Gibson Hummingbird

[impresarius]

Hi there,

Is there such a thing as a genuine Korea-made Gibson Hummingbird?

[E-minor7]

13 minutes ago, impresarius said:

Hi there,

Is there such a thing as a genuine Korea-made Gibson Hummingbird?

Wouldn't think so - lot and lots of kitsch-copies over the years especially in the 70s, believe me. . 

[impresarius]

5 minutes ago, E-minor7 said:

Wouldn't think so - lot and lots of kitsch-copies over the years especially in the 70s, believe me. . 

Thanks - that’s what I thought, they’re only USA made aren’t they..?

[E-minor7]

6 minutes ago, impresarius said:

Thanks - that’s what I thought, they’re only USA made aren’t they..?

Can't believe you'll find a real Bird born anywhere else. 

[Lars68]

6 hours ago, E-minor7 said:

Can't believe you'll find a real Bird born anywhere else. 

True, but they do migrate frequently. One landed with me here in Sweden a few years back and decided to never leave.

Lars

[E-minor7]

4 hours ago, Lars68 said:

True, but they do migrate frequently. One landed with me here in Sweden a few years back and decided to never leave.

Really ? , , didn't know that (perhaps a vague echo) - did you show us pictures. . 

[Lars68]

2 hours ago, E-minor7 said:

Really ? , , didn't know that (perhaps a vague echo) - did you show us pictures. . 

A 2016 Standard model, with the tuners changed to the key stone variant. I love the color scheme from that period. Not a fan of the cherry to be honest, so the subdued variant suited me perfectly. Quite a few of my songs have been recorded with it in the last couple of years. Posted pictures at the time, but I can't seem to find them now.

Lars

 

[uncle fester]

apologies for the tangent, (but I've never been fortunate enough to play a 'bird) - technically speaking, all else being equal, what would a square shoulder due vs a slope shoulder?  ...i.e. how would someone expect a mahogany J45 to differ from a mahogany bird - thank you for any input.

[fortyearspickn]

J45 is more mellow... H'Bird projects more clearly.  Makes you wonder, given the big difference between square and round shoulders - how can the tone NOT be affected by a cutaway? 

[E-minor7]

2 hours ago, fortyearspickn said:

J45 is more mellow... H'Bird projects more clearly.  Makes you wonder, given the big difference between square and round shoulders - how can the tone NOT be affected by a cutaway? 

Remember there are more factors to this - the highly different back-braces fx.

11 hours ago, billroy said:

apologies for the tangent, (but I've never been fortunate enough to play a 'bird) - technically speaking, all else being equal, what would a square shoulder due vs a slope shoulder?  ...i.e. how would someone expect a mahogany J45 to differ from a mahogany bird - thank you for any input.

These 2 are quotations from earlier posts : 

The projection and 'whelm' of the 45 – will be the most significant difference between the 2.                                                                                   The Hummingbird being tighter, having more note separation and not that depth, which is found in many slopes (and long scale squares).

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

To me the basic difference would be -
The Hummingbird is characterized by the much talked about honey glaze – flower juice dripping from the 3 tips of that guard.                                                     J-45 is more sitting on the the fence with a straw in the mouth.

Then again 'sweet' – yes, I believe the Bird is sweeter, but many Gibsons are sweet.                                                                                                                       It's a part of the basic G-flavor in a lot of the models, if you ask me.

In my experience there's no such thing as more bass in the square shouldered. They aren't more open as a general rule.                                                              But in some way it could be said they are slightly boomier – simply due to the cubic.

. . . . . . . . . . . 

Another attempt from way back was about the J-45 bein' raw, , , with a gentler nature within - whereas the Bird was first sweet then revealing a more primal side. 
Well, , , some may disagree, but that's what I got.

Let's hear from others - good topic. ^
 

[philfish]

There are quite a lot of genuine Epiphone Humming Birds, that came out of Korea.

[MorrisrownSal]

The American Hummingbirds are and addictive enigma for me.. their class of sound is unlike any other, and it can’t be mistaken. I’m drawn, I get sucked in chasing something, and the something is elusive, or almost there. What’s happened is that each time in sadness and in frustration I move it on, and I swear it off.

 

And then it come calling again.

 

sorry to hijack your thread.

[Murph]

2 hours ago, ThemisSal said:

The American Hummingbirds are and addictive enigma for me.. their class of sound is unlike any other, and it can’t be mistaken. I’m drawn, I get sucked in chasing something, and the something is elusive, or almost there. 

 Like the taste of young love's first kiss, never to be known again......

[62burst]

23 hours ago, E-minor7 said:

Really ? , , didn't know that (perhaps a vague echo) - did you show us pictures. . 

Don't recall seeing that either ('never forget a 'Bird)

12 hours ago, fortyearspickn said:

J45 is more mellow... H'Bird projects more clearly.  Makes you wonder, given the big difference between square and round shoulders - how can the tone NOT be affected by a cutaway? 

Hummingbird more of a projecter than a J-45? Maybe if it were a Koa ?

10 hours ago, E-minor7 said:

The projection and 'whelm' of the 45 – will be the most significant difference between the 2.                                                                                   The Hummingbird being tighter, having more note separation and not that depth, which is found in many slopes (and long scale squares). . . . . . . . . . . . .

To me the basic difference would be -
The Hummingbird is characterized by the much talked about honey glaze – flower juice dripping from the 3 tips of that guard.                                                     J-45 is more sitting on the the fence with a straw in the mouth.

Then again 'sweet' – yes, I believe the Bird is sweeter, but many Gibsons are sweet.                                                                                                                       It's a part of the basic G-flavor in a lot of the models, if you ask me.

In my experience there's no such thing as more bass in the square shouldered. They aren't more open as a general rule.                                                              But in some way it could be said they are slightly boomier – simply due to the cubic.

.Another attempt from way back was about the J-45 bein' raw, , , with a gentler nature within - whereas the Bird was first sweet then revealing a more primal side. 
Well, , , some may disagree. . . 

How way back were those observations, and have they changed since then? I mean "The projection and 'whelm' of the 45 – will be the most significant difference between the 2."

and...

"...The Hummingbird being tighter, having more note separation and not that depth"

Funny- the square shouldered body of the Hummingbird seemed to me to allow the sound to develop more first in the box, giving a fuller/rounder sound, where the J-45 allowed the sound to get projected out sooner keeping the mids strong. In the same way the small body of the L-00 can be punchy and loud, where the superjumbo '200 can be a surprisingly quieter guitar. 

3 hours ago, ThemisSal said:

The American Hummingbirds are and addictive enigma for me.. their class of sound is unlike any other, and it can’t be mistaken. I’m drawn, I get sucked in chasing something, and the something is elusive, or almost there. What’s happened is that each time in sadness and in frustration I move it on, and I swear it off.

sorry to hijack your thread.

The "something" really can be elusive, and it can be a moving target, changing with time. My first J-45 (a 50's R.I. Triburst) had super-strong upper mids, yet I moved it on; 'coulda just got that one, and been done. Love the one you're with, and all that.

1 hour ago, Murph said:

 Like the taste of young love's first kiss, never to be known again......

Easy, Murph. . . e  a  s  y.                     ('sounds like Murph is in songwriting mode)

[E-minor7]

1 hour ago, 62burst said:

 

How way back were those observations, and have they changed since then? I mean "The projection and 'whelm' of the 45 – will be the most significant difference between the 2."

and...

"...The Hummingbird being tighter, having more note separation and not that depth"

Funny- the square shouldered body of the Hummingbird seemed to me to allow the sound to develop more first in the box, giving a fuller/rounder sound, where the J-45 allowed the sound to get projected out sooner keeping the mids strong. In the same way the small body of the L-00 can be punchy and loud, where the superjumbo '200 can be a surprisingly quieter guitar. 

 

 

Actually no - but have to add my 2010 J-45 Std. is an extraordinary strong bear - almost monstrous. And that my TV-Birds have opened up since the lines above. But especially the words about the "The Hummingbird being tighter, having more note separation and not that depth" holds water.  Primarily the post 2010s. 

Apart from that, it's important to stress that these instruments vary a lot, not least between the vintage and contemporary versions. 

But yes, the bunch here more or less confirm the picture - we are talking about 10 guitars, 4 slopes and 6 squares. Vintage as new.

The rule is : No rule should be too strict - it will only make it fall faster

 

[E-minor7]

5 hours ago, ThemisSal said:

The American Hummingbirds are and addictive enigma for me..

Still searching for the right Hummingbird - after having owned 4 maybe 5.

'Cuse me, I sense this is a psychological thing and who can blame you. Seldom has an acoustic guitar been so special, intriguing, alluring, , , and vulnerable. 

 

 

 

[62burst]

14 minutes ago, E-minor7 said:

 

Actually no - but have to add my 2010 J-45 Std. is an extraordinary strong bear - almost monstrous. And that my TV-Birds have opened up since the lines above. But especially the words about the "The Hummingbird being tighter, having more note separation and not that depth" holds water.  Primarily the post 2010s. 

 

That's fine. But let me ask a question: If we could make two guitars of the same scale length, but exaggerate the dimensions, say one a three-quarter sized J-45, and one with a box the size of a cello, which would sound tighter, and which would project better? "Just wondering..."

[E-minor7]

24 minutes ago, 62burst said:

 

That's fine. But let me ask a question: If we could make two guitars of the same scale length, but exaggerate the dimensions, say one a three-quarter sized J-45, and one with a box the size of a cello, which would sound tighter, and which would project better? "Just wondering..."

 

Are you out to blow my mind, , , !! 

Just let me repeat that my 2010 J-45 is so much different from my pal's 03 or 05 Historic Collection. And that my 2 Birds born within the same month of 2012 are quite different - tho closer related than the mentioned slopes. 

And 62burst -

what if we imagined that an actual hummingbird made a nest inside a Gibson ditto and a cat tripped by activating the strings - would it then sound like a hummingbird or a Hummingbird. . 

[62burst]

37 minutes ago, E-minor7 said:

 

Are you out to blow my mind, , , !! 

And 62burst -

what if we imagined that an actual hummingbird made a nest inside a Gibson ditto and a cat tripped by activating the strings - would it then sound like a hummingbird or a Hummingbird. . 

Now you're blowing my mind. . . 

Yes, on the subjectivity of it all, and also bearing in mind your earlier mention of bracing differences, of which for some reason I've always drawn a line in the sand of guitar trivia (the same line for knowing which years of J-45's were showing 19 or 20 fret 'boards). If you could expand on that a bit, I will try to remember.

[uncle fester]

Loving the conversation, just wanted to summarize what I've heard.  A hummingbird is a beast of it' own, something of wonder, beauty...  just awesomely incredible.  Almost as much as my J45 🤩

[MorrisrownSal]

I have looked like a dope so many times with this model.

nevertheless,  I make no apologies. In fact it’s the first model I try anywhere that has them. Riddle me that? And I won’t rule out another in the future.... but I will need to play it first, and not buy it, and then justify tone after.

im in a good place now, and have been tweaking what I have and own. The Stable is small now and it has room. But I ain’t takin in no hussy.

[MissouriPicker]

Give it up for "the bird."------------ 

 

[E-minor7]

Ha haha he he he heh he. . .

[62burst]

Now  who's the Eggman?            (ouch, Mo'Pick)

I guess I /we  had  that coming.

[blindboygrunt]

17 hours ago, ThemisSal said:

I have looked like a dope so many times with this model.

nevertheless,  I make no apologies. In fact it’s the first model I try anywhere that has them. Riddle me that? And I won’t rule out another in the future.... but I will need to play it first, and not buy it, and then justify tone after.

im in a good place now, and have been tweaking what I have and own. The Stable is small now and it has room. But I ain’t takin in no hussy.

🤦‍♂️