Firebird tuners

[Cassidy]

Greetings,

 

I'm just about to buy a brand new Gibson Firebird V - But something has caught my eye - the one i'm looking at has the Steinberger 40:1 direct drive gearless tuners on it - I've only ever seen these on the Epiphone Firebirds, so I'm wondering if Gibson has started using these on their latest Firebird V or is the guitar I'm looking at a fake or a epi dressed up to look like a Gibson...

 

Sadly i haven't got any pics.....

 

Any assistance would be much appreciated

[Oringo]

Steinberger tuners often get fitted to Firebirds since the original tuners are heavy, don't work too well, and often get broken if the guitar takes a hit or a fall. But do check out everything else. A bolt on neck means it's not a Gibson. If the finish is transparent you should be able to see if the guitar has a 9-piece through-neck which means it's a real Gibson (or a high-quality hand-made copy), no Clones or fakes have the original through-neck. If the guitar has a solid finish, it's a little tougher since you won't be able to see if the guitar has a set neck without taking out the neck pickup. Check the serial number, take out the pickups and check that they'e Gibsons. Check out the pots and capacitos and compare them to photos of real Firebirds...basically check everything since you don't want to pay a Gibson price for a non-Gibson guitar!