Rand Guitars

[Hotrod]

Re: Rand Guitars

Ask and ye shall receive. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[RacerX]

Re: Rand Guitars

Originally posted by tortfeaser:
Over the next year Jim had Rand build him two more guitars. The next one was a black B.C. Rich Virgin like thing which Jim sold on ebay a few years ago.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Tort, that one is available also.



4+2 headstock, EMG81, ebony board. Maybe the seller will contact you and you can make a deal for this one?

[diablomozart]

Re: Rand Guitars

if it's reasonable...get it, i honestly don't think you'll be disappointed...d.m.

[tortfeaser]

Re: Rand Guitars

That purple King V is indeed a Rand even though it doens't have the Rand logo on the headstock. How do I know? Rand build it for my friend. His name is Jim Gywnn and he lives outside Philadelphia. Jim went to high school with Rand's sister (West Chester Henderson) and his sister knew that Jim played guitar. She had her brother bring home some of the guitars he was building when he came home to visit the family for Thanksgiving. Jim like what he saw and placed an order.

Just when the guitar was ready for Jim, Rand called him and told him that he had an opportunity to give Jim's guitar to Vivian Campbell who would play it in the upcoming Whitesnake video "Still of the Night". Vivian liked the guitar so much he wanted to keep it. Jim was gracious enough to let Rand build him another one instead. The one Rand built for Jim looked just like the one on Ed Roman's site.

Over the next year Jim had Rand build him two more guitars. The next one was a black B.C. Rich Virgin like thing which Jim sold on ebay a few years ago. The last guitar Rand build for Jim was the purple King V which he also sold on ebay.

I lost touch with Jim for about ten years but was able to track him down through the ebay auction. He still lives in the Philadelphia area and it was good to talk to him after all these years. Jim is a great guitar player and I remember many a night sitting in his bedroom watching him play Vinnie Vincent solos on those Rands. I used to watch his band Wild Child practice in his basement with him playing that purple Rand. I kind of idolized Jim as a player and always wanted a Rand.

When I spoke to him after the ebay auction he said that the bidder for the purple Rand had not paid him yet and that he would simply sell the guitar to me and break the deal with the ebay guy. He went to tell the ebay guy about it but he had already sent money via paypal so Jim decided it was best not to break the deal after all. I asked the new owner to keep me in mind if he ever decided to sell it but he obviously didn't because it went up on ebay again a few months later.

I know you have first dibs on this guitar but it has a sentimental value to me. If you decided not to buy the guitar I would appreciate you giving me a whack at it.

[email protected]

I don't know if you would call it a prototype or not since all guitars were custom ordered. I asked Jim why his Rand didn't have Rand logos on them and I don't remember his answer. He may have requested that they be blank.

Although most of the Rand guitars that show up on the internet appear to be strats Jim tells me that the majority of the guitars Rand made were crazy shapes. Jim sold it on ebay for less than $400! He still has his original Rand and says he will never part with it. Of his three Rands the purple V was his least favorite. He said he could never get it setup to his liking. There may also be some damage to the neck as he was prone to swinging the guitar around his neck ala Jeff Labar back in the day. In fact I think all three headstocks from his Rands broke although they were repaired.

What happened to Rand guitars? Lack of demand really. He was able to get some publicity through Vivian but was never able to keep the company profitable.

So thats my Rand story. I hope you learned a little and don't forget to keep me in mind about that guitar as it means something to me.

[luckett]

Re: Rand Guitars

Those are nice Rands! I wonder if Vivian Campbell still has his or if he's sold it to someone else. Could be out there somewhere, you just never know! I always wondered how the Rand guitars played?

[sully]

Re: Rand Guitars

very cool story, and nice to see you posting! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

sully

[hippietim]

Re: Rand Guitars

Ron, that V is kickass. I hope you score that one.

[STARGUITAR]

Re: Rand Guitars

If anyone wants to "backdoor" this before RacerX gets it [email protected] [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[RacerX]

Re: Rand Guitars

[img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Just to reiterate: The black Rand is available (from STARGUITAR). The V will be mine soon.

[tortfeaser]

Re: Rand Guitars

That black one was also Jim's at one point. He called it the witch although he meant it more of a play on words. It was so hard to describe the body to people that people would always be like "which" Rand are you talking about? so he just took the "which" play on words and called it the "witch". I was a never a big fan of the witch Rand. I actually have no interest in her. I remember the night I watched Jim route out the body for the recessed Floyd on it though.

Allegedly Vivian had two Rands made for him. He played the one that he is seen with on the cover of GFTPM and in the "Still of the Night" video. Supposedly he had another one made with just a single humbucker in it rather than the Nightswan pickup configuration he was famous for during that period of time. He plays another Rand in the "Is this Love" video but there are never any closeups of him, just Tawney' ass. A guy was supposedly selling that Rand a couple of years ago from Delaware.

RacerX: For what it's worth please file away my email address in the event you ever want to get rid of her. You can obviously tell that I have a connection to this guitar and would love to someday have her. I always seem to be about two steps slow in tracking her down though.

[email protected]

[RacerX]

Re: Rand Guitars

Originally posted by tortfeaser:
RacerX: For what it's worth please file away my email address in the event you ever want to get rid of her. You can obviously tell that I have a connection to this guitar and would love to someday have her. I always seem to be about two steps slow in tracking her down though.

[email protected]

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Will do, man.

[RacerX]

Re: Rand Guitars

[RacerX]

Re: Rand Guitars

[KidPredator]

Re: Rand Guitars

I predict: DROOLING! [img]graemlins/drool2.gif[/img]

[GiantBaba]

Re: Rand Guitars

Super-cool guitar, but you're gonna reach those last few frets...how exactly??? Bah, you don't need 'em. [img]graemlins/images/icons/wink.gif[/img]