NGD! A Green Bird!

jimilee said:
Been wanting a Firebird for a little while now, but I keep biting Les Pauls. I love the reverse headstock, glad they did that. I like the out of phase sound, it’s about the only reason I would use the middle position. That being said, if I spent a bunch of money on custom pickups, I’d want it to be my choice instead of what you’re dealing with.
Click to expand...
Yah, there's something wrong with this set of pickups. It's out of phase but not in a good way. You probably wouldn't like it.
I'll show it in the demo when I get around to it. Maybe today.

I'm actually bacheloring it this week. Wife is out of town with her childhood friend that has cancer. Kinda of a last hurrah road trip.
Kids are working. Just me and my projects.....heh
 
I really like that olive green color. The laurel fingerboard has a nice dark color to it too. The laurel fretboard on my Squier Jazzmaster is has a grey hue to it. I wonder if the lead and ground connections on the weird pickup got swapped around. Is it a four wire or just a two wire lead on it?
 
Wow.
Been gassing for a Firebird for quite some time (damn you Uncle Larry!). I've seen this Epiphone and it's tempting but I've also seen another brand somewhere else that is more expensive but it's older so it has rosewood and it's aged nicely.

The problem is the tones I hear in demos are all different. Sometimes it sounds like a Tele on steroids (good) and sometimes it's unbearably bright and thin (bad).
I know Epiphone did a good job with these pickups but I don't know if they are for me.

Firebirds are also notorious for their neck dive on a strap.
So how's the neck dive with your Firebird?

Btw my Epiphone has an audio pot for volume but a linear pot for tone, so it's super subtle until 2 and then it's underwater :)
 
I put 250k log pots in mine. It's still bright but with .015 tone caps I have a lot of range to dial the tone back. I'm running it with tone on both pickups rolled off most of the time.
 
MichaelW said:
I put 250k log pots in mine. It's still bright but with .015 tone caps I have a lot of range to dial the tone back. I'm running it with tone on both pickups rolled off most of the time.
Click to expand...
Both rolled off all the way? That's bright
 
It was ironic, Michael, that I worked on a green Explorer just after you got this bird. I was impressed how well it was made. The owner wanted a Bare Knuckles in the bridge and Lace Sensor in the neck. He tunes down to C standard and the strings were like bridge cables but this thing sounded HUGE. Epiphone really seems to be firing on all cylinders these days.
 
Gordo said:
It was ironic, Michael, that I worked on a green Explorer just after you got this bird. I was impressed how well it was made. The owner wanted a Bare Knuckles in the bridge and Lace Sensor in the neck. He tunes down to C standard and the strings were like bridge cables but this thing sounded HUGE. Epiphone really seems to be firing on all cylinders these days.
Click to expand...
I’d love one of the Korina Explorers but at that price it begins to reach diminishing returns. I love the two Epiphones I have but I don’t think I’d spend $1k on one.
 
  • Like
Reactions: fig
MichaelW said:
I’d love one of the Korina Explorers but at that price it begins to reach diminishing returns. I love the two Epiphones I have but I don’t think I’d spend $1k on one.
Click to expand...
Having said that, since getting this Bird, I’ve restored the PRS Vela that I put Firebird pickups in back to original specs and it’s on the Reverb block. It plays way nicer than the Epiphone Firebird but the Epi sounds way more like a real Firebird.
 
Oh crap, I didn't think they were that much. I'd think a Firebird (with neck thru) would be a more expensive build. This one came with a very nice softside (but very strong) rectangular case. I was a little dubious of the aesthetics as the customer had picked an orange & cream bobbin'd bridge matched with a black bobbin'd neck, but by the time I got it together I thought it looked kinda cool. Added a push pull tone pot for the neck to split it.
 
MichaelW said:
Everyone's invited, I have plenty of room and...."ahem" plenty of guitars and pedals to go around........ :ROFLMAO:
Click to expand...
I banged all night on your door...at first I thought you couldn't hear me then the lights turned off. When your neighbor called the cops I tried explaining but they'd never heard of any MichaelW.

Not knowing anyone else in Idaho to bail me out, I spent the night in the local jail on a D&D.
 
Gordo said:
Oh crap, I didn't think they were that much. I'd think a Firebird (with neck thru) would be a more expensive build. This one came with a very nice softside (but very strong) rectangular case. I was a little dubious of the aesthetics as the customer had picked an orange & cream bobbin'd bridge matched with a black bobbin'd neck, but by the time I got it together I thought it looked kinda cool. Added a push pull tone pot for the neck to split it.
Click to expand...
I think the "standard" Explorers are more in line with the other Inspired by Gibson Epiphones. It's the Korina ones that are a bit pricey.
 
Ah, I see. I didn't even check the price. Looks to be in the $650-ish range so decent deal, especially given the nice fit and finish. I have an import Hamer "Standard" in korina-wanna-be that's quite nice but the minute I got it home I gutted it and redid all the electronics/pickups. It looks, sounds and feels great but we've never really bonded.
 
Gordo said:
Ah, I see. I didn't even check the price. Looks to be in the $650-ish range so decent deal, especially given the nice fit and finish. I have an import Hamer "Standard" in korina-wanna-be that's quite nice but the minute I got it home I gutted it and redid all the electronics/pickups. It looks, sounds and feels great but we've never really bonded.
Click to expand...
Korina wannabe? Man, some of the old USA Hamers were awesome guitars. I especially had some serious GAS for the Korina double cut "Special" with P90's they used to make.
 
Ditto. The USA stuff was killer. The imports run the gamut from superb to meh. I had one of the USA 25th double cuts factory loaded with a JB bridge and a Seth Lover Seymour Duncan in the neck (seriously under rated pickup) and got to talk to Jol Dantzig about it. Great guitar but it never really liked me. I sold it to a pal of mine that's a much better guitar player and its a match made in heaven. It's chambered so played at high volume it just opens up.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top