Twang Gang

I am not familiar with Firebirds, but that is the normal orientation for most Gibsons - screw side toward the outside.

Don't think it's a Donovan model which had a cherry sunburst finish, a pickup, and an adjustable bridge. The guitar in the OPs photo has none of those. The banner would indicate it is some kind of re-issue of something - don't see any reason why it couldn't be legit.

That is a shame - truly one of the great guitarists of our time. He was always progressive and creative from the mid 60s Yardbirds to the present. His originality was unique and he will certainly be missed.

I never owned a PRS, and only played a couple for a short time. I didn't care for them either. But for Rhett or any others that don't think PRS guitars can express any soul I have just one word to say - SANTANA.

I have a Custom Shop 356 built in 2017 and it has a Richlite fingerboard so I would lean toward yours also being Richlite. It's hard to tell from pictures because in person the two materials look very similar. But just based on the year built I'd say it's probably Richlite.

"My best friend has a thing for Pelhem Blue. He owns a few in that color." I am not a fan of that shade of blue - but what's worse is they don't stay that color. As they age they turn a real funky blue/green color. Not my cup of tea.

Now let's lay off blue guitars. Fender does some nice blue finishes: I would have much preferred the maple Hummingbird in a natural finish, but they only offered them in "Viper Blue" so that's what I got cause I wanted a square shoulder dread with a short scale in maple. It doesn't look too bad. Now if you are just buying a guitar to hang on the wall and stare at, then you definitely should get a color you love. But if the tone and playability come first then the color isn't as important. Gibson sent me an email this morning with these latest Mod Shop offerings. I hadn't looked at Mod Shop before as I'm all set for electric guitars, but I was amazed how expensive they are for used with blemishes. Guess it works though as they are selling them.

You get what you pay for!

I think you are on the right path (although I confess I have never refinished a guitar). The idea of stripping the nitro in the area you want to darken then adding the darker stain and re-coating with nitro. I don't think sanding down the nitro just a little is a good idea - the stain needs to go onto wood, not on top of nitro. Air brushing would probably give a better result than an actual paint brush. Just my two cents, as I said, I have never done it myself.

Temperature is not as critical as humidity as long as it's not a rapid change. I have always kept my guitars in their cases and often add humidity in the winter when the heat is on all the time drying out the air. Try to keep the humidity between 45 and 50%.

I've never felt that fretboard material had an effect on the tone of the guitar. The string touches the fret or nut at one end, and the bridge at the other - it doesn't touch the fretboard, so how can it matter if it's rosewood, ebony, or richlite? They may feel different to the player but don't see how they can effect the tone. You can argue about resonance of the different woods etc. but on an electric guitar I think the pickups and amplifier are way more important to the tone than fretboard material.

I am NOT going to weigh in on vintage vs. modern debate. All I know is if you own a guitar that you don't really like the sound of (especially if you have another that you do really like) then you might as well sell it and get something that is more to your taste. Your J-45 that you thought was an icon will probably just sit in the corner while you play the other guitars that you prefer. Just my two cents.

About 17 degrees here this morning and my heat pump went out. Just blowing cold air, it's about 57 degrees inside the house and dropping. Called repair man a while ago, but being Xmas eve not sure if I'll hear back. At least the power is still on and the sun is out.

Congratulations on what should be a beautiful guitar. We'd love to see some pictures of it. Gibson does put case candy in with the guitar, but it seems to disappear once it arrives at a Guitar Center. I bought a LP Standard new in 2017 (not from GC) and it had a strap, a multi use guitar tool, a photo of the guitar on the bench being tested etc. Gibson personnel don't review the forum posts so don't hold your breath on that one. Happy playing and post some photos. Use a hosting site like Imgr and copy and paste them over to here.

Sorry a typing error - still a good deal though.

List price is around $5300, so 4K is roughly 20% off and you're not likely to do much better than that at a retail store these days. So I'd say the price is right. If you love the guitar go for it and enjoy!!

No, he shouldn't buy it. With the amount debt he has, a wife and two young children the last thing he needs is a $7K guitar encrusted with diamonds and other gemstones.

A couple of really sweet looking 335s - congratulations. I'm not sure that a 2016 335 came with a COA. COAs are usually reserved for Custom Shop guitars and even then, they don't all get one. I have a 356 Custom Shop and it came with a COA. I have a couple of Hummingbirds from the Bozeman custom shop, one came with a COA and the other didn't. I have heard of one or two instances where a missing COA was replaced, but with all the trouble with counterfeit guitars it only makes sense to only issue one and if it is lost, not to replace it.

Being based in the Midwest at that time (early 70s) I never heard of them.

Here was my Cowboy guitar - a Roy Rogers model. Got it for Xmas one year and it served me well considering my lack of skill, until about 7th grade when I had saved up enough to buy a real steel string guitar at the local store. The back/sides and top were some sort of pressed board, the fingerboard was plastic, the neck and headstock were the only wooden parts. It really didn't sound too bad for something that probably cost $10 out of the Sears catalogue.

The main thing that set the Deluxe model apart was the mini-humbuckers. Since you got rid of those and you describe the guitar with buckle rash and other cosmetic issues it wouldn't seem to have much going for it other than it's almost 25 years old. Point being I don't think you will get a premium price for it, but you won't know until you test the waters. I'd probably just keep it if it were me. New Custom LPs are real nice, but expensive and it's not going to sound that much different from what you have.

Wow, that sucks. But I guess they weren't selling very many or weren't profitable so done away with. Guess I should have kept mine, or at least held out for a lot more money when I sold it. It wasn't the most comfortable to play, but sure sounded good!

Beautiful 335 - congratulations. If you just go to the top of this page and click on "Electric Guitars, and then on "ES-Style Models" you will see all the different ones they currently offer. Within the description of each different model they detail the body construction, hardware, electronics etc. so most of the info you are looking for is right on this website.

I would keep the three different models as opposed to having 2 Explorers. While the SG and LP are quite similar, if I were to sell one, I wouldn't get a second Explorer, maybe go for a semi-hollow body or something different. After you've become a super rich rock star then you can have a different color explorer for each day of the week.

Where I live we don't have many street lights so it's not a problem.