A very good guitar.

This guitar is stunningly beautiful in the Pelham blue. The electronics feel very solid, with the possible exception of the bridge P90 pickup, which is a little shaky. I'm told that is normal for this sort of pickup, and it can be adjusted with some little effort.

The baked maple fingerboard is also attractive, and a little different than the rosewood I would typically prefer. It has less grit than rosewood, feeling more like ebony or more obviously the maple that it is. Unlike what Fender does with maple necks, though, it's not a glossy finished maple neck, being a little more natural.

The guitar has a lively and acoustic sound to it out of the box. The Sweetwater setup was very good, although I will tweak it... it even arrived in tune.

I have read reviews more thorough than my own that mention a lack of shielding in the control cavity. I'll take it apart if it's a buzzy guitar and shield it myself if I have to, I just want to mention that since it's pretty potentially important to me.

I won't get into the sound of it, because for one thing I don't know it well yet, and another because that's sort of subjective anyway. But the quality of the instrument is very high, and it's a fine playing guitar also. The neck feels great.

out of the Blue

Looks and Sounds SONIC,!!!!!!!!!! Really, Great neck, wide,thin, & fast,

well balanced, no problem with the pickups, regarding playing;or sound

2011 Firebird Studio Non-Reverse

I’ve drooled over the Firebird III model for years … and what’s not to love … three P-90s, altered body shape. It was not your grandfather’s (or Johnny Winter’s) Firebird, that’s for sure. But, they stopped making them in 1969 and the originals go for a premium. How much you ask? I came across a vintage ’65 a few years back with original hard shell case and the shop wanted $6,500 for it. After some negotiation, I got them down to $4,800 but couldn’t quite scrape up enough cushion change to cover it. Such is life.

The fine folks at Gibson Guitar have issued a tribute to the Firebird III … known here as the Studio Non-Reverse Firebird. The US-made ax comes in Pelham Blue and Vintage Sunburst and offers some interesting tonal opportunities.

Present are three Gibson’s new Tapped P-90 pickups. They do a good job of replicating the vintage P-90 sound. In fact, they’re very present and responsive, which is nice. The “Tapped” reference comes from the fact that the switch on each of the single-coil pickups are actually tap wired into the coil windings. Each of the pickups can be tapped by pulling up on its respective volume knob. When tapped, part of the output is grounded off and produces a brighter sound. The master tone knob is also a switch that puts the middle P-90 out of phase when combined via the 5-way selector switch with the bridge or neck pickup.

The body and neck are Grade-A mahogany. The guitar carries a lot of weight. It’s deceptive. It doesn’t look that heavy but I was surprised when I lifted it out of its beautiful resting place. The hard shell case is lined in white fur. It’s a stunning reveal when you open the case for the first time. The 60s profile neck is dressed with 22 medium-jumbo frets and is quite comfortable and set up well by Gibson.

I first tried my Pelham Blue-finished guitar (which is just a wonderfully beautiful finish – deep, rich) through several amplifiers … and it performed well through all. Up first was a 1970 Fender Twin Reverb, next was a 1993 Marshall JCM900 50 watt combo unit, and third was a Line 6 Pod Express. Each unit let me explore the possibilities of the guitar and it did not disappoint. I heard things with the Marshall that weren’t readily present with the Line 6 or Fender. The P-90s take well to distortion and, as a guitar with single-coil pickups, is not too noisy. I tested it with many types of overdrive – from slightly dirty to all out death metal. As you can imagine, with the P-90s it did better on the light to moderate distortion, but did its best to hold its own as more dirt was added.

The thing that got me most (and immediately) about the guitar is its resonance. I could tell it had a great sustain upon first strum right out of the case. The opening chord just rang. When plugged in, it had a harmonic quality that I’ve not found often, not even in other Gibsons. It really responds to the touch, with a bell-like tone. I hope that is a constant among the line and not a fluke realized only in the instrument I tested. I would hate to think others would be denied this fascinating and beautiful tone.

Pricing is very attractive for a USA-made Gibson: $1,389.00 out the door, with case and your choice of finish.

Bottom line: It’s an incredibly fun guitar to play and looks cool as all get out. Get ‘em while their hot folks, I’m told it’s a limited run and the Pelham Blue finishes are the first to be snatched up.