List of Gibson Players - R

R

• Mick Ralphs (Bad Company/Mott the Hoople) used a Les Paul Junior, a Firebird and a Les Paul during his Mott the Hoople tenure; and a Les Paul Standard and a Flying V during his years with Bad Company. Ralphs currently uses Les Paul Custom Shop '58 & '59 Re-issue models.
• Jimmy Raney used an ES-150 with "Charlie Christian" bar pickup for most of his career.
• Randy Rhoads (Quiet Riot/Ozzy Osbourne) used an off-white Les Paul Custom.
• Keith Richards (The Rolling Stones) has used a variety of Gibsons throughout his career; he's favoured Les Pauls and ES models, but has also occasionally been seen with assorted other models, including Firebirds, a Flying V, an SG, an L6S and a Melody Maker. In 1964 Richards got a 1959 sunburst Les Paul with a Bigsby tailpiece; the guitar was the first "star-owned" Les Paul in Britain and served as one of Richards' main instruments through 1966. He later sold the guitar to future Rolling Stones bandmate Mick Taylor. In the mid-60s Richards acquired a 1953 Les Paul Goldtop and the first of a series of 1957 Les Paul Customs. One of the latter, hand-painted with psychedelic patterns, would be one of his main stage and studio guitars from 1968 through the end of the Rolling Stones' 1970 European tour. Throughout the 1970s he continued to use various Gibson models on stage and in music videos. Among these were a second 1959 sunburst Les Paul, a 1954 Les Paul Custom "Black Beauty" and a cherry red 1958 Les Paul Junior, which he replaced in 1979 with a 1959 TV-yellow Les Paul Junior that he has used regularly on stage ever since. Since 1997 an ebony ES-355 has been among his favourite stage guitars, along with a white ES-345 that he unveiled in 2006. In rehearsal and studio photos and footage he's frequently seen with an ES-350 and ES-175D. Hummingbirds have been among his preferred acoustic models since 1965.
• Lee Ritenour - noted for playing an L-5, a red ES-335, and his own signature Lee Ritenour Model archtop.
• Howard Roberts - used several Gibson models over the course of his career including: an ES-175, an L-10 and a heavily modified ES-150 simply known as "The Black Guitar". Gibson produces a Howard Roberts Fusion III signature model, which is a variation of an ES-165.
• Brian Robertson (Thin Lizzy/Motörhead) has used a Les Paul throughout his entire career.
• Rich Robinson (The Black Crowes) uses several different Gibson models, including a 1968 Les Paul Goldtop, a 1964 ES-335, a Customshop Flametop Les Paul, vintage SGs and double-cut Les Paul Specials, and a Dove.
• Mick Ronson (David Bowie) used a Les Paul Custom with the finish stripped for his guitar work on Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane, among others.
• Gary Rossington (Lynyrd Skynyrd) uses Les Pauls and SGs. Previously had a signature model Les Paul and SG released by Gibson.