Your thoughts on Epiphone Hummingbird

[jwmtele]

I would love to hear form you Epiphone hummingbird owners or if you have played one.I am a fan of epiphone's acoustics

My main guitar for the last few years has beeb a Epi EL00,with a pro setup and medium string on it plays and sounds wonderful.

I have been thinking of getting a secound guitar and i really like the look of the Epi hummingbird and on youtube they sound

very nice.I play alot of Texas style blues like Mance Lipscomb and Lightnin Hopkins.What do you think of your Epiphone Hummingbird?

Do you think the Epi Hummingbird will work good for the type of music i play?Let me know the good,bad and the ugly about the

Epi hummingbird.Thanks for your help and advice,cheers,

James

[GuitarLight]

There is only one negative thing I can say about the Epiphone Hummingbirds. The pick guard picture of the Hummingbird often will wear off if you play it often, leaving a hole in the picture wherever your fingers happen to touch while playing. What good is a hummingbird guitar, if the Hummingbird disappears leaving an empty sort of hole in the pick guard picture? I have wanted one for years, but never got one because of it. Three of my friends own a Hummingbird, and they love them, but when ever I see them playing them, my eye is immediately attracted to their defective pick guard, and I think.."What a shame" ...but if you don't strike the pick guard with your pick, or if you do not support your strumming hand by occasionally placing your pinkie on the guard for support as you strike the strings, it may not wear off. It probably depends on how much you touch it. Also, some say that it should not be polished with guitar wax, which could cause the entire Hummingbird design to get wiped off. Other than that, I would say is one of the most recognizable, and well loved guitars in the world!

[Calmwater]

I've had mine for a year or so and I love it. I'm a big blues and blues rock fan and I think it would work fine for your style. I play this guitar 4 or 5 times a week and the paint on the pickguard looks the same as it did when I bought it. Maybe I just hold the guitar funny or something....

[iwalktheline]

Really good guitars, yes the design will wear off. Some care, some don't about this....I have had 3 epiphone birds only because I had to trade the first 2 in order to get an actual Gibson bird. Even after I got the gibby I bought another epiphone bird. I still have to take her and get a setup done as well as changing the nut and saddle to bone but, once thats done she's a really awesome guitar. In my opinion she will work good for the type of music you play. If you are worried about the design coming off (and it will) try an epiphone hummingbird artist. I have heard great things about them.

[iwalktheline]

Also, try spending $2000 on a gibson bird and in less than 3 months the design is already fading. It's a topic that has been brought up many, many times. They make new ones today that are anti fade which I'm trying to save up for but, many people don't like them because of the look. But, yes it's a very, very frustrating topic.

[jwmtele]

Also, try spending $2000 on a gibson bird and in less than 3 months the design is already fading. It's a topic that has been brought up many, many times. They make new ones today that are anti fade which I'm trying to save up for but, many people don't like them because of the look. But, yes it's a very, very frustrating topic.

If the pickguard on the epi wears off,could i get a Gibson pickguard and put it on the Epi Hummingbird?

Thanks,

James

[GuitarLight]

If the pickguard on the epi wears off,could i get a Gibson pickguard and put it on the Epi Hummingbird?

Thanks,

James

James, I've heard that was not possible, that Gibson won't give or sell a pick guard to put on an Epiphone. Others say that if they do sell you one, it will cost an arm and both legs to get it. If you are worried about the pick guard coming off your Epi Hummingbird and ending up with an orange guitar that is nothing more than a pained laminated dreadnought, then you could buy the $3000 Gibson Hummingbird. Or you could consider getting a different brand guitar. Gibson appears to have no plan on changing things. If they had, I would have had an Epi hummingbird years ago..course if I had, the pick guard design would probably be gone by now. So at that time, fearing that the $3000 Gibson Hummingbird would also come off..as many claim it does, I chose to spend more money and buy a Martin Dreadnought instead.

[iwalktheline]

yeah, thats what I meant. I bought a used gibson hummingbird in mint condition and the pick guard design is already fading. It's pretty stupid but, they don't seem to care enough to really fix the problem. I tried getting a replacement for it but, since I'm not the original owner I would have to shell out more money. They won't (Gibson) supply replacement guards if your not the original owner.

 

Also, I have heard that if you contact epiphone they will send a replacement pick guard. I don't know if they charge or not but, you could still try and see what they say.

[iwalktheline]

If the pickguard on the epi wears off,could i get a Gibson pickguard and put it on the Epi Hummingbird?

Thanks,

James

 

nope, they won't do that. contact epiphone and they might send you a replacement. it will be the cheap one but, its still a replacement.

[GuitarLight]

I contacted Gibson today at 1-800 4 GIBSON (1-800-444-2766) ...Concerning the fading Hummingbird issue on both the Epiphone Hummingbird and the Gibson Hummingbird. They claim they have never heard of this issue before, and told me the Gibson pick guard will not fit the Epiphone. I was told he had heard nothing about the issue,and had never heard of any such complaints, and that I should go to some online pick guard company to replace it.

[iwalktheline]

I contacted Gibson today at 1-800 4 GIBSON (1-800-444-2766) ...Concerning the fading Hummingbird issue on both the Epiphone Hummingbird and the Gibson Hummingbird. They claim they have never heard of this issue before, and told me the Gibson pick guard will not fit the Epiphone. I was told he had heard nothing about the issue,and had never heard of any such complaints, and that I should go to some online pick guard company to replace it.

 

WOW, that's all I can say. That has to be a joke of some sorts, this has been a major issue for a long, long time now. Gibson knows about this, you must have talked to one of the jackass people I did months ago. Also, the Gibson guard WILL FIT on an epiphone, trust me. Yes, you can get a replacement online, try ebay. Again, I said this before it's just a cheap replacement. It's the same one on the epiphone which means it will fade again.

[milod]

Sheesh.... this thread makes me feel like I look - a grumpy old man.

 

I've played one or two in the store. Sounded and played fine with a setup and strings that aren't my "thing." But that's easy enough to change. All of my "acoustics" are AEs, so no real interest for the straight acoustics.

 

But here's what really kills me about the thread: Are you buying a guitar to play and have a certain type of sound or are you buying a guitar so it looks like a nice, new unplayed Hummingbird?

 

Whether you get an Epi, Gibbie, Tak, Taylor or Martin, you're getting what you're getting. They'll feel and play differently and they'll sound a bit different, even two "identical" guitars in a brand.

 

If I wanted a square shoulder, acoustic only, Epi, I could feature the bird because the one I played sounded pretty good, could be adjusted to me, and was quite inexpensive. The playability and general sound with "my" strings are why I'd buy one, though, not because it has a pick guard that looks like this or that.

 

Ditto a Martin, Gibbie, or whatever. I outgrew that when I realized I was trading great stuff 'cuz it wasn't "the right kind" in the bands I was playing with. I'd especially love to have a certain Gretsch and a certain classical guitar back. And when I swapped 'em, they'd gotten a bit worn, too.

 

There are some guitars I've gotta admit I'd be unlikely to buy because of their looks - chartreuse finish and such just ain't my thing. But they're all gonna wear. I've gotten my past cupla guitars with finishes I didn't really care for, but... sheesh, I loved how they played and they sounded good. I'd not buy a bird for the pickguard, either.

 

m

[AldoMcD1]

I've never had a problem with the pickguards on any of my Epiphone acoustics.

My Hummingbird is 16 years old and the pickguard is the same as the day I bought it (I play it several times a week).

 

A quick Google search returned this:

Pickguard-for-Hummingbird-Acoustic

 

For $13.00 though, I'm unsure what the quality is like.

[Little Bill]

My Epiphone hummingbird mostly sits in the case play it once an a while and the bird scheme on mine fading off seems to be a real issue from what I'm reading are the replacement guards as worthless I really like the guitar so I'm wondering is anything being done to correct this if so email me and let me know.Thanks great guitar sorry pickguard

[Brucebubs]

Thread is 9 years old - the new 2021 Epiphone 'Inspired by Gibson' Hummingbirds are a whole new ball game.

 

[ALD323]

On 8/7/2021 at 3:06 PM, Little Bill said:

My Epiphone hummingbird mostly sits in the case play it once an a while and the bird scheme on mine fading off seems to be a real issue from what I'm reading are the replacement guards as worthless I really like the guitar so I'm wondering is anything being done to correct this if so email me and let me know.Thanks great guitar sorry pickguard

As of this date..here are two places to get a new factory Epiphone Hummingbird pick guard. I bought one myself for an old epi bird..they are exactly the same with self stick backing to apply...your old one will come off easy because of the poly finish, if you use naptha to remove the old one...here they are:

https://www.ebay.com/p/21012036966?iid=274662469074

https://reverb.com/item/42939615-pickguard-for-hummingbird-acoustic?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=12293041879&utm_content=campaignid=12293041879_adgroupid=114838722142_productpartitionid=1340834378357=merchantid=267193764_productid=42939615_keyword=_device=c_adposition=_matchtype=_creative=497393521577&gclid=Cj0KCQjw-NaJBhDsARIsAAja6dOEgNuZtvsBsDm_af4rFb6Gh9gwIwqHNN5qR5gdykHFobCw-RlHzc0aAi96EALw_wcB