Steve Conte's Firebird

[Ian Price]

Now, Firebirds have never done anything for me. That is until the last few days. Just reading my way through Guitarist (nearly done and 3 and a bit weeks to wait for the next one  :x) and realy, reallyreally like his red Firebird.

GAS alert!

[Will]

Please DO NOT mention firebird GAS!

I have always liked the look, need to play one to see what I think of the FB pickups though

[Ian Price]

Sorry! It looks lovely though. I don't think I've ever seen a red one either.

[Will]

I think that one would look good with a stop bar instead of Vibrola though, maybe leave the long part of the vibrola in place though

[Ian Price]

Yeah - I agree. I would be tempted to convert it. I don't get on with vibrolas/trem arms etc. Hard tail all the way for me from now on.

[Will]

I like the look of that sunburst style more than the red. A solid white one though....!

[Tellboy]

I called into Soundpad in Barnstaple last week and they had four vintage Gibsons. The one that caught my eye was a 1963 Firebird 3 which had in the past belonged to Jefferson Starship. It oozed character - one or two dings on it but in great condition considering it was 46 years old - nitro finish had crazed all over/short vibrola. Even at £4995 I was sorely tempted  :roll:...... but the wife, who had been clothes shopping, was about to call in. They did offer to move the decimal point over for her benefit but even at that price she would probably thought it was too much to pay for an 'old' guitar.  :(

[Nadz1lla]

Never really got into the Firebird body shape, but I really love the headstocks on those things, the 2-tone colours really add to the coolness! They had a White and Black one with Gold hardware in Manson's a few weeks ago, not sure if it's still there, but even though I'm not a massive fan of the body shape I couldn't take my eyes off it! It has strangely alluring qualities, but the headstock is definitely the most interesting design feature for me.

Maybe one day I'll build something with a similar headstock, just a different body shape...  :?

[Ian Price]

I called into Soundpad in Barnstaple last week and they had four vintage Gibsons. The one that caught my eye was a 1963 Firebird 3 which had in the past belonged to Jefferson Starship. It oozed character - one or two dings on it but in great condition considering it was 46 years old - nitro finish had crazed all over/short vibrola. Even at £4995 I was sorely tempted  :roll:...... but the wife, who had been clothes shopping, was about to call in. They did offer to move the decimal point over for her benefit but even at that price she would probably thought it was too much to pay for an 'old' guitar.  :(

Sounds v. nice. That does strike me as a lot of money for it though - I assume it's due to it's provenance?

[Plexi Ken]

I've been GASing for one ever since I bought Practical Pentatonics
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Practical-Pentatonics-Guitar-Askold-Buk/dp/0825614953/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1249375245&sr=8-1

It's not a good photo but I think a red Firebird should have chrome hardware, Steve's has gold.

AFAIK, Firebirds have the slim 60s neck  :( so I would need to get one custom built as I like big necks  :)

[Ian Price]

I think gold looks better on Conte's model - it's a lighter shade of red, can't find a suitable pic of it to post on to this thread though! The deeper shades of red definitely go better with chrome though!

[gwEm]

i like those mini-humbuckers. i'd like a guitar with them on one day - firebird or les paul deluxe

[Plexi Ken]

Steve's Firebird VII
http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/ArtistsAndEvents/Stories/new-york-dolls-guitarist-512/

[Tellboy]

I called into Soundpad in Barnstaple last week and they had four vintage Gibsons. The one that caught my eye was a 1963 Firebird 3 which had in the past belonged to Jefferson Starship. It oozed character - one or two dings on it but in great condition considering it was 46 years old - nitro finish had crazed all over/short vibrola. Even at £4995 I was sorely tempted  :roll:...... but the wife, who had been clothes shopping, was about to call in. They did offer to move the decimal point over for her benefit but even at that price she would probably thought it was too much to pay for an 'old' guitar.  :(

Sounds v. nice. That does strike me as a lot of money for it though - I assume it's due to it's provenance?

Yes - it was used on some of their albums and I believe there is a signed copy and some other memorabilia with it. Nice guitar - like my 64 SG it 'smells' old. As it's a '63 it must have been one of the first ones produced.

[Will]

I've been GASing for one ever since I bought Practical Pentatonics
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Practical-Pentatonics-Guitar-Askold-Buk/dp/0825614953/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1249375245&sr=8-1

It's not a good photo but I think a red Firebird should have chrome hardware, Steve's has gold.

AFAIK, Firebirds have the slim 60s neck  :( so I would need to get one custom built as I like big necks  :)

Ok, this sounds like a have the GAS baaad...

From what I have read they have made it a slightly bigger 60s neck, I am guessing similar to the 60/30 they have on the 339, but don't worry - all hope is not lost.

The Bicentennial firebird 1976 has a large neck, there is one on ebay for 1800 and one at V&R for about 4000!
I almost scored a humbucker routed one for £600 :lol: