fortyearspickn Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 You have to put 13's on for that ? My j45 is down half a step but full step makes it a bit floppy and buzzy Nope. I use Elixer 12s. Occasional light buzz if I get lazy in fretting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeselmer Posted February 25, 2015 Author Share Posted February 25, 2015 I just found a video that shows the bridge and saddle of Tim Christensen's Hummingbird in closeup...could somebody tell if there's anything special about it? Why does the saddle look filed (or something) under the treble strings? Any idea of the material? It looks whitr and sometimes a bit greyish in the videos I've seen. The closeup is at around 1min point: (BTW, for once, the guitar doesn't sound so super in this :-) ) Could somebody more knowledgeable please check the bridge saddle in this video (you can see it at 1min point)? Is it a normal bone saddle? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeselmer Posted February 27, 2015 Author Share Posted February 27, 2015 The tone of my Hummingbird is kinda subdued in the mids department (nature of the beast?)...what could I do to get some meat in the mids? What strings would you suggest? Any other tricks? As for string gauge, 11s seemed too weak in the bass, so I have 12s on now. I've tried Martin 80/20 (too bright), DR Rares (nice bass response but too bright trebles) and D'addario EJ16s (balanced sound, and the trebles have a nice, mellower and kinda somber quality to them). I'm tempted to try the D'addario Bluegrass strings, as they have thicker lower strings and thinner treble strings...could this boost the mids a bit? Oh, and I find the guitar sounds the best tuned half a step down - this opens up the sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 I always play my guitars one or a half tone down - and began this on my square J-45's in the late 70's. . You're right - it suits a Bird fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeselmer Posted March 15, 2015 Author Share Posted March 15, 2015 Hi all, the search for my perfect Hummingbird tone is going great. I've been trying out various different strings (all PB) to get the best out of the guitar. I am still looking for something to get me more woody meat in the midrange. As it is, my Hummingbird seems to have a smiley sort of an EQ curve, and the mids are a bit subdued. When I try to squeeze more body out of the mids, they seem to have a pristine, brassy overtone, which I'd like to tame a bit. Below is a brilliant clips of the mids tone I am looking for. Here, the mids have a more woodier, almost classical guitar type of earthy type of tone. The mids sound fat. Is it just a great piece of guitar, the player's fingers, or is there something I could try (saddle/bridge pin material, string type, string height etc). Please have a look: Here's another: Oh, I just realized that this thread is worthless without pics - sooo, here are a few shots of my beaten, cracked, repaired, refinished, un-original, but sweet sounding 1967 MOJO sweetheart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeselmer Posted March 15, 2015 Author Share Posted March 15, 2015 For the record, the strings I've tried so far: D'addario EJ16 D'addario EJ25 D'addario Bluegrass Dean Markley Alchemy GoldPhos Thomastik-Infeld Spectrum Thomastik-Infeld Plectrum John Pearse Bluegrass John Pearse Phosphor Bronze John Pearse Silk Phosphor Bronze Out of these, the best ones seemed to be the standard D'addario EJ16 (really like the somber trebles and balanced tone) and Thomastik Spectrum (really responsive and warm and these really have that woodier midrange - however, I'm missing some more sustain, especially on the bass strings). Pearse strings seem to have sort of masked trebles - very sweet, but kinda strangled sounding. Otherwise the Pearses sound cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 What seems to be a nice old blonde Bird there. Be glad the narrow nut doesn't bother you. Must be time to hear a tape, , , , without capo, please. . . Groove on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeselmer Posted March 15, 2015 Author Share Posted March 15, 2015 I could record some sounds of the Hummingbird, but I don't have any recording equipment...only the internal condenser mic of the Ipad. I don't know if that gives a decent representation of how the guitar sounds... Any tips on how to place the Ipad mic when recording? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 It doesn't need to be album-standard, but a decent sound that represents the guitar and what you/we talk about here would be preferred. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hogeye Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 I don't know what year the guitar is but if you want a little more punch and snap in the Hummingbird report look for a early Montana guitar. Think '90 to 93. These were long scale versions and produce a different sound than the short scale guitar. I much prefer the short scale version but many enjoy the sound of the early long scale version. I will tell you this.... The Hummingbird sales took off when they went to the short scale. It's am much more vocal friendly version and the long scale was much better sounding as a instrumental guitar. More D-18 sounding. If you take the flubber pickguard off and put a nice celluloid on one you will get a much brighter and clearer sounding guitar as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 I don't know what year the guitar is. . . . The guitar is a 1967'er. It's said above and can be seen on the faded guard. An early Bird - 1960 to 66 maybe early 67 - would never have that problem. . ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeselmer Posted March 19, 2015 Author Share Posted March 19, 2015 After all this testing and the time I've spent with the Hummingbird, I've realised it has a LONG SCALE! I measured something like 12.65 inches from the nut to the twelfth fret, and doubling that comes to 25.30 (give or take mismeasurement - so maybe it's 25.5"). I am not sure how to feel about this new shock. Even if I like the tone, I was hoping to own a basic standard short-scale Bird... What sort of tone differences am I looking at if compared to the short scale version from the same era? I have been struggling to get a bit more midrange meat in the tone - is the longer scale the reason for this? Plus, does a short scale guitar generally sound mellower and rounder? I've been playing a lot with a capo around 3-5th fret because I like the tone the best like that - maybe another sign of me needing a short scale Hummingbird? Isn't it a bit strange for 1967 to have a long scale? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grOOved Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 After all this testing and the time I've spent with the Hummingbird, I've realised it has a LONG SCALE! I measured something like 12.65 inches from the nut to the twelfth fret, and doubling that comes to 25.30 (give or take mismeasurement - so maybe it's 25.5"). I am not sure how to feel about this new shock. Even if I like the tone, I was hoping to own a basic standard short-scale Bird... What sort of tone differences am I looking at if compared to the short scale version from the same era? I have been struggling to get a bit more midrange meat in the tone - is the longer scale the reason for this? Plus, does a short scale guitar generally sound mellower and rounder? I've been playing a lot with a capo around 3-5th fret because I like the tone the best like that - maybe another sign of me needing a short scale Hummingbird? Isn't it a bit strange for 1967 to have a long scale? I just stumbled on this thread and when I saw that bird, I knew it was a long scale later 60 model. There's very little information on the web, but I believe they went long scale in 64 or 65. The longer length gives it a tighter sound and feel. When most think of a Hummingbird from a tonal perspective they think of a short scale loose warm tone so the late 60s models are bit unique. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeselmer Posted March 19, 2015 Author Share Posted March 19, 2015 I just stumbled on this thread and when I saw that bird, I knew it was a long scale later 60 model. There's very little information on the web, but I believe they went long scale in 64 or 65. The longer length gives it a tighter sound and feel. When most think of a Hummingbird from a tonal perspective they think of a short scale loose warm tone so the late 60s models are bit unique. Do you mean all 1967 Hummingbirds are long scale? Surely not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grOOved Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 Do you mean all 1967 Hummingbirds are long scale? Surely not? Yeah pretty sure they didn't go back to a shorter scale until the early 80s. Might be a reason why in the 90s when "reissue" was the buzz word for marketing, the Hummingbird was called the "early 60s Hummingbird". Here are a couple of examples: https://reverb.com/item/454588-vintage-1968-gibson-hummingbird-acoustic-guitar-natural http://www.gbase.com/gear/gibson-hummingbird-1966-sunburst-top-natural Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hogeye Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 If you capo your long scale Hummingbird at the first fret you will have a short scale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 In my book the hog squares didn't go long scale until 1968/69. Never the less there were rare exceptions from the start. Probably due to stock issues, Dove necks could land on a Bird the same way the Birds sometimes came with maple back'n'sides. Thus 1967 shouldn't be a long-year and I'm tempted to ask you to measure the guitar again, , , but wont. Perhaps exceptions continued to happen all the way up. . A few years ago I encountered a square Southern Jumbo from the early 90's Gibson 100 Anniversary series and it had the long scale as well. Don't know about the 70's and 80, but something tells me Gibson carried the longies through those decades as a kind natural thing. As we know 'retro' wasn't really invented then and many Norlin specs were taken as a given standard. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 If you capo your long scale Hummingbird at the first fret you will have a short scale. That's mathematically correct , but.. Does that not poo poo the theory that neck length/width/material makes a difference to tone ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeselmer Posted March 19, 2015 Author Share Posted March 19, 2015 I measured the scale again and this time it came right down to 12.75" at the middle of twelfth fret, so it really is long scale at 25.5". It's puzzling that the information on when the long scale models were produced is so scarce. What other models came with a long scale at that time? Dove was mentioned, but any others? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 Strange, , , but if you say so then maybe the length shifted somewhere during the summer of love. . . Btw - did you know your guitar was born with a wooden saddle ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeselmer Posted March 20, 2015 Author Share Posted March 20, 2015 Strange, , , but if you say so then maybe the length shifted somewhere during the summer of love. . . Btw - did you know your guitar was born with a wooden saddle ? Yep, the adjustable bridge was changed to a fixed one by my luthier, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 With your allowance - Doesn't really look long scale. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeselmer Posted March 20, 2015 Author Share Posted March 20, 2015 With your allowance - There she is! Wow, that's great detective work E-minor7! :-) How did you find out the exact photo of my guitar on the net? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 Thanx - searched 1967 H-bird. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeselmer Posted March 20, 2015 Author Share Posted March 20, 2015 Here's some photos showing the 25.5" (or a little less) scale. Did I measure it correctly (see photos for ruler placement)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.