Hey it's Mat from Gibson Product Development - AMA

[jb_abides]

Appreciate it but aside from the obvious details I should have been more specific with my question. What I would like to know is Kalamazoo or Nashville made, production numbers, date of manufacture etc.

As mentioned, better question for Gibson Service, call or email. Unless you lean to an 80s Nashville, then maybe check out @Strings Jr. thread 'Where Are They Now?' on what he may be able to check in his records. ?

 

[matkoehler]

Appreciate it but aside from the obvious details I should have been more specific with my question. What I would like to know is Kalamazoo or Nashville made, production numbers, date of manufacture etc.

Unfortunately impossible to know precise date of manufacture from the sticker serial number range 1975-1977. But it is almost certainly Nashville production -- Kalamazoo was not using the stickers for Les Pauls AFAIK. The pot codes may tell you more about when in '75 it came through production. Best, Mat

 

[Awall]

Unfortunately impossible to know precise date of manufacture from the sticker serial number range 1975-1977. But it is almost certainly Nashville production -- Kalamazoo was not using the stickers for Les Pauls AFAIK. The pot codes may tell you more about when in '75 it came through production. Best, Mat

Thanks Mat, really hard to find any consistent info on these other than 99 was 1975 and 00 was 1976. I’ll leave it at that, just glad to have such a well looked after example and a really easy player too.

 

[charliechitlins]

I think you’re getting your terms interchanged.

I'm not.

 

[Awall]

I'm not.

It’s simple, the Standard was a deluxe with full size humbuckers instead of mini-humbuckers and a Standard truss cover instead of the one that says Deluxe. Otherwise the same guitars.

 

[charliechitlins]

It’s simple, the Standard was a deluxe with full size humbuckers instead of mini-humbuckers and a Standard truss cover instead of the one that says Deluxe. Otherwise the same guitars.

What I'm saying is...once the factory routs a Deluxe for full humbuckers, its silly to slap a Deluxe TRC on it and call it a Deluxe with humbucker package when its just a Standard with the wrong TRC.

 

[jlarnett77]

Hi mat I just purchased a new old stock 2019 aged 58 reissue in sweet cherry its not in my hands yet but will be this coming week from the pictures on the interweb the aging on these look just like the mark knopfler signature lp's are these leftovers from that run or is it just the aging pattern that was used

 

[Torshalla]

Hi Mat,

Thanks again for taking the time to answer direct questions in this thread, I really appreciate it and enjoy reading all questions and answers.

I was wondering if Gibson were considering re issuing COAs, at least for limited / rare models.
I own a Aged and Signed Joe Perry 1959 Les Paul which I love… it is hands down my faourite guitar. The previous owner lost the COA though… And it would be cool if I could get it re printed by Gibson.
I do not need it really as the authenticity is not a question… and I have no plans to sell my favorite guitar. But it would be nice to have still.
Authentication / COA re-printing could be a good service for Gibson and your official dealers.

Thanks for your feedback…

Here are a couple of pics

 

[El Gringo]

Is that the product to use?

That's it and now it's my favorite as this stuff works so well !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[83Custom]

That's it and now it's my favorite as this stuff works so well !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What about it is better/different than the Dunlop fretboard stuff?

 

[El Gringo]

What about it is better/different than the Dunlop fretboard stuff?

I think there are different ingredients as the Howard Feed N Wax is derived from Orange oil and has stuff in it that actually moistures the fretboard versus the Dunlop that for me would dry up . This stuff "feed's " the wood in a natural way along with the wax which helps . It's worth it IMHO . Plus it feels better in my left hand when fretting the fingerboard .

 

[matkoehler]

Hi mat I just purchased a new old stock 2019 aged 58 reissue in sweet cherry its not in my hands yet but will be this coming week from the pictures on the interweb the aging on these look just like the mark knopfler signature lp's are these leftovers from that run or is it just the aging pattern that was used

Yes pre-Murphy Lab it was possible for a dealer to request a specific aging pattern like that on an unrelated platform (Sweet Cherry instead of Sunburst). Not leftover from the run, just the aging pattern. Thanks for the question!

 

[matkoehler]

Hi Mat,

Thanks again for taking the time to answer direct questions in this thread, I really appreciate it and enjoy reading all questions and answers.

I was wondering if Gibson were considering re issuing COAs, at least for limited / rare models.
I own a Aged and Signed Joe Perry 1959 Les Paul which I love… it is hands down my faourite guitar. The previous owner lost the COA though… And it would be cool if I could get it re printed by Gibson.
I do not need it really as the authenticity is not a question… and I have no plans to sell my favorite guitar. But it would be nice to have still.
Authentication / COA re-printing could be a good service for Gibson and your official dealers.

Thanks for your feedback…

Here are a couple of pics

It has been Gibson's policy for decades not to replace COAs and the reason is twofold -- one, it is hard to authenticate instruments remotely and there is a real risk of fraudulent claims here. Two, our COA inserts and booklets have changed year to year and could not be re-sourced anyway.

As far as a paid service that Gibson Customer Service or Repair & Restoration might offer, I think that's a real possibility but it would still necessitate seeing the guitars in person and ideally a proof of purchase. Anyway beautiful guitars! Congrats!

 

[Torshalla]

It has been Gibson's policy for decades not to replace COAs and the reason is twofold -- one, it is hard to authenticate instruments remotely and there is a real risk of fraudulent claims here. Two, our COA inserts and booklets have changed year to year and could not be re-sourced anyway.

As far as a paid service that Gibson Customer Service or Repair & Restoration might offer, I think that's a real possibility but it would still necessitate seeing the guitars in person and ideally a proof of purchase. Anyway beautiful guitars! Congrats!

Thanks for your feedback Mat, appreciate you taking the time
Well, if that service is available i might take it with me when I visit Nashville

 

[Coachmoe]

Mat,

Greetings!

I have another question about USA Firebirds. A member from one of the Facebook Firebird groups posted the following:

" They can't meet the demand right now. I'm not expecting to get mine before April. Possibly not even until next year. Guitar Center opened a small window of a day to backorder some a couple Saturdays ago. I was lucky to get my order in as they capped how many backorder they'd take.

He posted this on January 20th. Going back two weeks puts the order sometime around January 8th or January 1st. What can you tell us about this? How is it Guitar Center could do this if the Firebird is discontinued? I ask because in an early question to you, you said that USA Reverse Birds were no longer available.

You also mentioned something about USA production non Reverse Birds becoming available. The new models were release about 10 days ago and no non Reverse birds as of yet. Any idea when they may roll out?

Finally, what can you tell us about the Gibson.com website? It appears to be a couple of years behind in some respects. For example, The Firebird V is still in the Designer Section. Other parts of the site appear to be up to date, but not everything is current.

As always, thanks in advance for any assistance you can provide.

Bob Mosher

 

[seltaeb]

Hi, Mat,

I have a 2015 Gibson CS '64 Firebird III... My first FB! I was wondering if you or anyone could share about the pickups in this model. Are they ceramic or alnico 5? I'm a FB rookie.

I searched for specs on this guitar, but I can't find anything specific about the pickups. So far they sound great, and I love the neck on this guitar. It's a new experience!

Thank you.

 

[Coachmoe]

Hi, Mat,

I have a 2015 Gibson CS '64 Firebird III... My first FB! I was wondering if you or anyone could share about the pickups in this model. Are they ceramic or alnico 5? I'm a FB rookie.
I searched for specs on this guitar, but I can't find anything specific about the pickups. So far they sound great, and I love the neck on this guitar. It's a new experience!

Thank you.

 

[Coachmoe]

Seltaeb,

I think I can help you. If I’m wrong, Mat can correct me. It is my understanding that ALL Firebirds, USA and CS had ceramic pickups until late in the 2019 year. I believe that was the year they came out with the Clapton FB I which had the original style Alnico pickup. This info has been gathered from several different FACEBOOK Firebird groups. I am sure someone will chime in either supporting my statement or correcting me.

 

[mdubya]

Seltaeb,

I think I can help you. If I’m wrong, Mat can correct me. It is my understanding that ALL Firebirds, USA and CS had ceramic pickups until late in the 2019 year. I believe that was the year they came out with the Clapton FB I which had the original style Alnico pickup. This info has been gathered from several different FACEBOOK Firebird groups. I am sure someone will chime in either supporting my statement or correcting me.

I think you are correct. About the 2015, anyway. I don't know about when the Alnicos were introduced, though.

I have a 2016 LE (not Custom Shop). I don't love the ceramic pickups, but I have grown to really like them.

 

[matkoehler]

Mat,

Greetings!

I have another question about USA Firebirds. A member from one of the Facebook Firebird groups posted the following:

" They can't meet the demand right now. I'm not expecting to get mine before April. Possibly not even until next year. Guitar Center opened a small window of a day to backorder some a couple Saturdays ago. I was lucky to get my order in as they capped how many backorder they'd take.

He posted this on January 20th. Going back two weeks puts the order sometime around January 8th or January 1st. What can you tell us about this? How is it Guitar Center could do this if the Firebird is discontinued? I ask because in an early question to you, you said that USA Reverse Birds were no longer available.

You also mentioned something about USA production non Reverse Birds becoming available. The new models were release about 10 days ago and no non Reverse birds as of yet. Any idea when they may roll out?

Finally, what can you tell us about the Gibson.com website? It appears to be a couple of years behind in some respects. For example, The Firebird V is still in the Designer Section. Other parts of the site appear to be up to date, but not everything is current.

As always, thanks in advance for any assistance you can provide.

Bob Mosher

Hi Bob! If the order was placed before discontinuation (which I believe was April 2021), it will be ordered. But often times a lot of the big retailers have a motivated sales staff that may not know the specifics of the price list...the information never trickles down. Honestly I didn't think an individual GC store could even place a unique special order for anything, but I could be wrong. Is it possible he placed an order for a Custom Shop Firebird? We are still building those.

As I mentioned previously, Firebirds were the most difficult solidbody instrument to build in the 60s and today...but the USA factory is committed to alleviating constraints around this model and once they do so and we can have a healthy order book fulfillment, you will know!

You are completely right about the website. And every employee I work with is right there with you. The reason it has taken so long to see progress is because the old website utilized a defunct software and moving pages necessitated working within a rigid template. So what you see now is kind of the best we could do with the framework we had. The good news is there is a whole new website in the works...but I'm not sure when it will launch yet.