Randy Rhoads RR3

[JMP/HBE]

[dystrust]

Cool! I saw that title and was thinking the MIJ Rhoads from the late 90s or early 2000s, but RR0003 is pretty special. The story I'd heard from a Grover Jackson interview was that the guitar hadn't been finished in time before Randy died, and it was then sold by mistake at the '83 NAMM show rather than '84.

I've never been a huge fan of Randy's recorded sound, but the tone on Tribute is another story. Going on 20 years ago I used to borrow a friend's four-hole Marshall, and my MXR D+ (both knobs all the way up) into that 100W Superlead with the channels jumped and both volumes on 4-5 sounded exactly like Mr. Crowley or Suicide Solution off of Tribute.

[dave74]

Yeah I agree his tone on Tribute is just awesome! It's like some rabid beast that only he can secure on the leash and run it around town to show-off.

[JOLLY]

I bet Grover Jackson wanted to kill that guy that sold it at NAMM. I'm surprised he didn't have a stroke.

[Wattage]

great vid, damn if only.....

[Ashurbanipal]

Ha, just watched this, very cool. Definitely has that Rottweiler with titanium teeth tone!

[v8stang289]

Really cool vid and guitar.
I'm a huge Randy Rhoads fan. When I was in my teens, I discovered Rhoads era Ozzy. The riffs and leads in Mr. Crowley were awesome to me, and I had to learn more about the guitarist. Then later when Jackson was running the "original sin" ads with a pic of Randy and the original concord guitar, I had the page from guitar world on my wall.
And to echo others, the tone and playing on tribute is awesome. I have it on vinyl and it's one of my favorite albums.
A few years ago I was finally able to acquire a neck through RR. Mine is a MIJ RR5 from 2003, Super Distortion in the bridge and Jazz/A2 in the neck. I've posted this pic here before, but man I love this guitar.

[Securb]

A friend of mine had an early 80's black on black RR hardtail. The thing played like butter and sounded amazing. I can only imagine how the prototype plays.

When I saw Randy live it was early in the first tour, he was still sporting the Les Paul.

[UnderTheFlame83]

That's an awesome guitar and a great video.

[JMP/HBE]

.

[dystrust]

A few years ago I was finally able to acquire a neck through RR. Mine is a MIJ RR5 from 2003, Super Distortion in the bridge and Jazz/A2 in the neck.

Cool guitar! Sometimes I wish I had one, but a Rhoads looks rather toy-like in my hands (I'm a broad-shouldered 6'2) and I need another guitar like I need a hole in the head.

A Jazz with the magnet swapped to A2 becomes an Alnico II Pro; when I found out I went the other way as I don't really care for the A2P but love the Jazz.

A friend of mine had an early 80's black on black RR hardtail. The thing played like butter and sounded amazing. I can only imagine how the prototype plays.

When I saw Randy live it was early in the first tour, he was still sporting the Les Paul.

Randy had the Concorde for the first leg of the US tour in April '81, but I have no idea if he was using it live at the point. Later on it was set up in Eb for songs off of Diary of a Madman. The After Hours footage was shot about a week after the tour started, and you can see the Concorde on a stand at the back while he plays either the Les Paul Custom or Sandoval V.

IIRC Jackson started offering black hardware on the Rhoads model in '84; at least I haven't seen an earlier Rhoads hardtail with anything but gold hardware. I'd expect your friend's RR and 0003 to be very similar since Charvel/Jackson was still pretty small at that point and all of the guitars would've been built by the same people. I've played (but stupidly didn't buy) several Jacksons & Charvels from the San Dimas era, and they were all works of art.

[maug2122]

I've cover Rhoad's songs since 1981, got an RR / Jackson later on in the years.




Then made my own, I shortened the longer / upper wing for convenience.