Reid Powell
(Reid's 2nd TT see it here)

Legend RP

 

new This guitar is for sale new

Note from the owner:

"Gibson Firebird body style solidbody w/TT twists -- affectionately called the ”ToneBird”. Body top is highly figured Ambonya burl, back is Plum Pudding mahogany. Maple neck with ebony fretboard. Abalone inlay at 12th fret is a flaming skull, and the guitar top has air brushed flames by Tim’s son Zach. All hardware is 24k gold plated; banjo tuners also gold with added ebony knobs.
Electronics are single proprietary Timtone ‘AllTerrainPickup Classic Splitter’ pickup w/mini coil tap switch. Volume and tone control. Nothing fancy (except for the cool flames...), a working axe.


This guitar is a rock beast. Quite heavy for a reason -- sustain for miles! Long neck in the Gibson style allows ease of bending for the shredder in you. Case is airline-protected hard flight case in bright orange so you will recognize it on the carousel.


Very good condition; there is one small ding on the back of the bass bout and one back strap button change, but otherwise primo. Included as a bonus is a quality handmade leather strap with Gibson Firebird logo and...you guessed it, flames!


Asking $4095 (or best offer) and I will ship it to you (Purolator/FedEx/UPS)."


 

 

 

 

As anyone can see, this project is a representation of a venerable old Gibson design called the Firebird V. Although it looks very much like the FBV, it is not an exact replica. I see this project more as a 'theme' guitar. This project pays homage to the original design while stepping away from tradition and altering things a tad. (Just a note, on the front page of Gibson's website there is an interview with a favorite player/singer/songwriter of mine, Warren Haynes...click on the Gibson link above)

As a kid first getting into music and the guitar greats, we all tend to idolize our favorite players instruments. For me, although Johnny Winters was not my first guitar hero, he was one of my guitar heroes... but with the coolest guitar. The FBV was the guitar he played (back then). I have always loved the design of this instrument. I feel that this guitar was a major influence on me as a player, designer and builder of electric instruments. So when Reid suggested this project, I was very happy to jump right into it.

Now, having said that, my initial concern was the possibility of stepping on someones toes...namely Gibson. I had no idea if any of this design is protected, and no way of finding out. In the end, what I decided was that I would be just building this one project, not going into any kind of production (I would never do that with any instrument) and I made a point of not perfectly replicating any of the shapes. Hopefully nobody will be offended. If someone is offended, my apologies. I am just one guy making one guitar and I am sure it won't be damaging Gibson's ability to make a living. Besides, this was one of my personal favorite all time stock designs....and the opportunity to make my version was too strong to ignore. I had really debated whether or not to post this project. In the end, I decided to go for it as many folks have already asked me to see the pictures on line.

The Recipe:

The body is solid and made from a very old (yes, I know most trees are old...) piece of wood that had been in storage for a very long time. It is a rare figure found in some Mahogany called Plum Pudding. Normally this material when found is sold to veneer mills, so it is nice to see some in solids material. The tone is killer. The sustain of this guitar surpasses almost anything else I have ever made. Just the right combination of elements.

The Top of the guitar is a very flamboyant bookmatched Amboyna Burl. I quite love the tone this material imparts. It is beautiful to look at and beautiful listen to.
I guess that airbrushing hotrod flames over the Amboyna is kind of over the top, but we love over the top when done with deliberation and panache. (my new word of the month) If you knew Reid, you would realize this whole design suits him very well. Yes, I did the paint job as well.

All of the hardware on the Tbird is 24k gold plated.

The neck is bookmatched flame maple with a center detail of Ebony/Holly/Ebony. It is a set neck.
The headplate is a combination of an Ebony veneer both between the headplate and headstock, and an Ebony veneer on the headstock over a veneer of Amboyna with a solid Ebony truss rod cover. I really love the way this headstock turned out. It is actually my favorite part of the project. The slightly enlarged Timtone inlay is Abalone.
The neck has a binding I just kind of came up with. Something a bit different. I really like the way it turned out. I am sure I will be doing lots more binding like this. It is Ebony and Sycamore.
The inlay on the fingerboard is a Flaming Skull......what did you expect? ~:0)
The scale is 24 3/4".
The tuners are real regular gold plated Banjo tuners with solid Ebony tuner buttons.

 

We used a Timtone ATP 12 pole humbucker with a 24k gold plated cover. The pickup is set in a solid brass (and also gold plated) bezel.
Stacked volume and tone and a mini switch to split to single coil. The original design of the flames were done by my son Zach Diebert.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A series of emails from Reid after TT # 2 gets home...Tim's response in blue:

Email Subject: Re: Oh Boy! Hubba Hubba...

As Ralph Kramden says in the attachment...there are no words.(Mp3)

>Man, I miss Ralph.....

The flames are PERFECT! The wood is to die for and the 24K gold glistens. The black knobs are sweet. True, it weighs about 20lb, but on a strap and playing it does not seem to matter at all. And what can we say about tone and sustain?! Just goes on for ever and ever and ever.

>Well, not 20 lbs...more like 12 I recon....though, now that I think of it, I never weighed it. That's a first.

Another TT gem, sir!

>Well Thanks! I am glad you like it.

rp

p.s. what is the purpose of the back wedgie thingy? Normally that would be on the top of a Gibson 'Bird...but...did I mention the flames are PERFECT?!

>Well, glad you asked. I really wanted to incoorperate the step pattern on the face of a stock bird, but had no practical way to do that and keep within all the other requirements. When I looked at thinning down that body...I got the idea of kind of carrying that theme around back instead. I did it first with the thought I could just remove it if I didn't like it.
See, it is not applied, but actually all one piece....kind of a bass relief. I liked it....but then the heel area was too thick for me, so I did the scoupy thing at the front. I just did not want a flat back somehow. Also, I think the breakup kind of accents the subtle, but extremely cool figure of the plumb pudding Mahogany. That is not the wildest stuff around, but to me...almost the coolest. I so infrequently see it in solid wood, mostly veneers if ever.
One of a kind.....do you think?
~:0)

"They suffer least who suffer what they choose." -- David Ackles '72


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"Yes, after I asked about the back I took a look at my pix of a Gibson 'Bird, and saw what you are doing. Also, I am glad you left the front flat for the flames. It would have worked on top too, but it makes it more a TT twist than a Gibson... Did I say the flames are PERFECT?!

I was up until about 2am playing last night/early morn and am lovin' it!!!

Might have done the skull and logo inlay with white MOP rather than abalone, to emphasize the skull face, but I am not complaining.

Cheers...I gotta play me some hot R&R geetar!!"

------

"My favorite part is the headstock. Using the Amboyna as I did kills me. What a clever bugger I turned out to be."

I always knew you were a clever bugger...

My favourite part is -- get ready for it -- the FLAMES!!! Close 2nd is the tone & endless sustain. (The headstock is tres kewl, I must admit also.)

rp