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Custom Shop treatment of a Gibson Classic!

The Hummingbird Custom is one of Gibson Montana's most popular custom shop models handmade at the Gibson Acoustic Custom Shop in Bozeman, Montana. This model is based on Gibson's famous Hummingbird model, first released in 1960, that soon became a trademark of the times with artists like the Rolling Stones and is still seen today with legendary artists like John Mellencamp, Tom Petty, and newcomers like Michelle Branch. The Hummingbird Custom features a headstock and bridge bearing custom inlaid hummingbirds in flight, each hand engraved and made of solid mother-of-pearl. The body of the Hummingbird Custom is highlighted with a custom-selected flamed-Koa back and sides, abalone body trim, and an elegant Orpheum-style fingerboard inlay of colorful abalone against a rosewood backdrop. The pickguard of the Hummingbird Custom alone is suitable for framing with its ornate rendition of the Hummingbird's most famous trademark artistry, all expressed in hand-engraved abalone and pearl. Adorned by magnificent hummingbird inlays, each Hummingbird Custom is created with elaborate gold tuners, personally hand engraved by Gibson's master luthier.

The Gibson Hummingbird brought a subtle new body style and a bold new look to Gibson's dreadnought family. The Hummingbird was Gibson's first 16" wide dreadnought-style guitar with the extra wide upper bout, known as the "square shouldered" body shape. To emphasize the importance of the new model, Gibson outfitted the original Hummingbird with such eye-catching features such as a cherry sunburst finish (the first on a Gibson flat-top), double parallelogram fingerboard inlays, multilayered binding, and a modernized pickguard engraved with hummingbird and blossoms. As discriminating guitarists immediately discovered, underneath the Hummingbird's flashy ornamentation is a solid, high-quality guitar.

Gibson Montana Hummingbird Custom Features at a Glance:

• Natural finish
  
• Square-shoulder dreadnought
  
• Top species: Solid Sitka spruce
  
• Back and sides: Highly figured Koa
  
• Marquetry: Checkerboard
  
• Body binding: 8-ply with abalone on top, 5-ply on back
  
• Neck species: Mahogany
  
• Scale: 24-3/4"
  
• Angle: 3
  
• Joint: 14
  
• Profile: Round
  
• Fingerboard species: Rosewood
  
• Fingerboard binding: Single-ply with birdsbeak
  
• Number of frets: 20
  
• Inlays: Abalone Orpheum
  
• Nut width: 1.725
  
• Peghead angle: 17
  
• Other inlays: Hummingbird headstock inlays
  
• Bridge: Belly up
  
• Bridge inlay: Abalone Orpheum
  
• Pins: White
  
• Tuners: Engraved gold grovers
  
• Pickguard: Tortoise hummingbird
  
• Case: Hardshell
  
• Strings: Gibson masterbuilt premium phosphor bronze wound

Gibson: Don't Mess with a Good Thing
Gibson guitars have been around for well over a century. When guitarists are looking for an outstanding combination of superb tone and playability along with great looks and gorgeous finishes, the choice for most of those 100 plus years has been Gibson. From their amazing collection of fine acoustics to the electric guitars that literally rewrote music history, Gibson guitars have been on almost every chart-topping album from artists like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Cream, and Led Zeppelin. These "first call" instruments also cross an enormous array of diverse styles, from folk and country to blues and hard rock. With that resume, it's not surprising that so many of Gibson's best-selling instruments have changed little over the decades. Because there's just no sense in messing with a good thing!

Specification Detail Manufacturer Part Number SSHCKOAH1