Dazed & Confused
With eight designs, four models and two body shapes, Gibson’s Firebirds were anything but one and the same…
There have been numerous Firebird reincarnations since they were discontinued in 1970, but during their original run at Gibson’s Kalamazoo factory in the 60s, the Firebird I, III, V and VII models appeared in two different forms widely known as ‘reverse’ and ‘non-reverse’. The Explorer-like reverse Firebirds appeared first in 1963 and were superseded by their non-reverse counterparts in 1965.
As if eight different Firebirds emerging within this short time isn’t convoluted enough, the waters muddy even further with some instruments having left the factory during the ’65 transition phase with both reverse and non-reverse specs. Nevertheless, in this issue’s Dazed & Confused – the first of our two-part focus on Firebirds – we aim to clear things up and make it simple to identify all four of the early reverse-style ’Birds at a glance.
Announced in the spring of ’63, they were intended to compete directly with Fender and boost Gibson’s flagging solidbody sales. However, Fender argued the Firebirds’ “new style offset body” mirrored its own patented “off-set waist” body shape and, following talks, Gibson decided to change the design – albeit to a far more Fender-like one! We’ll be looking at those later non-reverse models next time, but for now here’s a rundown of Gibson’s original Firebird line-up… [RB]
Guitarist would like to thank ATB Guitars in Cheltenham and Vintage ‘n’ Rare Guitars in Bath