Elliot Easton
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2003
- Messages
- 3,478
Hi All,
I thought you might enjoy checking out the 1st prototype for my new Elliot Easton "Tikibird" Model! As you can see, it departs from the vintage Firebird V in several significant ways. I would also like to add that this is only the 1st prototype and I have already requested a few changes from Gibson USA to improve the esthetics and give it a cleaner look, the details of which I will share with you. Also the caveat: I'm not much of a photographer-the pictures don't really do the guitar justice-it's breathtaking in person. OK, so with all that out of the way here goes:
It's a:
>Firebird (Tikibird) V in Gold Poly Mist (one color only to start) w/:
>Full Size Humbuckers-'57 Classics
>A Bigsby B3 Vibrato Tailpiece
>Nylon bridge saddles
>Domed thumbwheels on the tune-o-matic, so that the bridge rocks slightly when the Bigsby is used. This was done on vintage Gibsons that had Bigsby's and I find that it really helps the guitar to stay in tune when you use the vibrato effect
>My trademark Tiki on the Pickguard, rather than the traditional Firebird hot stamp
>Four small slider switches. These do essentially the same thing that the push-pull pots did on the last iteration of the Les Paul Standard. I thought that wiring system was fantastic, and added many very usable tones to the guitar. The Firebird is too thin to fit the push pull pots so we went with slider switches. From top to bottom they are:
1-coil tap for neck pickup
2-coil tap for bridge pickup
3-out of phase switch for when both pickups are engaged
4-blower switch that gives you the bridge pickup routed directly to the jack-no volume, tone switches, caps or any extra wiring, for maximum wailing!
>Steinberger Gearless Tuners-more efficient, lighter (no neck dive) more precise.
Now the changes that I've already requested for the production run are:
1-the slider switches are going to be white instead of black and will blend into the pickguard for a less cluttered, more elegant look.
2-the signature and the word "model" (in Rat Fink font, as usual for me!) are going to be moved from the edge of the pickguard, and be made into a decal that will be on the back of the headstock, parallel to the serial #, again giving the pickguard a cleaner, less cluttered look. I don't need my name on the front of the guitar!
Now, I know that the purists may not approve of some of my changes and that's OK. I designed a guitar I could play and get the job done in the classiest way possible. Some folks love the Firebird mini-humbuckers but I've never really liked them much. They're just not my voice. The full size 'buckers sound amazing in this guitar, subtly different from SG's, Les Pauls, 335's, V's, etc. The guitar sounds incredible! I hope when it becomes available you'll try one out!
I thought you might enjoy checking out the 1st prototype for my new Elliot Easton "Tikibird" Model! As you can see, it departs from the vintage Firebird V in several significant ways. I would also like to add that this is only the 1st prototype and I have already requested a few changes from Gibson USA to improve the esthetics and give it a cleaner look, the details of which I will share with you. Also the caveat: I'm not much of a photographer-the pictures don't really do the guitar justice-it's breathtaking in person. OK, so with all that out of the way here goes:
It's a:
>Firebird (Tikibird) V in Gold Poly Mist (one color only to start) w/:
>Full Size Humbuckers-'57 Classics
>A Bigsby B3 Vibrato Tailpiece
>Nylon bridge saddles
>Domed thumbwheels on the tune-o-matic, so that the bridge rocks slightly when the Bigsby is used. This was done on vintage Gibsons that had Bigsby's and I find that it really helps the guitar to stay in tune when you use the vibrato effect
>My trademark Tiki on the Pickguard, rather than the traditional Firebird hot stamp
>Four small slider switches. These do essentially the same thing that the push-pull pots did on the last iteration of the Les Paul Standard. I thought that wiring system was fantastic, and added many very usable tones to the guitar. The Firebird is too thin to fit the push pull pots so we went with slider switches. From top to bottom they are:
1-coil tap for neck pickup
2-coil tap for bridge pickup
3-out of phase switch for when both pickups are engaged
4-blower switch that gives you the bridge pickup routed directly to the jack-no volume, tone switches, caps or any extra wiring, for maximum wailing!
>Steinberger Gearless Tuners-more efficient, lighter (no neck dive) more precise.
Now the changes that I've already requested for the production run are:
1-the slider switches are going to be white instead of black and will blend into the pickguard for a less cluttered, more elegant look.
2-the signature and the word "model" (in Rat Fink font, as usual for me!) are going to be moved from the edge of the pickguard, and be made into a decal that will be on the back of the headstock, parallel to the serial #, again giving the pickguard a cleaner, less cluttered look. I don't need my name on the front of the guitar!
Now, I know that the purists may not approve of some of my changes and that's OK. I designed a guitar I could play and get the job done in the classiest way possible. Some folks love the Firebird mini-humbuckers but I've never really liked them much. They're just not my voice. The full size 'buckers sound amazing in this guitar, subtly different from SG's, Les Pauls, 335's, V's, etc. The guitar sounds incredible! I hope when it becomes available you'll try one out!
Last edited:
