What's a good price for a Gibson RD Standard Bass in Ebony, all OG?

[Turak64]

Hi all

 

I'm looking at picking up a Gibson RD Standard that's apparently in one of the more "rare" colours. I understand only 900 of these were ever made and I have no idea how many of those were black/ebony.

 

I've done some digging around and can only find the ones in natural selling for anything between £2,500-£3,500. I've found 2 in black, one sold for around £1,500 and the other £4,500!

 

I was wondering if anyone had a good idea of what these things usually go for?

 

Simon

[Turak64]

Here's a pic for reference

[neepheid]

They're odd to place.  Rarer than their more famous RD Artist brethren but with less features.  Prices are all over the place right now.  What are they asking for it?  OHSC?

Edited July 14, 2023 by neepheid

[T-Bay]

I was looking at these last year and they mostly seemed around the £1.5-2k mark. Some were asking £4K+ but couldn’t see any selling at that money. There aren’t many RD’s around so I think the prices are a lot more variable than more common stuff.

[Turak64]

18 minutes ago, neepheid said:

They're odd to place.  Rarer than their more famous RD Artist brethren but with less features.  Prices are all over the place right now.  What are they asking for it?  OHSC?

They're looking for £1,500, so it's hard to now if this is a massive bargain or about right

[Turak64]

7 minutes ago, T-Bay said:

I was looking at these last year and they mostly seemed around the £1.5-2k mark. Some were asking £4K+ but couldn’t see any selling at that money. There aren’t many RD’s around so I think the prices are a lot more variable than more common stuff.

That's the problem. It's one thing to list it at £4k, but what do they actually sell for?

[T-Bay]

59 minutes ago, Turak64 said:

That's the problem. It's one thing to list it at £4k, but what do they actually sell for?

None that I saw did for certain. I think the highest was about £2400 iirc. That doesn’t mean they can’t make that money, but I didn’t see any that did.

[Shaggy]

Probably a dull question, but I assume it’s an old ‘un rather than the Krist Novoselic reissue?

 

Tricky one, as vintage prices seem to be all over the place right now, and “rarer” doesn’t necessarily equal more desirable / valuable, in fact it can work the other way.  Might be worth looking at Andy Baxter recent sales, as he sells a lot of vintage Gibsons and seems to have a pretty good handle on realistic pricing.

 

Personally I wouldn’t go above £1.5K, but then again personally I’d be holding out for an Artist model anyway - much nicer 😉.   (I’ve owned 4 of them, so am a bit of a fan....)

[neepheid]

3 minutes ago, Shaggy said:

Probably a dull question, but I assume it’s an old ‘un rather than the Krist Novoselic reissue?

 

Tricky one, as vintage prices seem to be all over the place right now, and “rarer” doesn’t necessarily equal more desirable / valuable, in fact it can work the other way.  Might be worth looking at Andy Baxter recent sales, as he sells a lot of vintage Gibsons and seems to have a pretty good handle on realistic pricing.

 

Personally I wouldn’t go above £1.5K, but then again personally I’d be holding out for an Artist model anyway - much nicer 😉.   (I’ve owned 4 of them, so am a bit of a fan....)

 

Yup, that's an OG RD Standard.

 

To the OP - perhaps I over-abberviated - does it come with the original hard case?

[Cosmo Valdemar]

6 hours ago, Shaggy said:

Probably a dull question, but I assume it’s an old ‘un rather than the Krist Novoselic reissue?

 

 

Quick way to tell the difference - the KN has a shrunken headstock and oversized tuners.

 

Edited July 15, 2023 by Cosmo Valdemar

[dclaassen]

Somewhere around 1200 seems about right. I had an RD Artist in the ‘80’s…cracking bass, but check to see if the neck needs reset.

[Turak64]

14 hours ago, neepheid said:

 

Yup, that's an OG RD Standard.

 

To the OP - perhaps I over-abberviated - does it come with the original hard case?

Sadly no case 

[Turak64]

8 hours ago, Cosmo Valdemar said:

Quick way to tell the difference - the KN has a shrunken headstock and oversized tuners.

 

The pots are also dated to 1977

[Turak64]

14 hours ago, Shaggy said:

Probably a dull question, but I assume it’s an old ‘un rather than the Krist Novoselic reissue?

 

Tricky one, as vintage prices seem to be all over the place right now, and “rarer” doesn’t necessarily equal more desirable / valuable, in fact it can work the other way.  Might be worth looking at Andy Baxter recent sales, as he sells a lot of vintage Gibsons and seems to have a pretty good handle on realistic pricing.

 

Personally I wouldn’t go above £1.5K, but then again personally I’d be holding out for an Artist model anyway - much nicer 😉.   (I’ve owned 4 of them, so am a bit of a fan....)

I've messaged Andy just now, so thanks for that tip. I had already messaged a few other guitar shops to get some idea on pricing as well. 

 

I get your point about rate not being valuable. Usually with something like this, I would expect the price to be through the roof. Value is only what someone is willing to pay! 

[snorkie635]

I'm a big fan of Gibson RD basses, having owned five. As with most things, the market will dictate prices, but it's really up to the buyer whether s/he want to pay the asking price. I'd say that for this one, £1500 seems a decent price, provided all works as it should. Check the weight though as it could be about the same as a small car! Cases are also a problem to find for these and the older RDs don't drop into any old gig bag. Hope all goes well for you.

[neepheid]

Lack of hard case is a bargaining tool to put downward pressure on the price.  Regarding storage, when I had my RD Artist, it fit into a Thunderbird bag.  It is a less extreme, slightly more melty Thunderbird at the end of the day...

[NancyJohnson]

Never fail to be amazed at RD Artist basses.  Of the hundreds of bands I've seen, not one bass player using one, never played one or seen one in the flesh.

 

Don't recall any positive reviews in Beat Instrumental (or other sources at the time), but obviously Krist Novoselic used one and interest went up (along with used prices).  The reissue was pretty nasty, read a few comments about poor QC.

[neepheid]

1 minute ago, NancyJohnson said:

Never fail to be amazed at RD Artist basses.  Of the hundreds of bands I've seen, not one bass player using one, never played one or seen one in the flesh.

 

Don't recall any positive reviews in Beat Instrumental (or other sources at the time), but obviously Krist Novoselic used one and interest went up (along with used prices).  The reissue was pretty nasty, read a few comments about poor QC.

 

Damn, you missed me (and some quality bass face...)

 

[Shaggy]

27 minutes ago, neepheid said:

 

Damn, you missed me (and some quality bass face...)

 

 

Prather a poor shot of me also playing a natural RD Artist (my first RD).   Cab behind me is a Mesa Boogie Diesel 2x15 Road Ready, so I was clearly keen on heavy gear back then......

 

[Waddo Soqable]

41 minutes ago, NancyJohnson said:

Never fail to be amazed at RD Artist basses.  Of the hundreds of bands I've seen, not one bass player using one, never played one or seen one in the flesh.

 

Me too, my only memory of them at all was back in the day, the adverts announcing them as a new thing in the music papers. I have to honestly say I thought them rather fugly. 

[snorkie635]

2 hours ago, NancyJohnson said:

Never fail to be amazed at RD Artist basses.  Of the hundreds of bands I've seen, not one bass player using one, never played one or seen one in the flesh.

 

Don't recall any positive reviews in Beat Instrumental (or other sources at the time), but obviously Krist Novoselic used one and interest went up (along with used prices).  The reissue was pretty nasty, read a few comments about poor QC.

Fair comment, but I have to say that I have three of the 2018 RDs and can't fault them in any way, other than weight.