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SirNed

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Case freak, here. Have been loving and wanting one of the Gibson “Star” logo cases for a while.. and have seen them with guitars from the 1950’s. Early 1950’s. We’d love another little clue- a macro close-up shot of something on the guitar would be great.

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You guys are good at this!

JCV had it first, but j45nick went all-in by calling the case lining.

 

It's a 1964 Hummingbird. I wanted a vintage 'bird for nostalgic reasons. It's had some previous repair work, so I'll be bringing to my local luthier for an evaluation. I was going to have him replace the bridge, but I am on the fence about it now. It sounds really good in spite of the adjustable plastic bridge (which seems to be from Gibson).

post-86977-006055600 1510878129_thumb.jpg

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A guy that I worked with in NYC back around 1970 had that same guitar and case. First 'bird I ever saw, and the case lining was a flashy as the finish. Of course, the 'burst looked entirely different on a five-year-old guitar.

 

That's a classic mid-60's faded cherryburst, which is the holy grail of aged finishes from that period.

 

It's a tough call on the bridge. I would be sorely tempted to have a rosewood bridge with fixed saddle made for it, but it's hard to force yourself to mess with such a good original version of the guitar.

 

Those plastic bridges are typically just held on with two or three lags up through the bridgeplate and into bosses in the underside of the plastic bridge. If you want to see the original color in the middle of the burst, just screw out the two adjusting screws for the saddle, pop the saddle and those screws out, then reach inside the guitar and back out the lags with a 3/8 or 7/16' socket (can't remember which) and lift the bridge off. The original finish should be pretty much untouched under the bridge.

 

Look inside with a mirror first so you understand exactly how it is all installed.

 

Don't lose the little slightly curved piece of spring steel under the saddle when you take it out. Em7 will pay you big bucks for that saddle. He has a finely-tuned ear for the nuances of the Gibson ceramic saddle.

 

What's the width at the nut on that? 1 11/16", 1 5/8", or 1 9/16"? Looks like 1 11/16" to my eye, but the picture is taken at a downward angle, so it's going to look wider than it might be.

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YowzaYowzaYowza - I am crazy about this one already. It's a stunner, , , and I'd more than burn to try it.

Please set up a decent test-recording.

The guitar overwhelms me - including the bridge/saddle.

 

You might know I got a 1963 J-45 during Indian summer - with plast and ceramic also. Enjoyed it every single day since it came over.

This controversial combo is quite different, but have qualities of its own. Do give it a long chance before goin' into any modification.

 

To be honest - you might have one of the absolute genuine 'modern' Gibson flavors between your hands as it is.

And if in doubt, remember that Angie - the Stones-tune that for many people incarnates the basic-Bird-sound - was done on one of these.

 

Have fun - fly safe'n'bold - then have more fun telling us about it

 

 

Em7 will pay you big bucks for that saddle. He has a finely-tuned ear for the nuances of the Gibson ceramic saddle.

Sure rate them high - but have enough as we speak - 3 - still. .

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