Gibson Firebird Bicentennial - NGD & Question

[Grinch59]

Dear all,

hope you are all well!
I am a happy new owner of a 76 Firebird Bicentennial which I love dearly! This marks my adventure into old guitars and hope that this is only the beginning. Anyhow

2 questions, that I couldn’t properly get answers to by browsing the forum:

1) do you know what the black raiser below the bridge PU is? Not all bicentennial Firebirds have it and I cannot find any info if that is from the factory or a mod. Maybe to have more flexibility on pickup height?

2) the first owner either smoked a lot or played in Smokey bars. Any tips how to get rid of cigarette smell?

3) I like the patina but some areas would be nice with a little less gunk any idea, if the std Gibson polish is ok to use for the original finish? It says it’s good for nitro guitars. But then, today Gibson’s nitro finish is different from the older ones I assume?

Thanks a lot for your help!

 

[charliechitlins]

Congrats!
Need more pics!
I don't know if that riser is original but my tone formula for Firebirds is raise the bridge pu way up, put the neck pu way down and deal with the difference in volume.
Naphtha is best for gunk.
If you can't get it at the hardware, it's Ronson lighter fluid.

 

[Grinch59]

Thanks!

one of the reasons I got it is the incredible balance of the pickups. The bridge is definitely high and close to the strings but they are very well on par volume wise and have just the perfect amount of treble. Not harsh in any way and just so musical. No comparison to an almost €10k Murphy reissue that I played lately. It’s almost night and day how much better the 76 is. Happy days.

Super nice condition, no breaks, no repairs, original hardware & electronics. So madly in love with it

 

[AA00475Bassman]

Although ive never owned a 76 due to how far Gibson strayed from the original platform in construction I have owned most flavors over the past 50 years , you claim not all 76 Firebirds have this spacer - so some 76 do ? With this info this could be original ? If not this is a noninvasive mod if the guitar sounds to your liking I would leave well enough alone - Nice guitar 76 was a interesting year I owned a 76 Explorer .

 

[J T]

I don't have a 76, but with my FBV, I can certainly understand why the spacer is under that bridge pickup. That pickup can be maxed up all the way up and still be too low. You are correct, it's like a booster seat to get the top of the pickup closer to the strings.

 

[Subliminal lanimilbuS]

Ya, just a pickup riser shim. Gibson used them out of wood and plastic over the years. Pickups are amazing on those guitars. Especially the sidewinder bridge pickup. Not 100%, but I think it is the only guitar and year that ever got one. I put a link to a great article about them.

Firebird Pickups: The Definitive Guide to Firebird Mini Humbuckers

Wallace Blackie Gold's groundbreaking post blew the doors open on what we previously knew about these unique and special pickups. Sound clips from vintage firebirds...

www.heliotricity.com

 

[zacknorton]

Really? you Like the sidewinder pickups??? I'll take the "standard" magnet in the coils firebird over the sidewinders every time.

 

[Subliminal lanimilbuS]

Really? you Like the sidewinder pickups??? I'll take the "standard" magnet in the coils firebird over the sidewinders every time.

What type of music do you play. Do you play with a lot of heavy gain or pedals? Seems to be some really good praise at the link I posted and the clips sound really good.

 

[zacknorton]

Any style. I'm just having a hard time imagining that a sidewinder FB would be better at anything than the straight up FB pickups. Those are fantastic sounding.

I don't have EVERY pickup ever made but I do have a guitar with a pair of the late 50's epiphone sidewinder that became the gibson mini hb.

I don't find them to be particularly good at anything except disappointing me.

 

[Subliminal lanimilbuS]

Probably all comes down to usage and application. People used to really go for the overwound higher impedance PAF's. Now people are finding the lower impedance ones more articulate and are getting their gain out of there amps and pedals. The sidewinder with that JTM45 cranked in the link I posted sounds pretty darn good. Great other opinions posted as well. I would imagine there is a big difference in how the vibrations are picked up as the magnetic rings from the magnets are turned sideways. Not sure how that all interacts, but I have read some people like to have them closer to the strings. Seth Lover designed the sidewinder back in the 50's. It was found to take away some of the muddiness you get from humbuckers and proved very useful for bass humbuckers. That would leave me to believe it produces a very clean articulate sound. I personally find a clean articulate sound to be the best starting point for any amp and combination of pedals.

 

[Subliminal lanimilbuS]

If you google "why does the 1976 Gibson Firebird Centennial sound so good" you can get thousands of other peoples opinion on the subject that might go into more detail about the pickups. I don't own one of those guitars, but I watched several video's from my search and found them very appealing.

 

[EFLOW]

Very nice Firebird, I like gold hardware .
Don' t use an abrasive product, I use neutral oil for air guns and a microfiber.