What's Red, Flies Through the Air, Has Mini "Friends," Came Early For Christmas? (UPDATE: It's a Gibson Firebird

[toomanycats]

Go ahead, take a guess.

[fatjack]

A Gretsch?

[toomanycats]

A Gretsch?

Great guess, but "No." Thanks for playing.

[mozz]

[toomanycats]

Roadie_feat-1080x2643.jpg

Getting a little warmer, just a little.

[BatUtilityBelt]

[toomanycats]

Nope.

[bc rich]

Red deer ?

[toomanycats]

AaaaahhhhhHHH. . . I can't take it anymore! I'm just dying to tell you guys!

It's a 2013 Gibson Firebird V. Get it? The firebird is red and (presumably) flies through the air. His mini "friends" are the two mini-humbuckers.

It's in great shape and plays like a dream. It came with the original Gibson case, which is jumbo sized. It has the Steinberger tuners, which is a good compromise for me, as they leave the headstock clean when viewed from the front but don't have the weight (and neck dive) of the banjo tuners. Surprisingly, I rather like the high output ceramic mini humbuckers, though I may still order either Duncan Antiquities or the MojoTone Johnny Winter set.

Short video of me noodling on the Firebird in the kitchen:

[solteroblues]

nice! Always been curious, never really played one before.

[toomanycats]

nice! Always been curious, never really played one before.

I've been lusting after one for a while now. The visual appeal is definitely part of it, though from a practical standpoint I did need to fill in the glaring mini humbucker hole in my guitar collection.

A Firebird plays much different than any other Gibson models. The neck is thin and access in the higher registers is stellar. It is also a very light guitar, or at least mine is.

Be advised that the pickups that come in the contemporary production model Firebirds (mine included) are much different than those in vintage instruments. If you want vintage Firebird low output ALNiCo mini humbuckers you've either got to,
1) Buy a custom shop model (big bucks)
2) buy a vintage Firebird (even bigger bucks)
3) Seek replacement pickups from the aftermarket (Seymour Duncan, Mojotone , etc.)

I'm probably going go the 3rd route, because I've just got to know what the vintage Firebird sound really is. I mean, I know what they sound like, because I love Johnny Winter and have spent a lot of time listening to him ( and copying his licks). But I want to know what it's like to actually play those unique pickups.

[zisme]

Beautiful! HNGD

Making me miss my epi firebird

[golem]

Don't let me stop from getting you the excellent Mojotones or Duncans but @andrewsrea makes some great Firebird pickups. He can get you that Johnny Winter tone.

Also congrats! Firebirds are my favorite Gibson guitar.

[andrewsrea]

HNGD and welcome to the club!

I have a 2016 Gibson FB and agree with your review. My theory on the 2008 through 2016 models is that they were not prone to the quality problems that the more mainline Gibsons had. I toured the Memphis factory in 2018 and the Operations Manager told me the FB's were made as a limited batch run each year in the Nashville factory. He said knowing that the builders did not have the 'learning through repetition' and these are more complex than other guitars, they had Custom Shop oversight and more robust inspections for each build step.

Like @golem said, according to my build logs I have built 24 vintage FB pickups to date. I've sold a bunch on the internet and out of all the pickups I've made, I've received glowing unsolicited feedback each FB I've sold. I have a modified vintage set (Alnico 2) in my SX SJM-62 and a hybrid JW set (A2 bridge / A5 neck) in my 2016 Gibson.

I am not a ceramic pickup fan for all around use, but consider the originals from my 2016 to be among the best I've heard.

As far as the Johnny Winter pickups, I have gotten to know a few folks at Mojotone who makes the actual JW set. I met the owner in the early 90's when the company was 'Ampwares' and they were literally a mile from my first house in Aston, PA. IMHO, they make awesome pickups. They built this set to JW's taste, which is a vintage neck wind (around 6.3k DCR) and a bridge around 7.0k DCR. Both Alnico 5 and I think are machine wound 42ga Remington wire (very good). I think their set is around $285 delivered, which is nice for a boutique pickup and they have fantastic customer service.

My favorite set is my AMI FB hybrid an A2 in the bridge (7.7k DCR) to reduce the ice pick tones and increase the harmonics, with an A5 neck(6.5k DCR). And I handwire vs. machine and have some scatter secrets that help with harmonics and sensitivity. I am pretty sure my components are the same as Mojotone, but my AGF price is a fraction of other's FB models. PM me when you get the itch.

[toomanycats]

HNGD and welcome to the club!

I have a 2016 Gibson FB and agree with your review. My theory on the 2008 through 2016 models is that they were not prone to the quality problems that the more mainline Gibsons had. I toured the Memphis factory in 2018 and the Operations Manager told me the FB's were made as a limited batch run each year in the Nashville factory. He said knowing that the builders did not have the 'learning through repetition' and these are more complex than other guitars, they had Custom Shop oversight and more robust inspections for each build step.

Like @golem said, according to my build logs I have built 24 vintage FB pickups to date. I've sold a bunch on the internet and out of all the pickups I've made, I've received glowing unsolicited feedback each FB I've sold. I have a modified vintage set (Alnico 2) in my SX SJM-62 and a hybrid JW set (A2 bridge / A5 neck) in my 2016 Gibson.

I am not a ceramic pickup fan for all around use, but consider the originals from my 2016 to be among the best I've heard.

As far as the Johnny Winter pickups, I have gotten to know a few folks at Mojotone who makes the actual JW set. I met the owner in the early 90's when the company was 'Ampwares' and they were literally a mile from my first house in Aston, PA. IMHO, they make awesome pickups. They built this set to JW's taste, which is a vintage neck wind (around 6.3k DCR) and a bridge around 7.0k DCR. Both Alnico 5 and I think are machine wound 42ga Remington wire (very good). I think their set is around $285 delivered, which is nice for a boutique pickup and they have fantastic customer service.

My favorite set is my AMI FB hybrid an A2 in the bridge (7.7k DCR) to reduce the ice pick tones and increase the harmonics, with an A5 neck(6.5k DCR). And I handwire vs. machine and have some scatter secrets that help with harmonics and sensitivity. I am pretty sure my components are the same as Mojotone, but my AGF price is a fraction of other's FB models. PM me when you get the itch.

Which tuners does your 2016 have? I'm very happy with the Steinbergers on mine and find the design ingenious. Changing the strings was a breeze and it stays in tune perfectly. I wouldn't want them on a Les Paul or Strat simply for aesthetic reasons, though for a Firebird they seem an ideal solution.

I agree that the ceramic Gibson pickups are unexpectedly good. My bridge measures 22.95K and my neck measures 14.97K. Contrary to what I've read online, I don't find them muddy, shrill, or ice picky. I'd describe them as part pissed off Tele, part jangly p90. Still, I'd like to have the authentic Firebird mini humbucker experience with this guitar. I'll send you a PM.

[andrewsrea]

^ Steinbergers. They are super cool. I have to watch not to lean on the neck when tuning - I noticed I was bending the neck and tuning sharp. This has to do with the thin neck you described.

The original pups for mine were labeled 23K bridge and 18K neck, which blows my mind.

[nomadh]

AaaaahhhhhHHH. . . I can't take it anymore! I'm just dying to tell you guys!

It's a 2013 Gibson Firebird V. Get it? The firebird is red and (presumably) flies through the air. His mini "friends" are the two mini-humbuckers.


fullsizeoutput_bc6.jpeg


It's in great shape and plays like a dream. It came with the original Gibson case, which is jumbo sized. It has the Steinberger tuners, which is a good compromise for me, as they leave the headstock clean when viewed from the front but don't have the weight (and neck dive) of the banjo tuners. Surprisingly, I rather like the high output ceramic mini humbuckers, though I may still order either Duncan Antiquities or the MojoTone Johnny Winter set.

Short video of me noodling on the Firebird in the kitchen:




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I didnt hate the pickups when I got some time with one at namm. From memory i think they tried to voice them like a good hotter ceramic fullsized bucker. Or opposite of what a vintage fb should be. So many people hate them for that but they are good at what they do.

[toomanycats]

AaaaahhhhhHHH. . . I can't take it anymore! I'm just dying to tell you guys!

It's a 2013 Gibson Firebird V. Get it? The firebird is red and (presumably) flies through the air. His mini "friends" are the two mini-humbuckers.


fullsizeoutput_bc6.jpeg


It's in great shape and plays like a dream. It came with the original Gibson case, which is jumbo sized. It has the Steinberger tuners, which is a good compromise for me, as they leave the headstock clean when viewed from the front but don't have the weight (and neck dive) of the banjo tuners. Surprisingly, I rather like the high output ceramic mini humbuckers, though I may still order either Duncan Antiquities or the MojoTone Johnny Winter set.

Short video of me noodling on the Firebird in the kitchen:




fullsizeoutput_bbe.jpeg

fullsizeoutput_bc2.jpeg

fullsizeoutput_bc5.jpeg

I didnt hate the pickups when I got some time with one at namm. From memory i think they tried to voice them like a good hotter ceramic fullsized bucker. Or opposite of what a vintage fb should be. So many people hate them for that but they are good at what they do.

Yep, not too long ago I played a 2000s Gibson Les Paul Classic with 496R and 500T hot ceramic humbuckers and I'd describe the Firebird pups similarly. I can't say that either are "bad" per se, and in fact they're both kinda fun in an "in your face" sort of way. The crunch, clarity, and easy harmonics are seductive. But unless you're doing modern heavy music with high gain all the time I find that pickups like this eventually become fatiguing and limiting.

I wonder if the fact that Dave Grohl is a prominent Firebird user is at least part of the reason why Gibson makes the current pups this way. If people are inspired to try a Firebird because of Grohl and his music, then they're going to expect pups that sound aggressive and modern. In fact, I'd wager that if the Firebird came with a pickup set that was vintage voiced, many buyers would probably be ripping them out and calling them "thin and weak crap."

[Mossman]

It's a 2013 Gibson Firebird V. Get it? The firebird is red and (presumably) flies through the air. His mini "friends" are the two mini-humbuckers.


It's in great shape and plays like a dream. It came with the original Gibson case, which is jumbo sized. It has the Steinberger tuners, which is a good compromise for me, as they leave the headstock clean when viewed from the front but don't have the weight (and neck dive) of the banjo tuners. Surprisingly, I rather like the high output ceramic mini humbuckers, though I may still order either Duncan Antiquities or the MojoTone Johnny Winter set.

Short video of me noodling on the Firebird in the kitchen:

Nice! The Firebird is about the only guitar by Gibson that I have any GAS left for... But I'd probably be happy with an Epiphone (I'm sure you probably found that at a pawn shop for $25, but I never have that kind of luck. ).

Joking aside; that thing sounds like a Firebird to me... I'd keep those pickups. But 23k?! Yikes!

[toomanycats]

It's a 2013 Gibson Firebird V. Get it? The firebird is red and (presumably) flies through the air. His mini "friends" are the two mini-humbuckers.


It's in great shape and plays like a dream. It came with the original Gibson case, which is jumbo sized. It has the Steinberger tuners, which is a good compromise for me, as they leave the headstock clean when viewed from the front but don't have the weight (and neck dive) of the banjo tuners. Surprisingly, I rather like the high output ceramic mini humbuckers, though I may still order either Duncan Antiquities or the MojoTone Johnny Winter set.

Short video of me noodling on the Firebird in the kitchen:

Nice! The Firebird is about the only guitar by Gibson that I have any GAS left for... But I'd probably be happy with an Epiphone (I'm sure you probably found that at a pawn shop for $25, but I never have that kind of luck. ).

Joking aside; that thing sounds like a Firebird to me... I'd keep those pickups. But 23k?! Yikes!

I know that pickup winders often emphasize that resistance is not equivalent to output. I wonder what the actual output of these pickups are. While 23K does sound outrageous on paper these pickups in reality aren't that scary. It must be a combination of the narrow coils, the ceramic magnet, and I don't know what else that keeps them from sounding like mud with all that resistance.

[toomanycats]

Look what was delivered to my house this morning. It's a pair of hand wound Firebird pickups by @andrewsrea! Ain't they pretty! Can't wait to solder these beauties in, which I'm going to do as soon as I stop punching these keys. I've got a gig every day for the next three days and will have ample opportunity to put em' through the paces. Maybe I can get some video up in the next couple days too.

[Chocol8]

I was just thinking about this thread and I was going to ask if you put in new pickups yet. Those look great, hope they sound just as good!

[tobijohn]

Look what was delivered to my house this morning. It's a pair of hand wound Firebird pickups by @andrewsrea! Ain't they pretty! Can't wait to solder these beauties in, which I'm going to do as soon as I stop punching these keys. I've got a gig every day for the next three days and will have ample opportunity to put em' through the paces. Maybe I can get some video up in the next couple days too.

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I have a set of Rob's FB pickups in a Grote Firebird copy but they'll be going into an AD-3200MCC P90 GT as soon as find some time...

[BatUtilityBelt]

I have a set of Rob's FB pickups in a Grote Firebird copy but they'll be going into an AD-3200MCC P90 GT as soon as find some time...

You don't like the P-100s in the AD-3200MCC P90? I agree they don't quite make P90 sound, I but still like them enough to keep them in the guitar. They seem pretty versatile.

[tobijohn]

I have a set of Rob's FB pickups in a Grote Firebird copy but they'll be going into an AD-3200MCC P90 GT as soon as find some time...

You don't like the P-100s in the AD-3200MCC P90? I agree they don't quite make P90 sound, I but still like them enough to keep them in the guitar. They seem pretty versatile.

They're fine but swapping pickups (or at least thinking about it) is what I do. Actually, Rob's FB pickups have two leads so I'll leave the AD-3200MCC stock and use his in a different P90 Agile....