always put a Fender bridge on it if you want the sting alignment a little closer.
I don't know if you have to worry about this on a solid body bass but, those Gibson style 3 point bridge can pull forward and lift right out of the face of the instrument. I have gone through this a few times with the Jack Casady bass. Keep rockin ! 
Like someone said Krist had a few RD basses. He swapped the pickups on one of the standards but I don't think he "chose" to have the poor pickup spacing. That was just a result of having Fender string spacing on an RD bass. If it lined up properly he might have liked it even more. Gibson could have chosen to find a way to rectify the problem but didn't. I somehow doubt that Krist said "For christ's sake don't fix that string spacing...it's my signature sound!!"
It's a disgrace...
I agree, they should have put he pickups in solid covers, that really looks messy!
i suppose if someone wanted to, you could take the J pickups out, and put some rd ones in, you can buy NOS ones off ebay for 25 bucks.
but then that kinda beats the object of this bass :/
but then that kinda beats the object of this bass :/
im probably wrong,
but for some reason thinking i read that somewhere comes to mind.
im probably just going mad
Nope. They were humbuckers and were unique to the [Invalid or Expired Link Removed].
That would work, if you never played the E or G string because they would be hanging off the sides of the fret board.
If you used a Hipshot A style you may be able to move the strings in enough for it to work but it would be much easier to use a Supertone, or just swap out the pickups for ones with full covers if it really bothers you that much. Ever seen a 5 string Rick? The B & G strings are not even close to the pick ups.
Now that you've had it an additional 30 days or so since your review... Anything you're finding better or worse? Is it still working out well for ya? Any problems you've noticed?
I'm REALLY thinking about getting one of these. I can't seem to find anyone that has them in a reasonable distance, so I'm still considering it sight unseen (Which I'm not reaaly a fan of...)
Thanks!
I'm REALLY thinking about getting one of these. I can't seem to find anyone that has them in a reasonable distance, so I'm still considering it sight unseen (Which I'm not reaaly a fan of...)
Thanks!
