Hummingbird Quandary

[Joe M]

Just played a 1974 all-original Hummingbird at a local shop that's for sale. Played and sounded great, even with what looked like may be the original strings. Hardly a mark on it that I could see. Priced unbelievably low. Couldn't really figure out why until I looked at the saddle more closely. Very, very low, with hardly any break angle for the strings. Meaning, AFIK, that it probably needs a neck reset. My quandary is this: would the guitar be worth buying and taking the chance that it doesn't need a reset? And, if it does, would the low price still make it worth it to have it done? When I say it's priced low, it's almost half of what a new Custom Shop HB is listed for. 

I know in the end, it's my decision to make, just looking for some input to either push me over the ledge or pull me back.....

Thanks

[Sgt. Pepper]

42 minutes ago, Joe M said:

Just played a 1974 all-original Hummingbird at a local shop that's for sale. Played and sounded great, even with what looked like may be the original strings. Hardly a mark on it that I could see. Priced unbelievably low. Couldn't really figure out why until I looked at the saddle more closely. Very, very low, with hardly any break angle for the strings. Meaning, AFIK, that it probably needs a neck reset. My quandary is this: would the guitar be worth buying and taking the chance that it doesn't need a reset? And, if it does, would the low price still make it worth it to have it done? When I say it's priced low, it's almost half of what a new Custom Shop HB is listed for. 

I know in the end, it's my decision to make, just looking for some input to either push me over the ledge or pull me back.....

Thanks

If its priced low enough even with it needing a neck reset, it may be cheaper than a new one.

[QuestionMark]

Gibsons from the 70s typically sell for much less than from other years.  Typically, they are overbraced with what is referred to as double X bracing….a move the Gibson’s corporate owner at the time (the Norlin Company) did to try and cut down on warranty work.  Norlin era Gibsons also have the unpopular volute on the back of their necks where the headstock meets the neck.  Why it was/is unpopular isn’t really known, and in the 80s circa when Henry bought Gibson, or maybe just before, the volute was gone and never reappeared since.  I believe the 70s Gibsons also had a different neck to body angle that other years, which makes the action over the sound hole and upper frets look higher than other years, although in the lower frets the action looks good.   BTW, because of the overbuild and neck angle, some Norlin era Gibsons have cracks similar looking cracks front of the sound hole that are cosmetic and do not affect the guitar’s integrity structure, but are there none the less.  Also, as a cost cutting move, Norlin utilized the same square shouldered body shape on many models, including ones that historically were round shouldered…so the differences between many 70s models are sometimes distinguished primarily by the model name, not much else.  BTW…back to the volute.  The volute was added by Norlin to supposedly cut down on headstock breakage.  But, the story I’ve always heard was they put the volute or it’s thick part in the wrong location, actually making the volute potentially non-effective.

Don’t get me wrong.  There are many good Norlin era instruments, but many are quite bizarre…especially the ones from the later 70s.  Prices remain lower from the Norlin era because of the Norlin era reputation even if it’s one of the good ones.  Disclaimer:  I own a Gibson 1972 SJD that I  bought new in 1974.   It is probably the best sounding guitar I own.  However, it’s headstock broke due to my dropping it, but was fixed by an authorized Gibson repairman and has not given me any problems since.  Gibson also at one point had to heat press the neck to get it back into the correct shape because it began to twist causing the action to go haywire.  That heat press action reshaping is still holding after +20 years.  I barely play my SJD  any longer as I now have many more highly refined Gibsons, Epiphones, a Martin, etc that are much better playing guitars.

Hopefully this provides some insight into why the instrument you are looking at is lower priced than the same model from other years.
 

QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff

Edited April 20, 2022 by QuestionMark

[fortyearspickn]

If you’re interested in simply owning an HBird, get it.  If you’re on a quest to own the sound…. Keep Looking. 

[Murph]

If I had Sal's money, I'd just buy it...

[Joe M]

Thanks for the replies guys, I'm gonna pass on this one.  At first I thought the price was too good to be true, and after reading input from you all, especially QuestionMarks', I'm guessing there's a good reason why the guitar has such a low price-tag on it. And, Murph, you're correct, if I had Sal's money, I would have bought it already.....