We've decided Firebirds are not offset, right?

[Tafarel]

This is my latest Firebird. I love how they sound, at least the non-Henry J influenced idiocy, so pre-2000. This is a 1990. I shared it in the miscellaneous discussions area. Here is a different pic:

[JSett]

Nice guitar.

It's not that we've 'decided' they're not offset, they just aren't. The waist is straight.

[Larry Mal]

I ain't decided shit and they are offset guitars.

Also great guitars. I like the later ones with the Steinberger tuners but not the ceramic pickups. Now they have Alnico pickups again but the headstock is weird and they have Grover tuners for some reason. It's like there's always something you have to deal with.

Firebirds rule.

[Tafarel]

I ain't decided shit and they are offset guitars.

Also great guitars. I like the later ones with the Steinberger tuners but not the ceramic pickups. Now they have Alnico pickups again but the headstock is weird and they have Grover tuners for some reason. It's like there's always something you have to deal with.

Firebirds rule.

Yeah, I agree. I have a current one in the sunburst with the gearless Steinberger tuners, which, frankly, are great. It has the weird, plain headstock, though. I replaced the shitty ceramics -- measured 23k, FFS!!! -- with D'Urbano pickups from an Australian winder. Sounds every bit as good as this Cardinal Red bird.

[Tafarel]

Nice guitar.

It's not that we've 'decided' they're not offset, they just aren't. The waist is straight.

Thanks. I did a dive into the archives and didn't find a definitive answer, but I may have not gone far enough. All I know is I like Firebirds... a lot!

[Pacafeliz]

I have an Ibanez "lawsuit" one from the 70s. Love its looks but haven't had the chance to really try it out in all these years. That's what my second band now is good for - I'm taking all the other guitars there and let them roar. Firebird is on next week.

I think the bridge pup sounds kinda weak, might SD it, maybe. It's a huge guitar, especially on a smaller guy like me. But then again... the guy in Hot Chip can, I can too.

Love them.

[JSett]

Nice guitar.

It's not that we've 'decided' they're not offset, they just aren't. The waist is straight.

Thanks. I did a dive into the archives and didn't find a definitive answer, but I may have not gone far enough. All I know is I like Firebirds... a lot!

There's a lot to wade through, so I'm not surprised. Fortunately it's easy to work out if something is offset or not, and that's to look at the waist of the guitar:



I love Firebirds, for what it's worth.

[Tafarel]

Nice guitar.

It's not that we've 'decided' they're not offset, they just aren't. The waist is straight.

Thanks. I did a dive into the archives and didn't find a definitive answer, but I may have not gone far enough. All I know is I like Firebirds... a lot!

There's a lot to wade through, so I'm not surprised. Fortunately it's easy to work out if something is offset or not, and that's to look at the waist of the guitar:



I love Firebirds, for what it's worth.

Thanks!
They are fantastic guitars, alright. There are no Fb players that I her0-worship at all, either. I'm not a blues fan -- shoegaze mostly, but it sits so well in the mix with a strat and a Jazzmaster on either side.

[JSett]

Indeed, FB pickups have a certain something to them. They sound very 'alive' and open. A lot of us here are big fans of them and there's many offsets here that have them in. I had a '64 Mustang that had a pair chiselled in and it sounded fantastic

[Embenny]

You're among friends here, for sure. I love Firebirds, and especially Firebird pickups. I've put D'Urbanos in few couple of guitars, including his PAF-sized Firebirds (Big Birds) in a Jaguar.

The thing that I don't get about Firebirds is the used market. They've skyrocketed more than most guitars. I think it's the fact that there's no current production going on, and people are acting like they're permanently discontinued.

I bought a Pelham Blue Firebird T just before prices went totally insane, but unfortunately it was an absolute dog of a player so I traded it on. By the time I considered picking up another, they had jumped up in price enough that I couldn't stomach the risk of buying one sight-unseen. They're rare up here in Canada, so I never had a chance to grab another.

[Tafarel]

I do see that some have put Fb pickups in Jazzmasters, as well. I gave up (sold) two Firebirds when I left my hometown to go to Baltimore for my PhD years ago -- a '64 in metallic lilac sort of color and a Bicentennial Firebird in black -- the cases were just too damn big, and I was going to be living in a tiny, overpriced student apartment. I got what I thought was a decent price for both of them. If I'd only known what I know now, that '64 could have funded my retirement. Oh well.

I've had two of the 2000 - current ones and sold them on because they sounded absolute shite. I did a deep, deep dive on Firebird pickups and discovered the originals, and for the most part all Firebirds up until Henry J came and fucked it all up, were 7k - 8k. That's the sweet spot for Fb pickups, at least to my ears. With that knowledge I bought one from a couple of years ago and ordered some D'Urbano pickups at the same time.

Happy as hell with it now. The Cardinal one compares to it very much equally.

[Tafarel]

You're among friends here, for sure. I love Firebirds, and especially Firebird pickups. I've put D'Urbanos in few couple of guitars, including his PAF-sized Firebirds (Big Birds) in a Jaguar.

The thing that I don't get about Firebirds is the used market. They've skyrocketed more than most guitars. I think it's the fact that there's no current production going on, and people are acting like they're permanently discontinued.

I bought a Pelham Blue Firebird T just before prices went totally insane, but unfortunately it was an absolute dog of a player so I traded it on. By the time I considered picking up another, they had jumped up in price enough that I couldn't stomach the risk of buying one sight-unseen. They're rare up here in Canada, so I never had a chance to grab another.

Oh gawd, the Pelham Blue Firebird is one I lust after. There was a beat-to-shit one on ebay a month or so ago that I bid on -- it sold for $1650. No broken headstock, but it had lacerations all over it.

[gishuk]

A Firebird is an itch I need to scratch at some point. They just look awesome, I especially like the Firebird VII with the 3 pickups and the (actually quite useless) trem system. They seem really rare though and even the 'modern' production ones are very expensive second hand like Embenny said, and vintage ones, which is what I really would want in an ideal world have gone up and out of my price bracket really.

[Tafarel]

A Firebird is an itch I need to scratch at some point. They just look awesome, I especially like the Firebird VII with the 3 pickups and the (actually quite useless) trem system. They seem really rare though and even the 'modern' production ones are very expensive second hand like Embenny said, and vintage ones, which is what I really would want in an ideal world have gone up and out of my price bracket really.

I use the trem on the red one quite heavily. No dive bombing, but some fairly significant dips. It has a TonePros Nashville bridge with roller saddles. It stays in tune really well.

[gishuk]

The only experience I have with that kind of folded metal trem is on a 65 SG I used to own, and it was basically a 'press me to go out of tune' lever
But with the straight string pull on a Firebird and a good roller bridge I can see it working better.