Gibson Firebird opinions

Froot

An example is located here.

Being a Gibson there are most likely going to be love hate relationships abound.

Does anyone here own a firebird?

Regardless of whether you do or not can you give me your opinions on it as a guitar and as a purchase?

Also can anyone distinguish between the Studio edition and the VII?

:pac:

judas101

i own a studio and i love it.

heavy beast of a thing with big rich sound.

only ever played a studio so cant comment on the other ones but a common complaint about them is the mini-humbuckers it has as opposed to the studios proper humbuckers.

a lot of people here are going to say you can get more for less which may be true but if youre a gibson fan then nothing else will do.

i would advise buying second hand for a couple of reasons: first, you get to play and inspect the guitar youre buying and second of all you can find great deals second hand

Froot

Cool, thanks.

I've always been a big fan of Soundgarden and I love their style. I figured the firebird was the next step

The_g-man

You could try a tokai firebird if you can find one, I remember seeing a few in beat it music last time I was there. Gorgeous guitars, and I liked the sound from the mini humbuckers.:pac:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibson_Firebird

Johnny Storm

Froot wrote: »

Regardless of whether you do or not can you give me your opinions on it as a guitar and as a purchase?:pac:

The sexiest looking guitar ever, probably.
Got to be red, like Phil Manzanera's.

Doctor J

I love the shape but the banjo tuners always put me off. I wouldn't worry about the mini-humbuckers, there are more than enough aftermarket replacemetns these days that will fit and give you any tone you require. There are usually loads of Firebirds on the u-box for good prices.

Ravelleman

judas101 wrote: »

only ever played a studio so cant comment on the other ones but a common complaint about them is the mini-humbuckers it has as opposed to the studios proper humbuckers.

I don't see how people can complain about the mini humbuckers in a Firebird. I mean, along with the neck through body, mini humbuckers are one of defining characteristics of a true firebird.

boycey

Waaay cool guitars Froot. Ive seen Firebird V's go for £999 (used) in some of the English stores. I remember Guitarist really liking the studio when they reviewed them- but with 2 fullsize humbuckers and the differences in construction they thought it sounded and felt more like a Les Paul!!
My mate has a lovely 70's SG with mini humbuckers and that sounds great if that helps any, they can always be replaced easily with p90's too!!

One thing I do hear mentioned is the neck positioning: a) it takes a bit of getting used to as it feels further 'over to the left' than normal due to body shape and it joining at the last fret , and b) get a good wide felt strap to stop that neck diving to the ground! I think I could live with minor little things like that though. Damn cool guitars.

boycey

I cant get a link going but theres a Firebird V on guitars4you.co.uk now for £999 in classic Firebird vintage sunburst. I bought a PRS from there before- great guy to deal with. (the PRS was £1099, long gone now though, what could have been:o)

punchdrunk

gotta be red...

fourmations

i dig the reverse firebird

Froot

Reverse firebird? Explorer? or is there an actual reverse firrbird?

Johnny Storm

nitpick: I think he means non-reverse.
It looks quite like a JazzMaster.
IMHO it is not an attracive guitar.

Froot

Yeah I'll agree there, That doesn't look good to me either.