Gibson Firebird

The Gibson Firebird was one of the products from the Gibson guitar makers attempts at getting back into or getting reacquainted with the Guitar playing public.

After the success of other guitars such as the Gibson Flying V and the Explorer, Gibson tried to go back to their roots and make a guitar that was similar in design and style to the Fender Strat or Broadcaster, but also had the look and feel of a modern classic too. Therefore, in 1963 the Gibson Firebird was born.

The design of the guitar was odd. The lower horn of the body was longer than the top and almost looks as if it is being played upside down. The Firebird is also Gibson's very first guitar that uses their "neck through construction" technique where the neck itself is one long piece of wood that extends all the way to the end of the guitar.

The Gibson Firebird went through various iterations, all marked by a different set of roman numerals in sequence. In the end though, the odd and revolutionary design of the Firebird was put to bed and Gibson relented and made a version with the horn at the top rather than the bottom. There were also several lawsuits against the model as it so closely copied other guitars by Fender.

The Firebird was re-issued in 2002 by Gibson as part of their Custom Shop series of guitars and is still available to buy today.