Gibson Firebird?

[repoman]

Nah, I think its an old picture from the 60s.
https://www.vintageguitar.com/13780/gibson-firebirds/
Green is called "Iverness Green" the copper is "Aztec Bronze"

Something I've never seen before is that wang bar on the Firebird I, the copper one has a regular short vibrola, never seen that other type though, almost looks like a Les Trem/Duesenberg tremolo.


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYP6F3gX68Q[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbC8JltxSq8[/youtube]

Why the hell are Gibson colors so bad these days.

I got this Burny Firebird. It played amazing when I got it but after a couple days it plays like shit because I live in hell and the cold/dryness must have fucked the action.



The burst is pretty dark, I think I might refinish it in some other color maybe when it gets warmer and stick a vibrola on it.

[frigid midget]

Dat burst

Speaking of which...

I caved

Pulled the trigger on an "barely used" 2018 Gibson Firebird Studio.

The epi would've cost me a bit too much considering the pricey irreversable upgrades it might need to become one of my main guitars. Gotto keep resale value in mind when buying something on a whim and swapping pickups and all that.

The Gibson has P90s, which I love. Doesn't solve the lack of humbuckers in my stable, but it gives me the option of dropping in a pair of minu hums if I want to. Most importantly: the Gibbo has a slim taper neck. I don't like huge necks, especially when they're the sticky gibson kind with a flat fretboard radius.

The headstock on the gibson isn't upside down. Looks better upside down imo, like on the epi, but I have no idea how much firebird mojo toanz I'll be missing out on

Also, don't have a clue what to expect from a "torrefied granadillo" fretboard, opposed to rosewood. I do know that I'll eventually want to stain/oil it so it looks darker though.

[Zounds Perspex]

not to be super gearpage about it, but if you swap pickups, listen a bunch to mini-hums vs Firebird pickups.
they sound way different - I'm super partial to the Firebird pickups myself, especially in the bridge - I'm waiting on a Lollar right now to put in the bridge position of my Collings 290,
and my Bilt El Hombre with 'bird pickups has sort of quietly become my favorite sounding guitar.

ha, my first decent guitar was a '76 Firebird, so I guess the sound just imprinted early.

[frigid midget]

Nah, seems like solid advice...

The thing with pu's, opposed to shopping for an amp, is that there's no way to try one single guitar side by side with the same guitar that has different pu's in it.
And it's not like I know anyone who had a firebird with mini hums who can loan me his guitar, let alone someone who'll let me install mini hum's in my firebird for a couple of days :/

Anyway, the Gibson F-bird Studio isn't vintage nor custom shop, but unlike the epi it costs enough to justify a more gearpage approach when it comes to pickups...

[repoman]

[frigid midget]

NGD

Didn't yet get the chance to really test it at home. I'll plug it in for a couple minutes tonight, band rehearsel with the half stack on thursday.

Looks impressive, and it was setup nicely, just had to tweak the intonation a bit to get it perfect.
The dry, light colored fretboard isn't as bad as I feared. The neck isn't as slim as the neck on my '70s jazzmaster ri, but it's still comfy, especially for a gibbo.

Kinda surprised me how little adjustment it took, it's not at all "akward" to get used to, it's definatelly closed to my jazzmaster than any of the sg's or les paul's or ES335's I tried. I read online how the body shape is odd, and how the neck neck can seem long and all that...Can't say I notice any annoyances there

[repoman]

I definitely feel that Firebirds feel very stretched out compared to most guitars, it doesn't necessarily make them uncomfortable though. I just put my Firebird next to my Jaguar and the nut ends up about 3.5 inches past the nut on the Jag, I put it next to my baritone Jazzmaster and the nut is only about 0.5-1 inches closer on the Firebird, the Firebird is actually longer overall than the baritone Jazzmaster! They are big.

Congrats on the purchase, any pics?

[frigid midget]

Don't havy pics at hand, but it's this one:

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... e-sunburst

Mine's like new, just one tiny dent in the finish.

[repoman]

Noice!

FYI if you ever think about putting a vibrola on it don't get the WD music one unless you have a vice.





I installed the WD music one and it's the version that is manufactured incorrectly with the break angle being non existent. WD denied it's an issue even with pics...I took the one I bought and crushed the spring in a vice for a couple hours and now it works.

[frigid midget]

Damn, that sucks. They could've at least reimbursed you, or even partially at the very least. Note to self: avoid WD music.

I'm not into whammy/vibrola myself, but seems like solid advice for other firebird users here.

[repoman]

I took a chance on some hand made firebird pickups on reverb that were really cheap and had been listed for a long time because the builder doesn't seem to be well known, finally got them wired up and they are easily the nicest sounding pickups I've ever had. And a WD pickguard, that's a POS and doesn't fit/have good routing

[frigid midget]

Sick.

Digging the P90s. Always been more of a single coil guy, and though I wouldn't at all describe P90s as faux humbuckers...The combination with all that mahogany delivers rich dark and yet biting toanz that are hugely different from what your average telecaster can spit out

[JTurbide]

wow that looks great !

[dubkitty]

lovely.

[Zounds Perspex]

looks killer! Firebird pickups are definitely 'buckers that single coil people can love. Lots of good bite to those thangs.