Gibson Firebird!

[Bludave]

I am considering purchasing a Firebird 5. Its always been high on my list, but I noticed at Sweetwater they have Steinberger tuners not the typical Banjo tuners?? Anybody know how well they work and when did Gibson move away from the Banjo style tuners? FWIW I would only consider the Reverse Firebirds. Awesome looking and sounding guitars!

 

[jeremy]

Re: Gibson Firebird!

i love me a fb5 too. never was thrilled with the banjo tuners but i havent seen them with the steinberger ones

 

[blueman335]

Re: Gibson Firebird!

Hmmm... Firebirds. Interesting guitars. Weird, but interesting. Larger than you'd think too.

What type of PU's one the one you're looking at?

 

[jeremy]

Re: Gibson Firebird!

V's have two typical firebird pups. the new ones dont sound like the old ones. the new ones are high output. the antiquity II fb pups are righteous and sound like the old ones!!

 

[Wattage]

Re: Gibson Firebird!

Dave one thing I want you to think about before you decide.....DO IT!!!!!

 

[PoorMan]

Re: Gibson Firebird!

Dave one thing I want you to think about before you decide.....DO IT!!!!!

+1

 

[Ashurbanipal]

Re: Gibson Firebird!

The Steinberger tuners are supposed to be infinitely better than the banjos in terms of performance, and lighter too, making the guitar less neck heavy. I think they started putting them on the regular V in 2010.

The pups are ceramic and hot, i.e. nothing like those on a vintage Bird.

I'd get a Kauer Banshee, personally, as it's customizable.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Gibson Firebird!

I used to be actually good at playing right off a sheet.

Oh what would I have given, and still would give, if I could trade it for better ability to play by ear :sad:

I've always been a 'by ear' guy; from the beginning I played along with records, tapes, radio, CD's, & with other players. I'd recommend doing that as often as you can.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Gibson Firebird!

I used to play with a guy that had a sunburst Firebird 5 and that thing sounded great. I think it had FB mini's.

 

[Wattage]

Re: Gibson Firebird!

Antiquity's would be oh so awesome!

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Gibson Firebird!

I am considering purchasing a Firebird 5. Its always been high on my list, but I noticed at Sweetwater they have Steinberger tuners not the typical Banjo tuners?? Anybody know how well they work and when did Gibson move away from the Banjo style tuners? FWIW I would only consider the Reverse Firebirds. Awesome looking and sounding guitars!

The gearless Steinberger tuners happened on non VOS/Historic Birds about 2010...middle of the year. They are cheeper, more accurate and lighter than banjo tuners so people seem to like them better plus they result in less broken Firebird headstocks!

Just know before you buy a new Bird that they come with standard stop bars and tailpieces (no aluminum stops and no ABR1's) and the pickups are very hot (ceramic and wound to around 17k I believe)plus they have the standard Gibson 300k volume pots with the standard taper that sucks for really using the guitars volume...

They are cool but knowing what I know your playing style you'll likely at least want to change the pickups and the pots.

 

[AlexR]

Re: Gibson Firebird!

I've always been a 'by ear' guy; from the beginning I played along with records, tapes, radio, CD's, & with other players. I'd recommend doing that as often as you can.

I'd love to play by ear....I mean Jimi played with his tongue, so it would be good to see if all parts of the face could be tried.

 

[Brow]

Re: Gibson Firebird!

I have an Epi Firebird studio with the Steinberger tuners and I'm not that big a fan tbh.

Mine don't seem to give you too much play in the tuning when restringing and tuning up, so there's always a slight chance they may pull out of the tuning peg. I'm thinking about replacing them with something else.

I replaced the pickups in mine with Dimarzio Super Distortion (bridge) and Super 2 (neck) and surprisingly it's quite a versatile guitar now.

 

[tonello]

Re: Gibson Firebird!

I dicked around with some Steinberger tuners on that 7 string Flying V when it came out (never bought one just messed around with it a little), and they seemed to be ok. I think the gear ratio is something like 40:1 with is insanely large. I think the most I ever want to have is 18:1 or 20:1. That being said, the Firebird itself is pretty good as a guitar. I think if they really wanted to make it vintage, they'd go back to banjo tuners.

 

[Jeffrec]

Re: Gibson Firebird!

Absolutely go for it Dave!

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Gibson Firebird!

The Firebird is a very unique looking/sounding/playing guitar. I love mine...original Firebird minis and Banjo tuners.

I love the look of the banjos, but they are very heavy and they're not very accurate. I think the Steinberger gearless tuners are a definite improvement. I've been considering making that change on mine, but I can't justify the expense when I hardly ever play this guitar anymore. Plus, like I said, I really love the classic looks of the banjos.

 

[Bludave]

Re: Gibson Firebird!

Hmmm... Firebirds. Interesting guitars. Weird, but interesting. Larger than you'd think too.

What type of PU's one the one you're looking at?

I wouldn't consider changing the pickups until I had the guitar for a few months. Then I would attempt to fix what I don't like. Quite honestly the Gibson Firebird pickups sound great to me, but I would definitely consider the Duncan Vintage Firebird

It's been a while since I played one but I remember a Firebird really rockin'. I just have to find the right one.