Gibson Firebird I Non-Reverse, 1965

gibson-firebird-nonreverse-1965-cons-full-1

Serial Number	N/A, removed
Pricing	$3200 CND with case. No Longer Available
Neck	Mahogany set-neck construction with unbound rosewood fingerboard. Mother of pearl dot markers. Long ago, the head had broken and was repaired with a head splice along the back of the head. the headstock and part of the neck were refinished; this process removed the serial number. 24.75″ scale length.
Frets	Medium frets with some wear but very playable.
Body	Mahogany offset design body with a few dings and scratches. Comfort contour on the back.
Finish	Tobacco sunburst nitrocellulose lacquer finish; some wear damage, dings and scratches, and a touchup above the controls.
Hardware/electronics	Two P-90 pickups, pickup selector, individual volume and tone contols. Ridged stop bar bridge, short Vibrola unit. Tuners have been replaced and are currently Gotoh units, and tune very smoothly. Pot codes date to 1965, knobs have been replaced.
Playability/Action	This guitar plays very well, clean and comfortable. The neck isn’t skinny, but it isn’t chunky either, and overall the design is well balanced in terms of appearance and weight distribution.
Case	Included.
Comments	Gibson started producing the Firebird in 1963 (as the ‘reverse’ models), but by 1965 sales weren’t being made and Fender was suing for copyright infringement, so the guitar was basically flipped, producing these ‘non-reverse’ models, and these were produced until 1969 when the line was discontinued. The Reverse models used a neck-though design, while the non-reverse feature a set-in neck.This Firebird I has two P-90’s and a factory stop-bar-and vibrola combination. The vibrola itself works quite well; these units are really nothing like the Stratocaster bridge, but are much more like a Bigsby in terms of pitch change.