• Guys, we've spent considerable money converting the Les Paul Forum to this new XenForo platform, and we have ongoing monthly operating expenses. THE "DONATIONS" TAB IS NOW WORKING, AND WE WOULD APPRECIATE ANY DONATIONS YOU CAN MAKE TO KEEP THE LES PAUL FORUM GOING! Thank you!

Bonamassa Signature Firebird I?

fakejake

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 3, 2010
Messages
1,274
Here's a few pictures of mine:


vkH-70f-QK4DnQuQqtrQpNw0D-zp3fQfwvcw9e2WPpE




WnHBfZ_RHFyDhEfefk8iiwN3ivvk-4cs_U4s1E9Yi2k


29Evi7fBNMSe-6u6jl9Bydg-lwHpnzHgptt_TYOr2oc


RZUxf_shcGIUK7qPI0fYfKugMj8j94huMg3MCYm-7pQ



d1bbsKA1sP2L-uFTsv4xKE434nWUpR1S0rw-HBwgQhA








I absolutely love this guitar! Last weekend I finally did some mods I was planning on doing even bore I got the guitar: bone nut, DJ inlays, extra long studs and bushings, 60ies style harness, Lollar FB pickup, aged pickguard, Gibson TRC, plus some light aging to the hardware.
It was great fun modding it, and made the guitar even better!
 

gretsch8217

Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2001
Messages
39
Here's my take on it. I think it's a nice guitar for the money. I bought mine (sunburst finish) from the original owner and got it for a good price. That being said, I can't comment on the set up 'right out of the box'. When I bought it, it had, what I believe to be, the original, light gauge (.009?) strings and played great.

As with most import guitars, there was room for improvement. The guitar is very light and resonant, but top heavy due to the banjo tuners. Not surprising, but much more so than my '96 FB Reissue.

Before I made the changes, the guitar sounded thin to my ears. I'm sure the lighter strings had something, but not all, to do with it. The following, what I believe to be, improvements were made:

1. Replaced stock pots with 500K volume and 250K tone pots from a '64 Epiphone Olympic. Added a paper in oil capacitor.
2. Replaced the output jack with one from the same Olympic.
3. Replaced original bushings, studs and tailpiece with Mojoaxe steel studs and bushing and their compensated tailpiece.
4. Replaced original pickup, which wasn't all that bad, with a custom wound Jon Moore modified FB pickup. Pickup has steel slugs in the coils and an alnico II magnet underneath. Kind of like a faux minihumbucker.
5. Restrung it with D'Addario 010's.

The guitar, to my ears sounds less thin now, and not as offensive in the high end. Other than the hardware items, everything else was from my parts stash, so the mods didn't cost me much.

Now, my question to others who own this guitar is, do you have any issue with the steep neck angle? I ask because mine is such that the tailpiece sits very high off the body. I'm guessing that the necks were cut from blanks using a CNC machine, so they all should be consistent.

Does anyone else have this issue?
 
Last edited:

Roe

Member
Joined
Apr 6, 2006
Messages
463
mine is a little high at the bass side but it not higher than some gibson type guitars can be. It is a great guitar for the money. It is almost as good as my 1974 Burny FB120 with Duncan Antiquities
 
Last edited:
Top