I have an original '78 RD Artist bass.  I love it to bits but don't play it much anymore because of its broken (fixed) headstock.
 
When I was first learning guitar I fell in love with the RD series but could never afford one, so I measured up a picture from the Gibson catalogue and built my own..   Well, ok, my dad did a lot of the work. I was young then...

Karyn
I have an original '78 RD Artist bass.  I love it to bits but don't play it much anymore because of its broken (fixed) headstock.
 
When I was first learning guitar I fell in love with the RD series but could never afford one, so I measured up a picture from the Gibson catalogue and built my own..   Well, ok, my dad did a lot of the work. I was young then...

Besides setting the intonation (as long as I don't have to mess with the truss rod) and doing some minor cosmetic changes, I'm worthless, so I wouldn't imagine even getting actively involved in the making of an instrument.
 
I became aware of the RD through a friend who bought one on eBay. He's sold it, but he kept measurements so that he could build one, so that could be one option.

Oddly, the RDs don't bring nearly as much on the vintage market as one would expect. My bud had a beautiful vintage RD Artist for years but finally sold it for around four or five hundred IIRC. He now wishes he had it back. I like em too.