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James... « Could use some work on pickups »
Published on 12/28/11 at 10:15USA made. Mahagony body and rosewood fingerboard. Crazy tuners. 4 control setup. Typical firebird pickups. It's a fairly stripped down guitar. The scale I believe is Fender instead of the shorter length you usually see on gibsons. For such a pricey guitar it's not a massive feature set but on the other hand these are not the most popular guitars. Seems like they don't make very many.
UTILIZATION
Some people say these are awkward to play. I can see how some would say that and I think it's because the longer scale length kind of throws some guys. Personally I'm used to the length so I'm right at home playing this guitar. The body shape is pretty comfortable and kind of reminds me of an SG in a lot of ways. All things considered it's an ergonomic design despite what the wacky lack might make you think. Fret access is great. Knobs feel pretty solid. These are definitely well made unlike a few models that Gibson makes which are know to have QC issues. Maybe I just got a good one.
SOUNDS
Here's my gripe with these. The pickups on them sound nothing like actual vintage Firebird pickups. I have played a couple original Firebirds and the pickups they put on this reissue model are way too hot and not EQ'd right. They're very muddy and don't have that high treble the old ones do. I realize it's hard to recreate a pickup perfectly, but saying that the reissue doesn't get close is putting it nicely. The new ones sound more like P90 single coils than anything. The original sounded more like a ticked off telecaster. That said, they aren't bad pickups. But if you want the original sound you'll have to shell out the extra $200 or so for a repro set. A guitar that costs this much should not need an upgrade like that however.
OVERALL OPINION
I'm impressed with everything but the pickups. Actually this is a really nice reissue despite being a bit hard to find sometimes. Like I said before, I have seen and played a few original ones and this remake does do the design justice. If you are more concerned with getting the look down, this will be a satisfying axe, but if you want accurate sound and looks, expect a pickup switch.
UTILIZATION
Some people say these are awkward to play. I can see how some would say that and I think it's because the longer scale length kind of throws some guys. Personally I'm used to the length so I'm right at home playing this guitar. The body shape is pretty comfortable and kind of reminds me of an SG in a lot of ways. All things considered it's an ergonomic design despite what the wacky lack might make you think. Fret access is great. Knobs feel pretty solid. These are definitely well made unlike a few models that Gibson makes which are know to have QC issues. Maybe I just got a good one.
SOUNDS
Here's my gripe with these. The pickups on them sound nothing like actual vintage Firebird pickups. I have played a couple original Firebirds and the pickups they put on this reissue model are way too hot and not EQ'd right. They're very muddy and don't have that high treble the old ones do. I realize it's hard to recreate a pickup perfectly, but saying that the reissue doesn't get close is putting it nicely. The new ones sound more like P90 single coils than anything. The original sounded more like a ticked off telecaster. That said, they aren't bad pickups. But if you want the original sound you'll have to shell out the extra $200 or so for a repro set. A guitar that costs this much should not need an upgrade like that however.
OVERALL OPINION
I'm impressed with everything but the pickups. Actually this is a really nice reissue despite being a bit hard to find sometimes. Like I said before, I have seen and played a few original ones and this remake does do the design justice. If you are more concerned with getting the look down, this will be a satisfying axe, but if you want accurate sound and looks, expect a pickup switch.