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Restoration Tips Firebird 1964


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Hey everyone,

 

First time poster. I was hoping for some friendly advice. For starters I am a drummer and a little out of my league here.

 

I recently came into an old Gibson Firebird III. It was my fathers.

 

I had it officially looked at by a member of the Gibson team and he said it was a 1964 Gibson Firebird III Reverse body in Polaris White. Which is as a far as I know one of the harder to find colors.

 

It is in excellent condition(in my opinion.) It was kept in a climate controlled area for the vast majority of its life.

 

I guess I have 2 questions. Do I even have it worked on at all? It has very minor chip in the head. The fret board is worn down, but I guess that is typical for a 51 year old guitar. Should I even apply lemon oil? There is very minor discoloration to each of the metal parts that separate the frets(sorry I don't know what they are called) should I have them polished? Also, polish the pickups? New strings?

 

I am leaning towards selling it. Any advice from some of the veterans out there would be very helpful.

 

Thanks so much everyone.

 

-Adam

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As a player as well as collector of playing guitars don't do anything post several 360 degree pictures I would like to see it but don't do any restoration

*) 0 (* b

 

Here's a couple photos. Thanks for the advice. Hopefully they show up. So I shouldn't do anything? Not even polish the fret board?

 

post-71951-024561200 1430699440_thumb.jpg

 

post-71951-019292600 1430699451_thumb.jpg

 

post-71951-025236400 1430699465_thumb.jpg

 

post-71951-025307100 1430699478_thumb.jpg

 

post-71951-036823700 1430699489_thumb.jpg

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Yeah id say leave it be..

 

Maybe just some lemon oil on the fretboard to freshen it up.. but I think collectors want the battle scars on a guitar, its part of what makes them what they are, part of the Mojo if you like.. Well I think anyway..

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Please do not do more then oil fret board as for strings I want my tech to set up the guitar and oil the fret board etc if I am going to purchase that is what I would want if you put new tension on neck with new strings and there is a problem you could devalue the guitar... it looks good and as a player I would want my tech to go over and set up the guitar.. but there are people that clean the patins from pistols or reblue or refinish all of this takes away value...*) 0 (*.. I have been doing this since 1964 google me...

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  • 3 weeks later...

What a beauty! The pick guard hasn't even shrunk!

Leave it alone as much as possible.

You could use a mild cleaner/polish on the metal parts. I like Nev-R-Dull...available at auto stores.

This can be used on the frets, too (the metal things are the frets...not the wood in between. That's the fretboard).

Many folks change strings for every gig, or once a month or so if you play regularly... so...yeah...new strings.

There are varying opinions on this, but I've been using lemon oil for 35 years with no problem.

The questions arise because it's not REALLY lemon oil per se...it has some pretty strong solvents and a bit of lemon scent.

So...5 or 6 drops, spread it around, let it soak in for 30 minutes or so and wipe the rest off...about once a YEAR.

Beautiful guitar!

I have a '65 FBIII as my main gigger.

Where are you located?

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