well, now i’ve done it. i was browsing on Reverb when what to my wondering eyes should appear but a miniature sled and eight…no, wait a minute. it was a Greco copy of a Gibson Byrdland. now, some of you might not recall that i’m rather obsessed with short-scale guitars and have lusted after a Byrdland for a quarter of a century, to the extent that i seriously considered a Chinese copy off eBay even though they all have the Florentine cutaway which i hate. unfortunately, due to their rarity and Gibson badge they seldom go for less than eight thousand dollars, which is obviously out of my range (in my figuring system, “four fucking White Falcons”). but this was only $1750, and i had $7000 available on PayPal Credit so i went for it. i felt like this was probably the only chance i’d have for the rest of my life.
needless to say, i’m chuffed. i have enough electric guitars now that there aren’t many i still want, but Byrdlands have been a white whale for me for decades. i also wanted a proper jazz archtop…i love my White Falcon, but it’s really more of a rock guitar than a jazzer. the only issue is that the outside layer only of the multi-ply plastic binding around the body is deteriorating, but it doesn’t appear to be coming off in chunks. and even if i eventually have to have the binding redone it’s still 1/4 the cost of a “real” Byrdland. share my joy. come to me, my Australasian baby.
https://reverb.com/item/93309000-1976-g ... t=93309000
