During the '60s Gibson hired a hotrod car guy from Detroit named Ray Dietrich to design a guitar that would effectively compete with Fender and save the company. The result of the project was possibly the coolest guitar ever made, the Firebird.
Like most of the Gibson solid body electric guitars, it was a miserable failure. From '63 through mid '65, a few thousand Firebirds were made before the company was sold to Norlin industries in 1965. These are the last true Gibson solid body electric guitars. The last symbol of golden age of Gibson guitars. The end of an era.
Anyway, the original Firebirds were sold in 4 configurations:
Firebird I: base model with a single pickup and a wrap tail piece, nickel hardware. 1377 total guitars
Firebird III: 2 pickups, vibrola, bound rosewood fretboard with dot inlays, nickel hardware. 2546 total guitars.
Firebird V: 2 pickups, vibrola, bound rosewood board with trapezoid inlays, nickel hardware. 925 total guitars
Firebird VII: 3 pickups, vibrola, ebony fretboard, gold hardware. 303 total guitars.
The center section of the entire guitars is a laminate made of anywhere from 2-9 pieces of wood that run from the rear strap button through the top of the headstock. The wings that make up the rest of the body are attached via a V shaped reverse dovetail. The neck is at a 4-5 degree angle from the body, and the peghead is at a 14 degree angle from the neck. To this day, no other solid body guitar has ever been constructed like a Firebird
AFAIK. They are an entirely different animal from anything else with 6 strings.
The resulting sound you get from one of these guitars is like nothing you've ever heard from any other guitar. It's the most blistering and pissed off sound you could ever imagine. Its unbelievable. Its almost like a really fat and angry and Tele, but it's even fatter, you just can't do it with anything less.
Due to the neck through construction, the banjo tuners, and the poor design of the hardcases these guitars were shipped in, a lot of them have been decapitated. The few remaining unbroken original examples are rarely for sale and are bought up quickly whenever they are.
Although he is better known for playing a 335 and an SG during his time with Cream and Blind Faith, Eric Clapton played a Firebird I for most of his tenure with both bands. Look at the back of the Live Cream album, you will see the guitar.
Gibson reissued the Firebird I's sometime in '02 and cancelled them in short order. According to Gibson they are never to be produced again. The reissues are rare and can prove to be as difficult to find as the originals. The pickups in the newer guitars are awful, and new wood is never as good as old wood, but this is as close as I'll ever get to a real 'bird.
I am done. This is the last guitar I have longed for and I feel a long overdue since of relief now that I have one. I just got it from the FedEx delivery people today. Its a Gibson reissue from 2002 of a '63 Firebird I in Cardinal Red. I'm not sure if the custom colors were ever even offered on the Firebird I originally since it was the base model, so I don't know how authentic it is, but like I said, its as close as I'll ever get to owning a real one.
Gratuitous pics.
