Firebird

**Gibson Firebird**
Gibson had made forays into radical body shapes - the ***Flying V*** and ***Explorer*** in the 1950s - but they failed. The president of Gibson, *Ted McCarty*, hired car designer *Ray Dietrich* to design a guitar that would have popular appeal. Under Dietrich, the Firebird took on the lines of mid-50s car tailfins. Dietrich took the Explorer design and rounded the edges. The most unusual aspect is that the guitar is "backward" in that the right-hand (treble) horn of the body is longer than the other. Thus, the original Firebirds were unofficially referred to as "reverse".

## Models

### Firebird Studio

* 2006-Current

**Body:**

* Mahogany body

**Neck:**

* Set mahogany neck with SlimTaper "D" profile
* Rosewood fingerboard with dot inlays
* 22 frets
* 24.75" scale
* 1.68" nut width

**Electronics:**

* Alnico Classic & Classic Plus humbucker pickups
* 2 Vol. 2 Tone controls
* 3-way selector switch

**Hardware:**

* Chrome hardware
* Steinberger 40:1 direct drive gearless tuners
* White pickguard with red Firebird graphic
* Tune-o-matic bridge with stopbar tailpiece
* Black reflector knobs

**Colors:**

* Worn Cherry (WC)
* Ebony (EB)
* Vintage Sunburst (VS)
* TV-Pelham Blue (TE)

### Korina **Firebird**

* 2010-2011

**Body:**

* Korina Body

**Neck:**

* Set mahogany neck
* Rosewood fingerboard with dot inlays
* 24.75" scale
* 1.68" nut width

**Electronics:**

* Alnico V humbuckers
* 2 Vol. 2 Tone Controls
* 3-way selector switch

**Hardware:**

* Chrome hardware
* Steinberger 40:1 direct drive gearless tuners
* White pickguard with red Firebird graphic
* Black reflector knobs

**Colors:**

* Korina (KO)

***See also:***

* ***Korina Series***

### Firebird-V

* 2007

**Body:**

* Mahogany body

**Neck:**

* Set mahogany neck with SlimTaper "D" profile
* Rosewood fingerboard with dot inlays
* 22 frets
* 24.75" scale
* 1.68" nut width

**Electronics:**

* 2 Alnico-V mini-humbucker pickups
* 2 Vol. 2 Tone controls
* 3-way selector switch

**Hardware:**

* Chrome hardware
* Diecast tuners
* White pickguard with red Firebird graphic
* Tune-o-matic bridge with stopbar tailpiece
* Gold reflector knobs

**Colors:**

* Vintage Sunburst (VS)
* Antique Ivory (AI)
* Ebony (EB)

### 1963 Firebird-VII

* 1999-2005
* $831 MSRP (2005)

* 2007

**Body:**

* Mahogany body

**Neck:**

* Set mahogany neck with SlimTaper "D" profile
* Rosewood fingerboard with block inlays
* 22 frets
* 24.75" scale
* 1.68" nut width

**Electronics:**

* 3 Alnico-V mini-humbuckers
* 2 Vol. 2 Tone controls
* 3-way selector switch

**Hardware:**

* Chrome hardware
* Grover tuners with gold tulip buttons
* White pickguard with red Firebird graphic
* Tune-o-matic bridge
* Maestro Lyre Vibrola tailpiece
* Reflector knobs

**Colors:**

* Vintage Sunburst (VS)
* Antique Ivory (AI)
* Ebony (EB)
* Red (RE)
* Metallic Gold (MG)

### Firebird III

* 1995-2000
* $649 MSRP (2000)

**Body:**

* Lamintaed Mahogany/Alder body

**Neck:**

* Bolt-on Mahogany neck
* Rosewood fingerboard with dot inlays
* 24.75" scale
* 1.68" nut width

**Electronics:**

* 2 OBL mini-humbucker pickups
* 2 Vol. 2 Tone controls
* 3-way selector switch

**Hardware:**

* Chrome hardware
* Tune-o-matic bridge with stopbar tailpiece
* White pickguard with red "Firebird" graphic
* Amber bell knobs

**Colors:**

* Ebony (EB)
* White (WH)
* Red (RE)
* Vintage Sunburst (VS)

### Firebird 300

* 1986-1988

**Body:**

* Laminated Mahogany body
* Neck-through-body design

**Neck:**

* Ebanol fingerboard with dot inlays
* 25.5" scale
* 1.68" nut width

**Electronics:**

* 1 EMG Select humbucker / 1 EMG Select single coil
* 1 Vol. 1 Tone controls
* 3-way selector switch

**Hardware:**

* Black hardware
* Tune-o-matic bridge with stopbar tailpiece
* White pickguard with black Firebird graphic
* Locking Steinberger KB Tremolo
* Black speed knobs

**Colors:**

* Red (RE)
* Ebony (EB)
* Silver Metal Flake (SM)
* Vintage Sunburst (VS)

### Firebird 500

* 1986-1988

**Body:**

* Laminated Mahogany body
* Neck-through-body design

**Neck:**

* Ebanol fingerboard with dot inlays
* 25.5" scale
* 1.68" nut width

**Electronics:**

* 2 EMG Select humbuckers
* 1 Vol. 1 Tone controls
* 3-way selector switch

**Hardware:**

* Black hardware
* Tune-o-matic bridge with stopbar tailpiece
* White pickguard with black Firebird graphic
* Locking Steinberger KB Tremolo
* Black speed knobs

**Colors:**

* Red (RE)
* Ebony (EB)
* Silver Metal Flake (SM)
* Vintage Sunburst (VS)

### Slasher

* 2001 Limited Edition

**Body:**

* Solid tonewood body

**Neck:**

* Bolt-on Hard Maple neck with Super-Slide Satin Finish
* Indian Rosewood fingerboard with dot inlays
* Explorer-S Headstock
* 24.75" scale
* 1.68" nut width

**Electronics:**

* E-Series Ultra Hot humbuckers
* Engraved E-Series logo on pickup covers
* E-Series Smooth Tone potentiometers
* 1 Vol / 1 Tone Knobs
* 3-way Selector Switch
* Passive Electronics

**Slasher FX**

* Onboard Distortion and Chorus
* 1 Vol. 1 Tone, 1 Distortion Gain
* 2 Mini Toggles for Effects Board
* Active Electronics

**Hardware:**

* Chrome hardware
* Tune-o-matic bridge with sting-thru body
* No pickguard
* Black speed knobs

**Colors:**

* Metallic Black (MB)
* Metallic Red (RM)
* Metallic Light Blue (ML)

***See also:***

* ***E-Series***
* ***Hard Body Series***