Del Nilppeznaf Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 Hi all, happy holidays Well after 4 months of waiting..... I collected my new Hummingbird TV form the store a couple of days ago. She is absolutely beautiful, I have posted some pics... but my camera does not, no where near, do her justice. ( Have some really good quality, but too big to upload ) For those of you who have read my previous posts regarding my first Bird purchase you can skip this par,t but I feel a little back ground info would be helpful :? I purchased a HB TV from the largest music store in Ireland around 4 months ago. I think it was the only one available in the country at that time, and basically it was not good. Before I go further, it sounded fantastic ! ( and thats why i purchased her ) I had noticed a few cosmetic issues in the store but I was not overly concerned. I will say this though; as soon as i picked her up I knew something didn't feel right. Anyway i got her home and spent a couple of days with her. I noticed a couple more scratches/ couple of 'dings and some poor binding work that I had not noticed in store..also pg issue and wonky TR cover which i had noticed in store. Anyway..... The main issue was with the neck. When i think about my first posts here...it really goes to show how little,I really knew, about guitars.... even though i have been playing them for over 20 years! The journey i have been on has been a huge learning curve and has been a positive one. If that first 'Bird had been right... i probably would not have found this forum...and not learned so much from all the posters here... so thanks for that. In my naivety I could not believe such a high end guitar could be on sale in a store and have the problems it did...... the join of the mahogany neck and the rosewood fingerboard was not true...and you could feel a lip on both sides all the way up. ( you may find this hard to believe but i did not notice this in store..and I spent over an hour playing her....!!!!! ) After more time i noticed the neck was not truly 'in-line', the high e string would slip off the fret..more pronounced the higher up the neck. I knew nothing about neck re-sets ect'.... Sooooooo... you get the idea...... the neck was bad. I returned her to store and waited for a replacement. The wait has been very enlightening :) Just before Christmas I was informed a replacement had arrived. I was out of the country for a few days, so as soon as i flew into Dublin i drove to the store to have a look at her. ( At this point I was a little apprehensive...haha.... if you have read previous posts you will maybe understand why) The manager of the store came to deal with me, and said he would be a few minutes while he went to get her for me. In this time i decide to check out some new Gibsons they had which i had previously not seen. The first was a model I do not know anything about. In the store all the high end Gibsons are very high up on racks and the assistant needs to get a step ladder and pass them down to you. As he was up there i asked him what model it was and he looked at the label and said it was a Paris?????? I have no idea if he read correct, reason being I did not look at label myself... It was a mini version of something..natural finish /mustache bridge in the shape of a J200 J185 ( i think!!) with that type of PG found on these models, but with a design i had not seen befor. It looked beautiful... I took it to a corner and had a play. I dont think it had ever been tuned.... straight away she sounded very quiet and quite dull. i spent a few mins playing and thought I'd try a couple more. They had two more I may have been interested in. A Hummingbird in a natural finish and adjustable bridge.... ( It said Hummingbird on the label) and a Bird Modern Classic. I tried the Moden Classic first.... it was louder but had very bad string 'buzzing', especially on the A string. Again it needed ALOT of tuning before she was in tune... I don't know how long they had been in store..but I think they may have all arrived with my Bird in the same shipment. Anyway.... sorry if it sounds like I'm being negative but this is my experience..... I was not impressed... and i was getting more apprehensive on how the replacement HB TV was going to sound and play. Next i tried the natural Bird. She was better... though not massively. Nice action and ok projection and tone... but again needed lots of string winding to get her in tune. I think these guitars had been taken out their cases and put directly on show... with out ever being tuned in the store? I'm sure even a rudimentary set up on these guitars would have hugely improved their voices. To be honest i would not have purchased any of them...... maybe this is down to the store.. to try 3 Gibsons in a row and not be even slightly impressed.... I don't know? Not bashing... just saying. So the manger came back out after about 20mins..it's a big store.. carrying a still boxed HB TV. He came over and opened the box and told me they had already opened it and checked.. so cool. He layed the case on the floor and opened it. WOW :):):) My first impression was WOW haha Her finish was absolutely breath taking. The burst is a very deep red..much much redder than my first bird..which was slightly orange ( As EuroAussie commented on : ) ) The pics do not show just how beautiful this finish is.... really... for my personal tastes she is perfect. Being a darker red the PG is almost exactly the same colour as the burst in some lights and it just blends together so wonderfully. I picked her out of the case and checked to see if she was even slightly in tune...( she was ) then tentatively gave a major E strum. WOW and WOW again ( haha soz for all these wows...but :) ) The difference between this beauty of a guitar and the other 3 was; UN- believable! She just sang...straight away... loud, sweet, balanced... I could feel her vibrate through my hands and body. Bear in mind this guitar has came straight from the factory and has never really been played... I can't wait to hear how she is going to sound as she starts to open up. I spent maybe 30 minutes playing and checking her over. There didn't seem to be a blemish or mark anywhere on her. straight away i just knew she felt RIGHT. The store was getting really busy with pianos, synths, guitars being played all around ( private rooms were full ) Over everything she was still cutting through. I knew she was good..and i wanted to get her home. So after a couple of days..impressions. Finish is perfect Action/ intonation/ playability.. all perfect..I do not exaggerate. The guitar was given a set up at Bozeman and checked over thoroughly before being shipped to me. Thank you Jeremy for that :) Tone and projection is just wonderful. She is LOUD..not overly so... just so well balanced. I strum with my index finger and thumb... finger pick, never use a pick ( well hardly ever ) and for the different styles and techniques I use she can accommodate them all. She can be sweet and mellow if played that way..and she can roar if she gets treated right. I still have the factory strings on her..and she is sounding so good.. i usually use 12's but will prob put some 13's on. i know that will make another improvement on an already sweet sounding Bird. She really is .. the guitar of my dreams. I was even given a few goodies in the case..see pic. A nice t shirt... 3 pics..and a separate check sheet stating she had been thoroughly checked for QC. Thank you Gibson for those, and again a big thank you to Jeremy for all your help and correspondence Long post i know.. wanted to share my experience. I do have one query. The tuning heads seem to be filled with a white substance in the tiny holes at the back. It is visible in only some tuners holes. I'm assuming this is the lubricant Gibson use? i have not investigated this further as yet. glad to be posting such a positive ( for a change hah ) post happy new year to all members regards a love struck Gibson owner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 Congratulations. I know you struggled over this project, but it sounds like it was worth the wait. We all know Gibson is capable of building some spectacular guitars, and this sounds like one of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
music4love Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 Sounds like The Birds are singing and flying high. Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanvillRob Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 Beautiful! Congratulations..... Can't wait to hear it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EuroAussie Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 Great ending, really happy for you. The Bird looks figgin amazing, the HB TV is probably my favourite acoustic in the current Gibson linup. Just oustanding. My experienced has been same as yours whene comparing the Bird TV's and MC. Its a signficant difference in tone for the better with the TV's, well worth the exrra cash. Glad to hear you finally hit the homre run, wold love a sound sample if you ever get the inclination ? :-) Happy new Bird year ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markus W. Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 Congrats & have fun with your 'Bird... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-1854Me Posted January 1, 2012 Share Posted January 1, 2012 regards a love struck Gibson owner Nice Hummingbird "Del"! (And Happy New Year!) Did you get this one at Walton's in d/t Dublin? I spent some time hanging out there back when I was in Ireland a few years ago. Fred Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onewilyfool Posted January 1, 2012 Share Posted January 1, 2012 Another HB purchase???? I think the end of this year will be know as the "Great Hummingbird Migration" ...so many Hummingbirds have flown off the shelf!!! Congradulations on your new "WOW" guitar!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissouriPicker Posted January 1, 2012 Share Posted January 1, 2012 Another "bird" takes flight. Congrats! Great way to start the New Year, my friend....Enjoy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted January 1, 2012 Share Posted January 1, 2012 Top post. Nothing better than a happy ending – Let the new year start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinder Posted January 1, 2012 Share Posted January 1, 2012 GREAT news Del!! So glad you're smitten with your new 'Bird. There are few things more joyous in life than a great Hummingbird. Your new squeeze looks brilliant, I hope it becomes a lifelong companion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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