NHTom Posted May 25, 2014 Share Posted May 25, 2014 Been eyeing a few Firebirds lately, but the real deal is not in the budget at the moment. I see there was a Firebird Studio a few years back. Anyone own one? Good? Bad? Thoughts or opinions? The Pelham Blue one in particular grabs my attention. NHTom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted May 26, 2014 Share Posted May 26, 2014 I had one of those for a while a sunburst one.... And it was a really cool guitar... You are talking about the one with three tapped P90s.. ? (that's the one I had). The wiring and the sound you got from it was very interesting.. it looked really cool (and sounded like a good Gibson should), I just never really bonded with it... The neck on those are quite flat which I just found weird, it wasn't bad, just not for me so I sold it in the end to a very happy customer (as they were already out of production by then)... So yeah. a really nice and fairly unique Gibson to own if you don't mind the neck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NHTom Posted May 27, 2014 Author Share Posted May 27, 2014 Thanks, Good info on the neck. They are not real common around here, so I was considering breaking my rule and getting one shipped without playing it first, but after reading your thoughs on the necks, I'll either hold out for one local or plan on a long drive to try one first. NHTom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 Thanks, Good info on the neck. They are not real common around here, so I was considering breaking my rule and getting one shipped without playing it first, but after reading your thoughs on the necks, I'll either hold out for one local or plan on a long drive to try one first. NHTom Yeah probably a good idea... they are a bit different that's for sure.. Also on a silly side note, I like to show my guitars and have the standard type floor stands for them, and the firebird just about sits on it (and slightly awkwardly) because of the odd shape... lol :) I was always worried it was gonna fall over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eades Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 Are your referring to the 2011 non reverse firebird studio in pelham blue, the neck is awesome its a ultra thin profile,i love it,the thing that's let's it down is the p90 pickups there just a terrible pickup that hum they should of put mini humbuckers in,also its a baked maple fret board that feels great but looks to light and cheap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NHTom Posted May 27, 2014 Author Share Posted May 27, 2014 Yeah probably a good idea... they are a bit different that's for sure.. Also on a silly side note, I like to show my guitars and have the standard type floor stands for them, and the firebird just about sits on it (and slightly awkwardly) because of the odd shape... lol :) I was always worried it was gonna fall over. Well, I own an Explorer......So I'm used to a guitar what won't sit right on ANYTHING......lol. NHTom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NHTom Posted May 27, 2014 Author Share Posted May 27, 2014 Are your referring to the 2011 non reverse firebird studio in pelham blue, the neck is awesome its a ultra thin profile,i love it,the thing that's let's it down is the p90 pickups there just a terrible pickup that hum they should of put mini humbuckers in,also its a baked maple fret board that feels great but looks to light and cheap This is actually the one I"ve got my eye on. Of course I have a feeling it will be like a needle in a haystack to find one close enough for me to try. NHTom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eades Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 I take it its 2nd hand as they got discontinued in 2008 I think, they made it in 4 colours black red white and blue I have one in red its a fun guitar, get it bought, you can always sell it to the foo fighters fans Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 This is the one I had Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NHTom Posted May 27, 2014 Author Share Posted May 27, 2014 Yes, I'll be trying to hunt down a second hand one. Nice Rabs......that body style is growing on me too and now that I know it was available in a studio model it might be in my price range. NHTom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thejay Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 I have the same non reverse firebird shown but I also have a firebird studio... Two totally different guitars. Both are really great and function very differently. The non reverse has more of an old school sound with the p90s and a load of awesome wiring goodies - out of phase for middle pickup, splitting the coils etc. the firebird studio is a 490/498 combo somewhere between the sg and LP models. I dig them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thejay Posted June 2, 2014 Share Posted June 2, 2014 This is actually the one I"ve got my eye on. Of course I have a feeling it will be like a needle in a haystack to find one close enough for me to try. NHTom By the way (didnt load on my phone) this model is the firestudio studio. It was made in white, red and ebony not pelham blue. Dave Grohl had one and had it painted in pelham than they started showing up on ebay "like Dave's guitar"... the guitars were refinished and they demand a crazy amount of money. You could probably buy one and refinish yourself for cheaper I am sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NHTom Posted June 2, 2014 Author Share Posted June 2, 2014 ahhh.......ok, don't want it in a refinish.......I saw so many I assumed it was original. good to know......I'd pick another color at that point. NHTom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thejay Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 Pelham is one of my favorite colors though, I have a classic white finish on mine. They did make the red and ebony with gold or chrome hardware, they show up on ebay from time time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eclecticsynergy Posted June 14, 2014 Share Posted June 14, 2014 I think the Pelham blue ones that are all over the Web these days are mostly Epiphones. I got one a few months ago and the guitar itself is mechanically pretty decent. Not a bad deal at all for under $400. It was somewhat maladjusted but now that it's set up properly it plays quite well. Fat neck, feels nice in my hands. No buzzy spots or poorly filed fret ends, both of which have sometimes been seen on low end Epis. The Pelham blue was a limited edition and according to epiphone.com it's no longer in production. But for now there are plenty around. Gibson customer service tried to find out how many were made and couldn't, except to say "probably less than a thousand." I am less than thrilled with the pickups, and (judging from discussion around the Web) not the only one unhappy with Epi factory humbuckers these days. Am thinking about changing magnets to see if I can get better definition and dynamics out of 'em. This one has Classic and Classic+ pickups, supposedly both with Alnico 5s. According to the specs, the bridge is overwound to about 13K so I figure I can slip an A3 magnet in there and still get decent output. Not so sure about the neck pickup; I might try ceramic and keep it farther from the strings if it's too loud. Powerful bright mag into a weaker pickup and weak bright mag into the hotter one, maybe an improvement? Worth trying, at least. If not, I've got a set of thirty year old Duncan 59s to drop in. Bought a blue one partly out of nostalgia- I used to have a 60s Gibson Firebird V in Pelham blue. That one had a very thin profile neck as I remember. Sold it around '72 because I didn't like the shrill tone from those skinny little pickups. At the time I had no idea they were an early attempt at rail humbuckers. One more entry in the long, long list of guitars I wish I'd kept. It'd be Pelham green by now... I have an Epi Korina Firebird too, from a few years back, which I like a lot. The stock pickups here seem to have better touch response and generally a less muddled character, especially at volume. I'm not sure whether it's just the nature of the wood or if the pickups are in fact different. I did ask customer service but got no answer; it's possible that even they don't know. I don't expect they'll be able to say how many were made in korina, either. Don't think there were a whole lot; I haven't seen any for sale since I bought mine. The Epiphone website doesn't list the years it was produced. Anyway, the korina one is lighter and much livelier acoustically which generally means better amplified tone too. This bird sings. I've toyed with the idea of switching pairs of pickups between the two guitars just to see how they'd sound that way. But in general I'd rather spend my time playing than tinkering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reiska666 Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 I have FB Studio Ebony 2005...I changed pups for Seymoyr-Duncan Vintage Blues calibrated set. This is my slide axe, tuned to open G. Great guitar, it has LP bottom and SG middle range together.60`s neck profile is perfect for my slide playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cocked Wah Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 This is the one I had I just traded for one of these a week ago. Pelham blue and 3 p90s do in fact rock quite well together! AMAZING neck on it. That is what drew me to it in the first place. I love the thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thejay Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 I really like the non reverse studio model as well. I bought the vintage sunburst before the Pelham had been released....I considered a second Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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