NGD: Gibson Firebird V

[Torren61]

I'm a huge fan of Johnny Winter's style of playing and his tone so I've been lusting after a Polaris White Gibson Firebird for awhile but the $3500+ price tag has given me pause. I started looking at the Vintage Sunburst ones and I bought this last Saturday. I couldn't let it get away as the price was really fair and it had been listed only for a few hours. So I snagged it before anyone else swooped in.

The guitar arrived today. It's a 2012 model with the Steinberger tuners. I liked the look of the "banjo" style tuners but I understand they could exasperate neck dive with their added weight. I've never used Steinberger tuners and I was pleasantly surprised by how easy they are to use.

If you have never played a Firebird, it's an awakening. Where your picking hand would normally be picking the strings... a stop tail is there. Everything is shifted to the left so it requires an adjustment in the way you play. The guitar is physically longer than all but my bass guitars. The case is taller too.

I'm on 12 hour shifts so I only had a short time to play. I think the pickup heights need to be adjusted. The neck has a lot more bass than the bridge. I'll have to wait until Sunday to really give it some playing time so I'll reserve my critique until after then.

Here are some pics:

 

[DirtySteve]

Nice, congrats!

 

[Central Scrutinizer]

Nice.
I love my Firebirds as well.

 

[JJ119]

Congratulations!!

HNGD!!

 

[fitz]

NICE - HNFBD!
Do you know if the Steinberger tuners were stock?
I put them on my 2017 HP to replace the stupid robo tuners.

 

[Torren61]

NICE - HNFBD!
Do you know if the Steinberger tuners were stock?
I put them on my 2017 HP to replace the stupid robo tuners.

They were stock starting in 2010 and used through 2017 or 2018, iirc.

 

[Musicmaniac]

Very nice congrats!

 

[Kutt]

NICE. Sweet finish. And with that toilet being so close, you have no excuse to say you shit yourself the tone was so good!

 

[Deftone]

Nice score! Congratulations.

 

[BlueX]

HNGD, looks great!

 

[jmp45]

HNFBD.. I have a 2016 Firebird V with the Steinberger tuners. It's one of my favorite Gibsons, When slinging it, it doesn't ride much different than the others.

 

[Kuga]

Congrats! I have a Firebird on my wish list.

 

[Torren61]

I plan to get ohm readings on these. If they're higher than mid 6, I'm gonna swap them.





In the neck pocket is "VS"= Vintage Sunburst



I assume that's "VS F 10"? Vintage Sunburst Firebird but what would the 10 be for?



It's a little sloppy in here. Hard to say if that's factory or if a previous owner did some piddlin'.



Neck binding and look... nibs!



This is a neck-through design. I think it's a seven ply neck.



See how the neck through section is raised?



Steinberger tuners. I had to watch a YouTube on how to change the strings. I'm really liking it. This T thing is a locking mechanism.


You back off the knobs on the back of the headstock. The T thing raises and you twist it a bit counterclockwise and that releases the string. When you tighten the knob, that pulls the T thing down and THAT tightens the string. It doesn't twist around the post.

 

[Central Scrutinizer]

I plan to get ohm readings on these. If they're higher than mid 6, I'm gonna swap them.

Mojotone sells replacement Firebird pickups that they worked with Johnny Winter to develop.

Stunning guitar!

 

[Torren61]

Mojotone sells replacement Firebird pickups that they worked with Johnny Winter to develop.

Stunning guitar!

Thanks! I was looking at Onamac but I'll check out the Mojo Tone ones.

 

[fitz]

This is a neck-through design. I think it's a seven ply neck.

See how the neck through section is raised?

Yes, the entire neck-through center section is 9 ply - 5 pieces of mahogany with 4 strips of walnut.
The thinner, tapered mahogany "wings" make the top & bottom sides of the body.

And the Steinbergers are super cool.
40-1 gear ratio, IIRC.
You can just fine tune up or down - no need to back off and tune up to the note.
The one nice leftover from my robo tuner set up was the adjustable titanium nut.

 

[yladrd61]

Mojotone sells replacement Firebird pickups that they worked with Johnny Winter to develop.

Stunning guitar!

I have the Mojotone JW pickups in mine they sound really good.

 

[Torren61]

I took a resistance reading of these stock pickups and I thought something was broken. Neck read 15K ohms and the bridge read 23K ohms. Then I found out that's normal because these are ceramic magnets and very thin wire. The correct pickups would read 6.1 ish for the neck and 6.7 ish for the bridge. They would also have alnico magnets, wooden spacers and a metal reflector plate.

Firebird Pickups: The Definitive Guide to Firebird Mini Humbuckers

Wallace Blackie Gold's groundbreaking post blew the doors open on what we previously knew about these unique and special pickups. Sound clips from vintage firebirds...

www.heliotricity.com

I ordered the Mojo Tone Johnny Winter set in nickel with nickel mounting rings. 6.3 and 6.8 And I ordered a pair of RS short shaft 500K Superpots, two short shaft audio taper tone pots and a pair of Zoso .022 and .01 caps. And I ordered Tone Pros nickel bridge and stop tail. And I have nickel Schaller strap locks already on the way.

I'm not fond of chrome...

 

[JJ119]

Congratulations!!

You have a Beautiful Firebird!!

HNGD!!!

 

[StrummerJoe]

Sweet axe. Hope the Mojotune pickups work ot too! Happy NGD!