Gibson Custom Shop '65 Firebird V (Kloppmann)

The Firebird is the outsider in the Gibson catalogue, and that's exactly what makes it interesting. It was designed in the early sixties by Ray Dietrich, an automotive designer, and you can still see it. That silhouette has nothing to do with classical guitar building; it looks like a sketch out of a Detroit body shop, and it has divided opinion for over sixty years.

What really makes the Firebird special, though, sits under the surface: the neck-through construction. Instead of gluing a neck to a body, a continuous mahogany block runs from the headstock to the end of the body, with the wings attached at the sides. The result is a sustain that simply works differently from a conventionally built guitar, and a very direct, focused response.

This Custom Shop example comes in a handsome Burgundy, one of the loveliest and rarest colours Gibson ever put on a Firebird. Finding one takes patience and effort.

The original mini humbuckers were swapped for pickups by Kloppmann, and anyone who knows the name knows what that means. The workshop in the Odenwald is reckoned among people who know to be one of the best addresses anywhere for hand-wound pickups, and the difference is clearly audible. The typical Firebird character survives entirely — that wiry, singing tone with clear highs and a tight bass foundation — but it's resolved far more finely. Every note stands cleanly in its own space, even in busier chords.

Sound-wise, the Firebird sits between worlds. It has more bite and definition than a Les Paul, but considerably more meat than a single-coil guitar. For slide players it's a revelation anyway, and in a rock setting it cuts through effortlessly without papering over the mix.

A striking instrument with genuine stage presence, from Ede's Private Stock.