Gibson Birdland

[fretplay]

There must be something about these Birdlands that I don't know, perhaps fellow members can enlighten me.

 

There's one just closed on E Bay, well yes good condition and 1959 but $8100??

 

Apart from the solid wood body/top and the very short scale ( which I would have thought a downer) are they just not L4 or 5s or even 175s? And the different in the money! Tell me please.

[Danny W.]

There must be something about these Birdlands that I don't know, perhaps fellow members can enlighten me.

 

There's one just closed on E Bay, well yes good condition and 1959 but $8100??

 

Apart from the solid wood body/top and the very short scale ( which I would have thought a downer) are they just not L4 or 5s or even 175s? And the different in the money! Tell me please.

 

A Byrdland is an L-5CES with a thinner body and shorter scale, but identical in all other respects.

 

Danny W.

[JimR56]

There must be something about these Birdlands that I don't know, perhaps fellow members can enlighten me.

 

There's one just closed on E Bay, well yes good condition and 1959 but $8100??

 

Apart from the solid wood body/top and the very short scale ( which I would have thought a downer) are they just not L4 or 5s or even 175s? And the different in the money! Tell me please.

A Byrdland (not Birdland) not only has a shorter scale, but a thinner neck (width), which is a deal-breaker for a lot of players. It also has it's own tailpiece design, but you probably knew that.

 

I didn't see the ebay example you're talking about, but $8,100 would not be exorbitant for a nice example from 1959 (from the Golden Era). If it had its original p.a.f. pickups, that would certainly help to explain the price.

[Danny W.]

A Byrdland (not Birdland) not only has a shorter scale, but a thinner neck (width), which is a deal-breaker for a lot of players. It also has it's own tailpiece design, but you probably knew that.

 

I didn't see the ebay example you're talking about, but $8,100 would not be exorbitant for a nice example from 1959 (from the Golden Era). If it had its original p.a.f. pickups, that would certainly help to explain the price.

 

Although original Byrdlands had the 1 & 5/8" nut width, Gibson eventually started making them with the standard 1 & 11/16" width. Almost all of the ones I've seen since the early '90's were wider.

 

Danny W.