DIY WORKSHOP 1965 GIBSON FIREBIRD RESTORATION PART ONE
Gibson manufactured original Non-Reverse Firebirds between 1965 and 1969, and the model numbers were I, III, V and VII. There was even a 12-string version but that had a different headstock shape. Only four digits of the serial number have survived on this refinished player-grade model, so before I begin working on it, in order to determine exactly what it is, I’m looking at the evidence of various bridge fittings showing through the lacquer.
It arrived with a Gotoh tune-o-matic fitted, along with a non-original vibrato. At some point it had a stop tailpiece too but the bushing holes have since been plugged. Removing wrapover tailpieces was a common modification on 1960s Gibsons – the ‘lightning bolt’ wraptail provided intonation compensation designed for the wound-G string sets that pop and rock players were rapidly migrating away from.
The Gotoh bridge is mounted on bolts and bushings that are similar to wrapover and stop-tailpiece types. The treble-side bushing hole was plugged and a second bushing hole was drilled closer to the bridge pickup. The spacing between these bushing holes is too narrow for a wraptail, and no obvious evidence of a wrapover bridge having been fitted is showing through the lacquer either.
