I'm going to have a real struggle not buying this thing.

For guitars of the straight waisted variety (or reverse offset).
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JSett
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Re: I'm going to have a real struggle not buying this thing.

Post by JSett » Thu Jul 29, 2021 6:42 am

Larry Mal wrote:
Thu Jul 29, 2021 6:36 am
Lost In Autumn wrote:
Thu Jul 29, 2021 6:29 am

I’ve owned several Gibsons over the years, Les Pauls, ES125 t, ES125 TCDB, Jr’s, Melody Makers, Explorer, ES335 etc and my Firebird is probably my favorite, but then my sonic tastes lean more towards Fenders and brighter tones. Oddly, the things that make the Firebird work so well for me personally- I’m 6’8” tall, are also likely contributing factors in why it didn’t take off. It’s a larger guitar than either of my 28” scale baritones and nearly as big as my Bass VI
I love my Firebirds also, for the same reason... it's a noise free guitar that does the Fender sound yet has its own power and character.

A lot of people talk about the ergonomics of it.. I can't dismiss that, but I can say that I never noticed it. It felt like home right away.

You're 6'8", I'm an even 6', but for anyone who might be wondering if the Firebird is too large for you I will just submit this for your consideration:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A29BMj3v86w
I've briefly met Polly Harvey in a pub about 20 years ago, and she is indeed your standard womanly height of about 5 feet and a few inches IIRC. That Firebird doesn't look unusually large on her at all.
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Larry Mal
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Re: I'm going to have a real struggle not buying this thing.

Post by Larry Mal » Thu Jul 29, 2021 6:50 am

Lost In Autumn wrote:
Thu Jul 29, 2021 6:42 am

Wow on PJ Harvey playing one. My current obsession was sparked by seeing Temples play before the pandemic began. The lead singer can’t be much bigger than Polly Jean.
The main ergonomic consideration that I noticed was where my right hand falls- I primarily pick over the neck pickup, but on the Firebird, my hand falls on the bridge, which further contributes to its brightness.
An aside, I recently put a pair of Filtertrons on an Epiphone WildKat- those pickups also have Fender-like tones, but their own sound as well.
I forget which guitar it was... maybe even my ES-335, maybe one of my acoustics, but all of the sudden I found my hand playing back towards the bridge for some reason.

At first I was annoyed because it was making the guitar sound a little shrill, then I realized that it could be something of an advantage if I handled it right, single I could play by the bridge for more muted sounds and then bring the full sound of the guitar out by simply moving my hand forward a couple of inches.

It wasn't my Firebirds, though (I have a reverse and a non), those felt just fine from the get go. But I do understand that this isn't always the experience.
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Lost In Autumn
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Re: I'm going to have a real struggle not buying this thing.

Post by Lost In Autumn » Thu Jul 29, 2021 6:54 am

Larry Mal wrote:
Thu Jul 29, 2021 6:50 am
Lost In Autumn wrote:
Thu Jul 29, 2021 6:42 am

Wow on PJ Harvey playing one. My current obsession was sparked by seeing Temples play before the pandemic began. The lead singer can’t be much bigger than Polly Jean.
The main ergonomic consideration that I noticed was where my right hand falls- I primarily pick over the neck pickup, but on the Firebird, my hand falls on the bridge, which further contributes to its brightness.
An aside, I recently put a pair of Filtertrons on an Epiphone WildKat- those pickups also have Fender-like tones, but their own sound as well.
I forget which guitar it was... maybe even my ES-335, maybe one of my acoustics, but all of the sudden I found my hand playing back towards the bridge for some reason.

At first I was annoyed because it was making the guitar sound a little shrill, then I realized that it could be something of an advantage if I handled it right, single I could play by the bridge for more muted sounds and then bring the full sound of the guitar out by simply moving my hand forward a couple of inches.

It wasn't my Firebirds, though (I have a reverse and a non), those felt just fine from the get go. But I do understand that this isn't always the experience.
It’s not that the Firebird didn’t feel fine, it did. It also felt radically different from any other guitar I’ve owned; my non-reverse didn’t feel as different, but it’s also an Eastwood clone, not the real deal. The neck and ergonomics are different from every other guitar I’ve ever owned

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