HOLD! - 1965 Gibson Firebird III Sunburst Non Reverse - w/ great history!

Cool Bird with a great 50 year history!!

Bought by current owner Carl (see pictures) in 1975 when he was only 18 years old and travelled to the USA with his band to see if they could make it on the other side. 

First they went to San Fransisco as they thought that was the place to be, but after a few weeks they took the Greyhound to Las Vegas to visit a couple of big shows. In Vegas, Carl noticed this bird in a guitar store in one of the Hotels (International Hotel, The Sands, ...?) and fell in love with it. He decided to buy it (sales guy told him it used to be Johnny Winter's bird...) and took it with him on the plane back to The Netherlands, wrapped in a couple of plastic bags. Back home, Carl went to one of the most the legendary music shops of The Netherlands: Nico Servaas in The Hague. As there were no original Gibson Firebird cases available in the 70's (these guitars were very very rare in Europe), Nico sold him a standard guitar case which was way too big but he form-fitted it with foam so the guitar would be safe. It is amazing that this Firebird survived without any cracks or breaks... The case and foam inserts are included in the sale, as well as the original guitar strap Carl bought in 1975, which can also be seen in the pictures! 

Carl played it during the 70's and 80's in his The Hague based band "The Pack" on all kinds of podiums and festivals, among which one of the first and oldest free festivals in the Netherlands: "Waterpop" in Wateringen. In 1981, The Pack opened the 4th edition of the festival with Carl playing this very Firebird. During the mid 80's Carl became a professional sound engineer and he was on the road all the time. Due to his work he had to stop playing with his band and his beloved Firebird has been under the bed ever since, only to wake up today to find a new home.

Mid 60's Firebirds can be difficult to date exactly but this one can be dated pretty specific to 1965 as the serial number (507058), pots (1376533) and body specifics all point into that particular year. From 1966 through 1968, some Firebirds appeared with Switchcraft toggles in place of the infamous slider switch and in 1966 the body pickup route was altered to a single large “swimming pool” type and the P90's were mounted on the underside of the pickguard, making them more easy adjustable. Also the knobs were changed into amp-style “witch hat” type knobs and not the earlier 60's reflector knobs.

To make his Bird more useable for live performances, Carl had the Gibson neck and bridge P90 replaced for a couple of bright and open sounding DiMarzio DP-209 Super Distortion Soapbar P90 sized Humbucker pickups! Although this modification didn't need additional holes or modifications to the pickguard, the original P90 routings were deepened a little to accommodate and mount these pickups. Luckily Carl saved the Gibson clear bobbin P90's and they are included in the sale. In the middle position is the original late 50's early 60's black bobbin Gibson P90 pickups and they are in the case as well. The Dimarzio's (9.88K + 10.50K Ohm) can been seen on the guitar in the pictures of Carl playing the Bird in the 70's. Carl also replaced the tuners for Schallers but the original 6-in-line Kluson strip tuners are back on. Everything else is original to this guitar: the pots are dated 1376533 (week 33, 1965), electronics, plastics, knobs, tuners, lighting wrap around bridge, short maestro vibrola, nitro sunburst finish etc are all original and there are no repairs, refinished parts, touch ups etc. other then mentioned. No cracks or breaks and NO headcrack!! Our luthier has gone over it and replaced the sometimes malfunctioning slider switch for a new one and resoldered and replaced wiring where necessary.
 
This baby is now ready to rock the stages once more!!!