'13 Firebird

AcornHouse

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I went ahead and got the Gibson Firebird that I mentioned in another post. I've had a chance to play it over the weekend, so here's the report.
It's a 2013, built in October in pristine shape, hard to tell if it was ever played, so, essentially a new one. It's got the Steinberger tuners, so the neck dive problem that plagues the older ones with the banjo tuners isn't a problem here. The neck felt a little wide at first, but a ruler confirmed its 1 11/16" so I think it was a matter of a new shape; I don't notice it anymore. It plays very easily, although a couple of times the high e string wanted to dive off the fingerboard (I really wish Gibson would fret OVER the binding like the rest of the known universe.)
Played into my '54 Deluxe gave a rich, powerful sound, from clean to mean, bright to warm, although a tendency towards the bright side. Whether you're looking for the classic blues (Johnny Winter, Warren Haynes) sound, or something more strat-y, this has it. The mini-humbuckers are very powerful. The design allows the easiest access to the highest frets I've ever felt (You can even use the neck mini-hum to fret higher!)
The case for this is HUGE! It hides how heavy the guitar is, but hopefully it does a better job of protecting it than the early cases (Which caused many a broken headstock.) The guitar itself is a comfortable 7.46 lbs.

I don't know yet if this is a permanent keeper, but it'll certainly be staying around for awhile.
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bluesypicky

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Congrats! Sounds like a description I can relate to. ;)

One request: Would you ship it to Harry (Gilded) so he can strap it on and take a pic for us?
 

AcornHouse

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Just played it through my plexi/dominator 18w build, and it wasn't as bright as through the Deluxe (Duh!). So I guess its very amp dependent whether its its too bright (as I've read in some reports) or not.

(Pascal, maybe a pic of me would suffice, I'm not too far behind Harry.)
 

Alan_M

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Gorgeous! Keep playing it and I think you'll make it a "permanent keeper". My Tiki Bird certainly is one!
The Steinbergers are kind of trippy aren't they? When I changed strings the first time I was very anxious about screwing up somehow, but after a couple of times they are actually really easy.
The case is indeed a real beast!
 

AcornHouse

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The Steinbergers are kind of trippy aren't they? When I changed strings the first time I was very anxious about screwing up somehow, but after a couple of times they are actually really easy.
I haven't changed strings yet (they may be original, it hasn't been played a lot). So far, the only issue I've had with the Steinbergers is having to remember which string I'm trying to tune. :distracted: It truly is a reverse, compared with the typical 6 on a side tuner layout on my legacy. I've ended up with some interesting "alt" tunings. :laughing:
 

walrus

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I love it! Very pretty!

I had the same high E string problem with a new ES-339 - I DO NOT like how the newer Gibsons have the binding over the edge of the frets - I just can't get used to it, and kept slipping the E string off the edge. I ended up returning the guitar. My 2000 ES-135 has the "standard" fret over binding set up.

walrus
 

AcornHouse

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The binding "nibs" are actually the traditional way that Gibson dealt with bound fingerboards. It's only recently that they started having the frets go over the binding, probably starting with the lower models, which is why your ES-135 had the non-Gibson version, while the ES-339 had the Gibson version. It's a much more labor intensive proces, which is why you find it on the higher end models.
Here's how it's done.
http://www.stewmac.com/tsarchive/ts0131.html
 
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walrus

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Thanks for the info Chris! For what its worth I love my ES-135, fretboard included.

walrus
 

gilded

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Congrats! Sounds like a description I can relate to. ;)

One request: Would you ship it to Harry (Gilded) so he can strap it on and take a pic for us?

'picky, my friend, I'm always glad to help the Forum in matters of circumferential dimensionality, especially when said condition is to be intersected by a
straight-line of an instrument like a Firebird!

Mmmm, can I keep the FB for a couple of months afterwards? :)

HH
 

AcornHouse

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I got it from a guy in Louisiana. Missed the chance to route it through Harry first.
 
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