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Gibson Firebird Studio Electric Guitar
Review of the Gibson Firebird Studio by The Man in the Jar
This guitar represents one of my all-time lust-bunnies. The looks of the Firebird are sublime, it's a design style that stretches over the years from 1963 and still manages to look cutting edge.
Features of the Gibson Firebird Studio
Tuners - The Firebird Studio has ordinary Grover sealed mini-tuners in place of the quirky banjo-style tuning pegs on the standard model. This changes the look slightly but doesn't overpower the visual balance of the instrument. The Grovers are superbly smooth and accurate.
Headstock - The six-on-one-side headstock is reversed and some gentle scalloping on the face calls to mind vintage stringed instruments of pre-electric years. The important point about this design (as with the equally snub-nosed Telecaster) is the perfect straight-line path of the strings from bridge through to machine-head capstan.
Nut - The white plastic nut abuts the fretboard and is cleanly cut.
Neck - The mahogany fixed neck has a slight rake to it, but nowhere near as much as on a Les Paul. The cherry finish allows the mahogany grain to show through beautifully. This is an instantly accommodating neck. The width is of expected Gibson proportion but the depth is slim and shallow making it eminently comfortable to play. This is easily as good as even the best Ibanez neck. The heel is nicely rounded and offers little in the way of obstruction to the upper frets.
Fretboard - The rosewood fretboard has a slight stripe to the grain and the dot markers are traditional abalone.
Frets - The medium-thin frets are finished really well with no discernable snags anywhere.
Action - Good and low from the box, this guitar has been treated to a really good factory set-up.
Body - The flat slab of the Firebird body is an icon of guitar design. But good design needs to please more than the eye. The Firebird is a truly comfortable instrument to play in both standing and sitting positions. Although only 4 centimetres thick, the body shape provides for a lot of mahogany to affect the guitar's tone. Again the cherry finish allows the grain to peak through very seductively.
Bridge - Standard Gibson tune-o-matic arrangement with individual saddles allowing for intonation adjustment. String height is adjusted by means of a screw at each end of the bridge assembly. Strings are anchored in a solid bar stoptail.
Pickups - One Gibson 498T at the bridge position and one 490R at the neck position. These are full-sized humbuckers rather than the mini-humbuckers installed on the original Firebirds. This makes the Firebird Studio a serious rock option.
Controls - Volume and Tone for each pickup and a standard three-way pickup selector.
Pickguard - Single-ply white pickguard with the Firebird logo.
Strap-buttons - One on the base of the body and one on the back of the heel. As with all guitars equipped with a button on the heel this affects the way the guitar hangs and puts it into a slightly different, more relaxed playing position.
Output Jack - On the front of the body behind the controls.
Finish - This is a really beautiful, well-finished guitar.
Accessories - You get a Gibson goodie bag with lead strap and maintenance products and everything comes in an extremely robust, fur-lined hard case.
Sound of the Gibson Firebird Studio
The full-size Gibson humbuckers make this particular Firebird a really powerful instrument. The output from the 498T is high enough to bamboozle electronic tuners, I had to wind back the volume to make the tuner behave properly. The upside of this is of course the ease with which this axe overdrives valves. I was getting a lovely creamy distortion from my Epiphone Valve Junior at far lower volumes than I'm used to with other guitars. The bridge pickup on its own delivers a truly excellent classic rock voice that's a joy to play with, crystal highs and good, solid crunchy mids. The neck pickup is voiced more like the Gibson '57 Classic with slightly more stuffed into the mid-range. Overdriven on its own this delivers an authoritative rock voice for heavier numbers. The depth of tonality inherent in these pickups ensure that clean sounds are full and satisfying, be they pitched at blues, jazz or pop.
Overall Impressions of the Gibson Firebird Studio
Not since I first picked up my Les Paul Ultra have I been so hopelessly smitten by a guitar. In fact all the while the Firebird Studio was out of its case it elicited the kind of gasps from passers-by that you would normally only hear in a lap dancing club. This is a fantastic guitar. As a simple playing platform, the Firebird and Explorer designs take some beating for comfort and simplicity. Team these natural physical qualities with the playability of the neck, the upper fret access and the tone monster pickups nestling in half-an-acre of mahogany and you have a nigh irresistible package. If you're looking to buy a real Gibson then I urge you to look no further. This is a Princess of a guitar and is worth every penny of the price-tag.
Buy the Gibson Firebird Studio
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