1981 Gibson RD Artist CMT Bass • Tobacco Sunburst • Original • Extraordinary

Bound Maple Body
Curly Maple Top (CMT) Original Finish
Set Maple Neck
Ebony Fingerboard
Excellent Original Frets
Second Version Active Electronics
34 1/2 inch scale Less than 100 made
Low action, perfect neck, great frets, very little use.
Moog electronics work fine, no repairs, no changes, original everything. No changes from new.
Look at pix closeup, note the light crazing on the binding, that's 39 years of living in it's case.
Original hard case

The CMT RD Artist bass was announced to dealers in March 1981, for delivery in April; right at the end of regular RD production.
Only 100 guitars were to be produced - unfortunately bass figures are not available, but they were probably made in similarly small numbers.

The RD Artist had been in production since 1977, and by the time this bass was made in April 1981, they had already been dropped from the price lists. The serial number 80921088 tells us that this bass was stamped on the 2nd April 1981 (day 092), at the Gibson Kalamazoo plant, and was the 088th instrument stamped that day.
A new price list starting just the day before (April 1st 1981) had no mention of the RD series at all.

The RD guitars and basses with a curly maple top (CMT) are the only ones with a bound body, and don't have the body contouring of the earlier versions; just a flat slab.