These Rgo guitars were designed by Jason and Ha for Gibson, made by Gibson master luthiers practically 100 percent to specifications that Jason had written down on slim sheets of paper and tucked into a broken Trapper Keeper. Jason personally crafted the Plain Tulip in black (later called the Gibson Theodore). The vinyl folder was falling apart. Ha used a luthier's hammer to break the plastic rings and screwed on a tightly snapped together set of metal rings. Plus she gave him fresh cardstock paper duofold folders, three-hole punched without tangs, so he could have his drawings together without the fuss of metal and rusty tin.
    On assignment from Thomas and artHaus, Jason studied the line of Gibson guitars that stretched across decades of popular music and Rock 'n Roll. Unlike Gretsch, which clung onto a rockabilly sensibility in their niche appeal, Gibson was like Fender as a massive, expansive, and top American guitarmaker. But Gibson was slower to innovate and just as likely to pay for a Bigsby tremelo bar and not do more about a Les Paul guitar. That observation was what Jason carried forth in how he selected what he did before he collaborated with Ha on Gibson Guitars. He spoke to her quite clearly about what he wanted to focus on as he pulled out a stack of blank sheets of paper to get to work on a packaged deal. The cutoff year was 1959. If anybody wants to know Gibson, he said, do not listen to music made on a Gibson after 1959. Everything after that was the Beatles, said Ha. Or Motown, she corrected herself. Elvis, Motown, Dianna Ross, he had to forget them and focus on the American electric instrument, not the star-crossed love life of Eric Clapton.
    Jason honed in on what he believed was the height of Gibson influence in one of their only selling point, the 1957-1959 Les Paul guitar. Ha was going to divine why so. Jason was not there to hear the radio back then. Ha had a taste of boomboxes. But even as somebody only four years younger, all Jason had was the Sony Walkman. How was he supposed to discern any merit from live performance as opposed everything polished from inside a studio? He studied concert footage on video, like Ha told him to. He was mesmerized by the singers of the 1950s and lost track of what to do about an electric guitar company. Until he heard Les Paul on the man's own guitar. He could hear every corporate pressure to conform, every personal innovation and flash of personality—technically. He felt like an idiot savant and shook it off. He did not care how Les Paul played the guitar, he could hear the tones of the wood, the metals, the electric buzzing, even the thereness of the venue as an acoustic surrounding. The reverb on the guitar made it that easier to listen to than a singer on a microphone. Were amps the difference? Jason knew Ha was like Les Paul and told her, Did you know you have the same birthday in the year as Les Paul? You and your speaker-amps, only Geminis want it both ways at the same time.
    The assembly of the folios aligned with the design decisions, but their purchase by Gibson were mixed reasons. According to Gibson reps, Art shows still life, remember music with musical instruments. Jason never cared for the gallery reason for a luthier's product. He could have handed over half a bolt of fabric and a pair of leather shoes and say that was what the luthier had prepared for the musician visiting Gibson's Nashville factory.
    Where is your Custom Shop?! My Chinese girlfriend (stagename Wind Song, a running joke about Rgo dressed up by artHaus) has hired expensive tailors, she is prepping the musicians now. Where are the master luthiers, where are the artists?! Special Les Paul guitars have to be ready, the musicians are so high class! My girlfriend is spending so much money, I need those guitars to be more than souvenir quality. I need couture museum quality guitars! The Fender adult chaperone told him he was being a prima donna and to spend some time inside the factory before sneaking away to the custom shop, to practice his speaking skills so that he could practice his listening skills with the Gibson master artisans. Ha handed to him an invisible baton, which was all he was going to get from Ha the Gibson guest rep saleswoman, for his effort to clarify Art Moment: effort.
  Gibson could not afford the craftwork phase of Rgo guitars without significant financial backing by Ha and Fender. Thomas got Ha to accept, Gibson artisans will be rendering into guitars at the workshop your blueprints and specifications like sheetmusic, they are professionals, so do not let Jason make any mistakes when you compose philosophy into his own art ideas; make sure he has tastes. Ohhhh, the other teacher was encouraging, Ha guessed: make sure Jason has true ideas. If that happened, Thomas could withdraw his seed money, and what was on the table should be financially right for Gibson. Fender put his seed money back into Rgo, they were certain Jason's portfolio was going to be sold for a good price. Fender took the lead in price negotiations, Thomas was $4 million underestimating. The price for the two large packets together started at $14 million, Gibson was out of cash for bidding on Ha's even larger, less colorful and more technically challenging work order that might require an even bigger custom shop.