GIBSON To Reproduce Classic RANDY RHOADS Les Paul Guitar

[Jagermeister]

According to Gibson.com, the 1974 Les Paul Custom guitar that Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Randy Rhoads played on the classic albums "Blizzard of Ozz" and "Diary of a Madman" has been one of the most requested reissues ever. Now the Gibson Custom Shop has announced the release of this legendary axe. More information will be made available soon.

Jackson delivered the news at this year's NAMM (National Association Of Music Merchants) show (which was held January 14-17, 2010 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California) with the announcement of the Randy Rhoads (OZZY OSBOURNE, QUIET RIOT) "tribute guitar." In collaboration with the Rhoads family, the Jackson Custom Shop built 60 exact replicas of the first Randy Rhoads Jackson guitar, often referred to as the Concorde.

According to TheMusicZoo.com, Randy's tribute model is a direct replica of his original 1980 Jackson asymmetrical V-shaped guitar that he personally designed. He intended to call this body style the Concorde and it is widely regarded as the "first pointy guitar." The original guitar had been kept at the Rhoads family music school since his death, and they say it had not been out of the case in over 20 years.

In 1982, Rhoads, the then-lead guitarist for OZZY OSBOURNE, and two others were killed at Flying Baron Estates, just outside Leesburg, Florida, when their small plane struck Osbourne's tour bus, then crashed into a mansion.

[chefcraig]

Didn't some outfit like Epiphone or Fernandez make a RR tribute model around 15 (or more) years ago? It's really surprising that it has taken Gibson this long to finally getting around to one.

[Jagermeister]

Didn't some outfit like Epiphone or Fernandez make a RR tribute model around 15 (or more) years ago? It's really surprising that it has taken Gibson this long to finally getting around to one.

Hmm, not that I recall.

[jhale667]

Best comment in the original thread at Gibson "What differentiates this from any other cream LP Custom you can get at Guitar Center right now for $4k - besides the inflated price tag?"


It IS a legitimate question, since by all accounts Randy's LP was stock...

[indeedido]

Yes, but it will say "RR" on the back.

[jhale667]

Yes, but it will say "RR" on the back.

That'll be an extra $2K right there...

[Diamondjimi]

Don't forget an extra $1200 for the "Randy Rhoads pickguard"!

[jhale667]

Don't forget an extra $1200 for the "Randy Rhoads pickguard"!

Yeah, forgot about that...!

[GAR]

That "Norlin Inc. Era" Paul was a piece of shit. It ran from 1972 as a custom-color option celebrating twenty years' anniversary of the thing until 1976.

Here's my dream wish for this thing:

FIRSTLY and most importantly:

1. Hand-apply and hand-mount the fingerboard glue and fingerboard to the necks. Back in the 70's they had this tool to economize the application of glue to the fingerboard and it had five nozzles that would deliver these blobs on the neck blank, then it was spread with a roller leaving some dry spots in these repeat areas: roughly 9th fret, 12th fret, and then the point fingerboard meets body.

It was like a 3-point hump and the only way to correct it back then was to either mill the hell out of the fret tops (which really ground up that hill between frets #12-16) or pull 'em, replane the fingerboard starting with 80 grit thru 320 and refret. Gibson needs to make sure their neck-fingerboard-body bonds are sufficiently saturated and clamped so these unstable rises in the fingerboard ever happen again. I've had Gibsons since The Henry took over there from Norlin, but I won't own a Paul because I dont' trust that those necks are stable even to this day.

2. Norlin-era necks on Pauls all suck, I hate em.. but the binding is an embarrassment nobody should have to deal with, there's always this paint-ledge, wood-ledge, or both paint/wood ledge where the binding meets the body all the way around (except the Custom headstock, they paid attention to that for the extra $275) and it makes you feel like nobody gave a shit over there about the player(s) - plural - destined to own the thing and hand it down to the next owner/player after him.

Gibson needs to flush that fucking binding, tape the color properly, build up and level those clear layers sufficiently. Just look at a Dean USA's, or the Connecticut Hamers! Their bindings are perfect, no ledges, no seams - every Gibson I've had has at least a seam in the clear layer and I won't pay custom-shop prices for accoutrements that are sold as standard features of this model or that. Bindings ought to be flawless without seams or ledges.

3. The cream Customs like Randy's came with the stock stamped-shell Klusons, but 8 times out of ten you find somebody changed 'em over to Grovers or Schallers and that's what I'd expect - gold-plated high-ratio, modern tuners not them loose-shell bieouyatches and I don't wanna see some five-dollar Ping bullshit potmetal things from China sold AS Grover. Fuck that, gimme Schaller W. Germany's then if they're gonna play that game.

4. The one thing you did get no matter regardless of these other 3 mandatory FAILS! was a perfect bone nut with a low-action setup. If you can't get a properly-cut nut with an above-average setup on a straight-ass neck of premium maple I don't wanna see it.

[Diamondjimi]

[78/84 guy]

I bet Randy just played his.

[kwame k]

[Diamondjimi]

That "Norlin Inc. Era" Paul was a piece of shit. It ran from 1972 as a custom-color option celebrating twenty years' anniversary of the thing until 1976.

Here's my dream wish for this thing:

FIRSTLY and most importantly:

1. Hand-apply and hand-mount the fingerboard glue and fingerboard to the necks. Back in the 70's they had this tool to economize the application of glue to the fingerboard and it had five nozzles that would deliver these blobs on the neck blank, then it was spread with a roller leaving some dry spots in these repeat areas: roughly 9th fret, 12th fret, and then the point fingerboard meets body.

It was like a 3-point hump and the only way to correct it back then was to either mill the hell out of the fret tops (which really ground up that hill between frets #12-16) or pull 'em, replane the fingerboard starting with 80 grit thru 320 and refret. Gibson needs to make sure their neck-fingerboard-body bonds are sufficiently saturated and clamped so these unstable rises in the fingerboard ever happen again. I've had Gibsons since The Henry took over there from Norlin, but I won't own a Paul because I dont' trust that those necks are stable even to this day.

2. Norlin-era necks on Pauls all suck, I hate em.. but the binding is an embarrassment nobody should have to deal with, there's always this paint-ledge, wood-ledge, or both paint/wood ledge where the binding meets the body all the way around (except the Custom headstock, they paid attention to that for the extra $275) and it makes you feel like nobody gave a shit over there about the player(s) - plural - destined to own the thing and hand it down to the next owner/player after him.

Gibson needs to flush that fucking binding, tape the color properly, build up and level those clear layers sufficiently. Just look at a Dean USA's, or the Connecticut Hamers! Their bindings are perfect, no ledges, no seams - every Gibson I've had has at least a seam in the clear layer and I won't pay custom-shop prices for accoutrements that are sold as standard features of this model or that. Bindings ought to be flawless without seams or ledges.

3. The cream Customs like Randy's came with the stock stamped-shell Klusons, but 8 times out of ten you find somebody changed 'em over to Grovers or Schallers and that's what I'd expect - gold-plated high-ratio, modern tuners not them loose-shell bieouyatches and I don't wanna see some five-dollar Ping bullshit potmetal things from China sold AS Grover. Fuck that, gimme Schaller W. Germany's then if they're gonna play that game.

4. The one thing you did get no matter regardless of these other 3 mandatory FAILS! was a perfect bone nut with a low-action setup. If you can't get a properly-cut nut with an above-average setup on a straight-ass neck of premium maple I don't wanna see it.

Jayzus, what a fuckin windbag.

GARfail.Do you actually think anyone reads your unsolicited, rambling rhetoric?

[78/84 guy]

Were the hell is our dvd of Randy Ozzy was so excited about ????

[Hardrock69]

No shit. No mention of it whatsoever recently.