NUGD - 1976 Ibanez Firebird

There are a couple sets of the Maxon Ibanez pickups on Reverb if you are looking for them, both sets dated 1976 . One set has the pickup rings, that set will run ya about $550 and the set without will run ya about $390

According to the post the set that is about $550 is a prototype set, the other set is not.
 
$550 for a set of old maxon pups with rings? damn! im in the wrong business
 
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The Maxon mini-humbuckers are like hen's teeth. I shall not be hunting down a set for this Firebird. The Gibson units currently installed sound great, but they are pretty rare and valuable by themselves - so I'll probably sell them, and install a set of Trev Wilkinson minis or maybe a set of Epiphone ProBucker minis. Either set would sound just fine in this. Still looking for a Maestro-style vibrola for a reasonable amount. I got this thing cheap, and there is no hurry to flip it for a profit. The original case is in good shape, and very hard to find, too. It's worth a nice sum. In the meantime....working on my Johnny Winter impressions.
 
for what its worth... the antiquity II firebird pups are fuckin killer for old school firebird tone
 
Okay, so the guy really liked it... but he's thinking about buying something else. So.... I can't restore it to factory specs, but I can make it look factory. New parts ordered.
 
If anyone wants to make a deal for it, fine. Then you can mess it up all you want. As long as I have it, the factory finish will remain.
 
Get a load of the crappy routing in the pickup holes. Some troglodyte free handed it, and then used a blunt screwdriver to clean up the edges. Probably a dozen screw holes around each one, too. Heck, there are 2 sets of screw holes under the pickguard.

SAM_4491.jpg SAM_4492.jpg
 
ICTGoober said:
Well - I strung it up with 10's and got the action nice and low. The body is super light, making it neck heavy on a strap. Once I put my right arm on the body it was stable. The Gibson pickups sound great - lots of bite, even on the neck pickup. Plays well, neck is narrow - feels like a 70's SG. The Bigsby doesn't work for ****, barely any response. Maybe a roller bridge would help, but it looks nasty to me on this thing. This guitar could be gigged right now, no problem. That white pickguard must be in another box in my storage unit. I'll go dig it out once it warms up a bit.
Click to expand...

Yes, a roller bridge is essential with a Bigsby.
 
Having nothing else on the bench right now, and since the new parts I ordered are still enroute, I thought I'd glue some of the splinters back together on this thing (the photo shows me clamping the mahogany back together in the bridge pickup rout). Also, I noticed this has been refretted. Whoever did the job didn't cut the frets the exact length sometimes and there are small gaps on one end or the other - not quite reaching the binding (It's tough to be consistent). I'll take care of it and then polish out the frets. Also, decided the restore the factory bone nut by repairing all the cracked edges and surfaces with the old CA/baking powder technique. Should look acceptable once completed. Where are those damn parts?

SAM_4526.jpg SAM_4524.jpg
 
Bunch of parts showed up today. All that's left is the truss rod cover and the Maestro Vibrola copy. Patience is the key.
 
I tried to remove the gold Gibson logo with acetone... No dice. It's permanent. I plan on keeping it as a pattern to make new ones. It's just too thin.

Got the new pickups today. I can't use the chrome rings that came with them because they don't cover the butched up holes made when the full sized humbuckers were installed. I will fab up some aluminum rings big enough to cover all the holes, but sized internally for the Firebird units.

By the way, the original Firebird pickups were loaded with alnico 5 magnets. Most of the new Firebird pickups on the market have ceramic pickups with a hotter output and brighter tone. I'm going for a vintage sound, and it turns out Allparts offered Firebird units with alnico 5 magnets. Hope they have the tone I'll be chasing with this.

This project is turning out to be a lot more work (and more interesting) than I thought it would be. It won't be restored, it will be resto-modded in hot rodder parlance.
 
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The truss rod cover and Maestro vibrola showed up yesterday. I'd never fooled with one, and it's weird. You have to take it apart to install it on the guitar It was tricky, but I managed to make it all work.

I'm getting close to assembly time.

SAM_4533.jpg SAM_4535.jpg SAM_4542.jpg SAM_4544.jpg
 
Last night I wanted to mount the Hipshot locking tuners. The problem? Fender spacing on the mounting plates won't fit the Firebird spacing. Solution? Mounting a sanding barrel in the Dremel and elongate the two outer holes until all 3 tuners fit on the plate.

Check the photos - stock plate vs modified.

hip 1.jpg hip 2.jpg
 

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