Nightbird Deluxe

GAD

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Got the Nightbird Deluxe.

My first impression is that it really reminds me of a Les Paul studio.

5D3_6422_1600.jpg
 

jp

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But hopefully far better. (Had one; long gone.)
Really, Chris? I have a Studio Lite with an ebony fingerboard that I love. I've found that the early 90s Studios have consistently good workmanship, but that's my experience. Outside of that window, like all Gibsons, it's hit or miss.

That's a really interesting bridge on your Nightbird Deluxe. Do you know anything about it? Is it a Guild original?
 

GAD

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shihan

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That is indeed an odd bridge. Certainly looks over engineered. I’ll bet the guitar is a sweet player, though!
 

GAD

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I thought the bridge looked over-engineered until i took it off. Holy crap. Now I think it's doubly over-engineered.
 

GAD

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So , two pickups, two knobs. Does it not have tone control and just volumes ?

It's Vol/Tone. All the Nightbirds I have are the same, only this one does not have a coil split or phase switch.
 

JohnW63

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Ah, so the tone and volume are stacked in one knob ? Does that make it easy to twist the wrong thing, in a live situation ?
 

walrus

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John, I'm assuming it is like many guitars that have this configuration, including my PRS. One is volume and one is tone. The knobs work for each pickup depending on where the pickup selector switch is - neck, bridge, or both.

Personally, I love the simplicity of this set up!

walrus
 

JohnW63

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But that means you don't have individual tone control. Since I tend to keep mine pegged, that wouldn't be a problem. But if I wanted to back off the bridge sharpness, when I had both going, I could only make BOTH do the same.
 

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It is master Volume and Master Tone. You are correct in that you cannot "mix" the pickups in the middle position like you can on a 4-knob guitar, but for people like me who never ever do that, I love the simplicity of the 2-knob setup. Heck, I'm a fan of the Super-Strats with only a single master volume and no tone knob!

Teles are like this - master tone master volume. In fact, every Nightbird is like this, too, though it wouldn't surprise me at all to find one that was special ordered with four knobs.
 

walrus

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It is master Volume and Master Tone. You are correct in that you cannot "mix" the pickups in the middle position like you can on a 4-knob guitar, but for people like me who never ever do that, I love the simplicity of the 2-knob setup.

Right - me, too!

walrus
 

Quantum Strummer

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I love dual-pickup guitars with per-pickup volume knobs. Lotsa cool & usable blends to be had with both pickups on. OTOH many of my fav guitars only have a master vol, Nightbird and T-bird included.

The original Broadcaster/early Tele wiring let you blend the two pickups, with the selector switch in the middle position, via the “tone” knob. I tried this once on my relic Nocaster…it worked well but it also sacrificed the honky sound you can get with a Tele by rolling off the tone just a little.

-Dave-
 

DThomasC

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One thing I like about a master volume is that the middle position retains a little bit of brightness and clarity that's missing when you use both pickups on a four-knob guitar. It's subtle, but I think it makes a difference.
 
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