Johnt Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 Silly question but valid This guitar looks little like a traditional Hummingbird!! How come Gibson named it as such?? Great guitar anyway Thanks John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissouriPicker Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 Two different guitars that don't have a lot of similarities, aside from the name connection. It's not just the bling. I think the Pro is long scale and the "bird" is short. The Hummingbird is square shouldered while the Pro is slope. Also, the Hummingbird is a bit larger than the Pro and I think the bracing is different........... Good marketing by Gibson in attaching the "Hummingbird" name to the Pro and Artist models. The downside to it is all the comparisons with the traditional Hummingbird. The Pro model deserves its own name. It can stand on its own laurels and potential. How good of a guitar it is should not be related to how it compares to the legendary guitar it shares a name with. The Pro is an excellent guitar. With Gibson's penchant for naming guitars after birds and with thousands of bird names to choose from, I think they could have found something far more appropriate than Hummingbird Pro......But again, it was good marketing and sparked lots of interest in a new line of guitars.......Coincidentally, I've got a J15 and a J29. Both guitars are still subjected to questions about them being real Gibsons. I think they're both real butt-kickers. Couldn't be happier with them.........BTW, there's at least a couple of Pro owners on The AGF and they really like their guitars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnt Posted January 5, 2016 Author Share Posted January 5, 2016 Two different guitars that don't have a lot of similarities, aside from the name connection. It's not just the bling. I think the Pro is long scale and the "bird" is short. The Hummingbird is square shouldered while the Pro is slope. Also, the Hummingbird is a bit larger than the Pro and I think the bracing is different........... Good marketing by Gibson in attaching the "Hummingbird" name to the Pro and Artist models. The downside to it is all the comparisons with the traditional Hummingbird. The Pro model deserves its own name. It can stand on its own laurels and potential. How good of a guitar it is should not be related to how it compares to the legendary guitar it shares a name with. The Pro is an excellent guitar. With Gibson's penchant for naming guitars after birds and with thousands of bird names to choose from, I think they could have found something far more appropriate than Hummingbird Pro......But again, it was good marketing and sparked lots of interest in a new line of guitars.......Coincidentally, I've got a J15 and a J29. Both guitars are still subjected to questions about them being real Gibsons. I think they're both real butt-kickers. Couldn't be happier with them.........BTW, there's at least a couple of Pro owners on The AGF and they really like their guitars. Thank you kindly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kebob Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 I actually traded in my Hummingbird for a Humminbird Pro (cutaway) a few months back. As MP stated -- completely different animals, despite the name similarity. While the Hummingbird is a great guitar, the Hummingbird Pro was more to my liking -- deeper and louder with more of that Gibson thump/growl than the Hummingbird. I do not regret the trade at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 So much for marketing - The guitar should have been called something like Free Bird, , , , or perhaps Songbird (which would have pointed toward the more similar Songwriter). That said, the only one I tried was good. But Hummingbird - NO ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortyearspickn Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 I've played a couple in GC and wasn't crazy about them. They are more akin to an AJ than an H'BIrd. Model naming obviously resides in marketing territory - but I think they screwed the pooch here. Think of Chevy naming Impala "Corvette Pro". It certainly is a good, solid Gibson. But it's a long neck and bears few similarities to the Real H'Bird. Two ways to describe it: "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet." "The Play's the thing..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wee Davy Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 Two different guitars that don't have a lot of similarities, aside from the name connection. It's not just the bling. I think the Pro is long scale and the "bird" is short. The Hummingbird is square shouldered while the Pro is slope. Also, the Hummingbird is a bit larger than the Pro and I think the bracing is different........... Good marketing by Gibson in attaching the "Hummingbird" name to the Pro and Artist models. The downside to it is all the comparisons with the traditional Hummingbird. The Pro model deserves its own name. It can stand on its own laurels and potential. How good of a guitar it is should not be related to how it compares to the legendary guitar it shares a name with. The Pro is an excellent guitar. With Gibson's penchant for naming guitars after birds and with thousands of bird names to choose from, I think they could have found something far more appropriate than Hummingbird Pro......But again, it was good marketing and sparked lots of interest in a new line of guitars.......Coincidentally, I've got a J15 and a J29. Both guitars are still subjected to questions about them being real Gibsons. I think they're both real butt-kickers. Couldn't be happier with them.........BTW, there's at least a couple of Pro owners on The AGF and they really like their guitars. Spot on, although the body is a half way house between square and slope shoulder. Same body shape as Ren Ferguson designed Songwriter series. I'm very happy with mine. Definitely a "real" Gibson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stringbreaker Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 I'm here @ the Gibson boards for my annual visit lol - - - The Hummingbird Pro is essentially a long-scale Songwriter, Sitka over Mahogany, with forward shifted AJ x-bracing. The name "Hummingbird" is merely a marketing scheme between Guitar Center and Gibson. I think the only similarity is that they both happen to have strings lol. Is it a good guitar? Of course tone and feel is in the eye of the beholder, but mine is outstanding. A real depth in the midrange and lower midrange, yet it's really crisp. Very loud too, although in volume it is not as loud as a Martin D28. Quality of build (on mine) is very good. It has great balance, and out of the Gibson products I've owned (B-25, J-50, and J-200) it is clearly my favorite. I'm approaching three years with this instrument and cannot put it down. GAS cure fer sure. Listen to this with earphones to hear the tone. My playing is wrecked on this but the tone of the Hummingbird Pro comes through. Remember this was recorded on a cellphone: See you next year folks!!! ----Mark Stone Here she is: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john e cage Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 Stringbreaker, I am looking at trading in my j-45 for a Hummingbird pro. I cannot get used to the slim taper neck on the 45. Can you offer a comparison between these two guitars neckwise? Thanks, John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmyboy Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 If you looking for a used one.Get a short scale version of it. It called "Hummingbird Artist". . . It features 24.725" scale length and 1.75" nut compare to Hummingbird pro which is 25.5" and 1-11/16" nut.Price point are at the same ($1,500-$1,700 depends on condition).Gibson has discontinued this beauty so if you really want a new one. You can only get Epiphone version of it ($170-$190 brand new/free shipping). Search for "Epiphone hummingbird artist". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stringbreaker Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 Stringbreaker, I am looking at trading in my j-45 for a Hummingbird pro. I cannot get used to the slim taper neck on the 45. Can you offer a comparison between these two guitars neckwise? Thanks, John Hi John, I've played only one J-45 in as long as I can remember -- so I'm probably not the one qualified to answer. However, most GCs have both the Hummingbird Pro and the J-45 on hand, so if a GC is nearby perhaps you can do a comparison. Sorry I couldn't help Mark Stone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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