Gibson Firebird V

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As a lot of the current guitar body shapes, this one has a history going back to the 60s. To compete with Fender, Gibson hired the car designer Ray Dietrich to create this unique reverse body in the early sixties. It is described as reverse, because the right-hand horn is the longer one, with a reverse cutaway. This iconic guitar is the Gibson Firebird V. Karl appears with it first in 2018 on the Keine Nacht für Niemand tour. However, it is not a vintage but a reissue, which you can see from the tailpiece. The original Firebird Vs had vibrola tailpieces while the modern ones often have a stopbar, which is the case for this guitar. Besides this, there are two other important details on this guitar that let us date it very confidently to the year 2014, this being a 2014 Gibson 120th Anniversary Firebird V in Classic White. Firstly, there are the banjo-style tuners, or the lack thereof. These tuners have the nuts on the face of the headstock, and the keys on the back. However, Gibson discontinued these in 2010, with the turning keys migrating to the front of the headstock, as is the case here. Another interesting feature is that the cable jack is on the side of the body and not on the face among the controls. This is very unusual for a Firebird and has only appeared in this style in 2014 and 2015. Finally, the 2015 Firebird V was only issued in Sunburst - making this a 2014 Gibson 120th Anniversary Firebird V. Note the red bird on the pickguard - definitely one of the best aspects of this guitar.

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