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SG Firebrand


RStabe

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Im really thinkin this must be the "stepchild" of the SG line. Introduced in 1980, it appears to have had a short, vague and misguided life. Its begginings were simple as it was simply a "the SG" (standard) made from natural finish mahogany rather than walnut and getting its name from the Gibson logo fire branded onto the headstock. From there, things get pretty confusing since sources state they were no longer made after 1981 and I have seen them ser# as late as 1983; painted various colors and without the branded logo. My only guess is that after they officially discontinued, they made "shop" guitars out of the leftover pieces parts for a few years. Maybe someone out there can shed more light? Its unique and valued sound should keep this model from the shadows more than what I would expect.

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You're right about the Firebrand "losing it's way"... I recently had spotted one from the early 80's on my local Craigslist... Besides being red, and having "The SG Firebrand" on the truss rod cover, I was scratching my head as to what "Firebrand" was meant for (thinking maybe because of the red, something to do with Firemen... lol)... Then upon digging discovered that they were originally actually "firebranded" and had that natural wood look to them including the headstock. At that point the "Firebrand" made sense - not so with the later regular looking models. Must be like you say - Gibson just wanted to use up the parts and slapped them some regular SG Specials or Standards. Shame. But models like that come and go unfortunately...

 

 

cheers

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Ok after lotsa research on this, I can only draw a theoretical conclusion. The painted Firebrands appear to be a guitar made for Guitar Center etc.. I know of one that was sold new from there. My guess would be that Gibson prolly had alota hardware left over and some poor wood, so what better way to get rid of it. Ive read of them being made as early as 1980 and late as 1985. So in conclusion I figured the would wait till they had enough poor wood to paint over to make it worth building a batch, get an order and fire em up. This is only speculative but Ide bet Im not too far off the mark. I think they sold for about $300 - $400.

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Ok after lotsa research on this' date=' I can only draw a theoretical conclusion. The painted Firebrands appear to be a guitar made for Guitar Center etc.. I know of one that was sold new from there. My guess would be that Gibson prolly had alota hardware left over and some poor wood, so what better way to get rid of it. Ive read of them being made as early as 1980 and late as 1985. So in conclusion I figured the would wait till they had enough poor wood to paint over to make it worth building a batch, get an order and fire em up. This is only speculative but Ide bet Im not too far off the mark. I think they sold for about $300 - $400.[/quote']

 

Also Norlin, the parent company, had Gibson up for sale from 1980 until it was purchased in the summer of 85. Coincidence ? Prolly not.

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  • 6 years later...

They started made them in 1979 too, I have one with a 1979 serial number. It is an excellent guitar. I've owned a few SGs and the Firebrand is my favorite. Its ugly, but it plays and sounds amazing. They cost $499 new at the time, which was cheaper than a Standard but for the time not as equally cheap as a lot of the lower end SG models now.

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They made a Les Paul Firebrand too if I remember correctly. I think this was the bargain line at the time. It was almost half the price of the higher end stuff. It was probably supposed to be entry level stuff like the Juniors were in the 50's.

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They made a Les Paul Firebrand too if I remember correctly. I think this was the bargain line at the time. It was almost half the price of the higher end stuff. It was probably supposed to be entry level stuff like the Juniors were in the 50's.

 

THAT never would have been on MY radar, at all..."bargain" or not! There's NO beveling (on the front, anyway), in the horn areas, at all! [thumbdn]

The Les Paul might have been a consideration, possibly? But, as many here know, SG's with no horn beveling, and tapering is

NOT the SG, for me. [flapper][rolleyes] But, to each his/her own! [biggrin]

 

 

CB

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I have an 83 Firebrand "The Paul", with nothing really "Firebrand" about it - wine red paint job, non-burned gold logo, etc. It's basically like a LP Special: uncarved flat top, neck not angled from the body, dot inlays, 2 T-Top HBs. I added a LP Special pickguard to mine to cover up where the previous idiot owner had attached the truss rod cover where a pickguard would be, god knows why...They also thought a gigantic brass Kahler tremolo would be a good idea too...

post-6630-091396800 1440095895_thumb.jpg

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Had a 1996 'the Paul II'. I think that Gibson advertised them as Firebrands.

 

Once I put an underwound Tom Short paf (7.2 kOhms/ A5)in the bridge, it was my favorite guitar ever!

 

It is a memory now, since I had a headstock break, then gave it to a friend who could afford to fix it.

 

It took care of me, so I repaid the favor. (Only cost $550 with an Epi HSC).

 

Airy sound and'old style' wiring, it brought many a smile to my life!

 

Think it was chambered, since it was so 'resonant' (in the 'colloquial' sense).

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Had a 1996 'the Paul II'. I think that Gibson advertised them as Firebrands.

 

Once I put an underwound Tom Short paf (7.2 kOhms/ A5)in the bridge, it was my favorite guitar ever!

 

It is a memory now, since I had a headstock break, then gave it to a friend who could afford to fix it.

 

It took care of me, so I repaid the favor. (Only cost $550 with an Epi HSC).

 

Airy sound and'old style' wiring, it brought many a smile to my life!

 

Think it was chambered, since it was so 'resonant' (in the 'colloquial' sense).

Tim Shaw PAF?

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I know a guy that owned a Firebrand Les Paul and how I know him is in 1980 I bought his Fender strat from him and with the money I gave him for his 1976 strat, he took the money and bought a Firebrand LP.

The Firebrand stuff is kind of heavy too.

 

 

I still have the 76 Strat too

 

 

I wish I had a better photo of it, but I don't. It has a large headstock.

A new Strat in 1980 was costly and I had already purchased a Gibson SG Standard, which I also still have.

 

 

DCP_1112_zpsknhsntlh.jpg?t=1440290865

 

 

 

DCP_1111_zpst6b1wnjd.jpg

 

 

Note the larger head stock on the SG. I also have a SG Classic with the P90's and that has a smaller headstock. I like the feel of the Standard and Humbuckers better than the fatter neck and P90 on the Classic. Plus the SG Standard has been with me for 35 years now.

 

Many complain about the Norlin years, but I have a few very nice pieces from those years.

 

DCP_1110_zpswbqmmzp5.jpg?t=1440291269

 

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  • 4 years later...

Hello. I had a 1982 SG Deluxe. It appeared to have the correct pickups in it. However, mine looked like at one time it had a Bigsby tremolo installed.  It also had push-pull coil tap options. Sounded great with the single coils. Humbuckers were extremely noisy, but sure packed a wallop at high volume. It employed a slim taper neck too. My question is: What the heck was it? 

thumbnail3RY5H79E.jpg

Edited by ayj
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  • 2 years later...

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