1966 Gibson Firebird I

     Rare original custom color, Cardinal Red. Custom colors on Gibson guitars from the ‘60s are rare. More rare than Fender custom colors. Why? Perhaps the way they were made. You can, because they have bolt-on necks, drag a Fender body to your local California hot rod shop and get it done rather quickly (of course they had an in-house paint shop especially after 1962 but you get the point.) Gibson could simply not just paint the body so a bit more work was involved. Plus, Gibson moved slowly. It was not until 1969 that GIbson added the Les Paul Personal that finally had an extra switch besides the pickup selector. 

     But we digress. These second-series Firebirds, the so-called “non-reverse” ones, had Fender design cues, but offer set necks, aged Honduran mahogany, and powerful P-90s. We’ve always preferred the lowest-level Firebird with two pickups as players. Why? Two pickups, not three, and the wraparound bridge that bypasses the trem and gets you lower action – you can’t do that on a Firebird V or Firebird VII. 

     This guitar is clean, real clean. We bought this from the son of the original owner, in its original case. Gibson offered two shades of red besides Sparkling Burgundy – first, Cardinal Red. Google cardinals (the bird) and that’s it, bright red. The other was Ember Red, like Cardinal Red but baked in an oven and burned to a much darker red. 

     Extra time will be needed to ship this. We don’t know of a new case that fits these. Remember, you will need to have it professionally packed and fully insured to send it back. An exciting, great-sounding ‘60s Gibson classic in a rare and beautiful color. Ask about shipping before you buy. This is a fully original, unbroken, very rare and clean custom-color Gibson with its original case with Bay City Rollers interior (it’s plaid). We love it.