The body lacquer shows loss to the top edge and a belt buckle spot on the back. This is cleanly sealed with a bit of visible touch up there are a few other small color touchups visible as well. There is a typical repaired crack at the jack area where the wood is very thin, running to the back edge of the body. The tuners have been restored to the original Kluson Deluxe single strip there are small filled screw holes just visible beside the edge, but otherwise this is inconspicuous. All the hardware is original except for the screw and grommet securing the trem arm. This guitar is well-preserved overall, showing some light finish wear and a few minor restorations. (3.5 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. (34.1 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 3/8 in. Extremely light, fast, and very stylish, this super-striking custom-color Firebird III is a fine example of an oft-underappreciated Gibson model, and an unrepentant rocker's guitar.

While the 'non-reverse' Firebirds have often been discounted in Gibson history, they are very distinctive guitars unlike any other and are often excellent instruments. This is a great-sounding guitar, with powerful P-90 pickups that really growl when cranked. The neck is narrower than earlier reverse Firebird necks, but not quite as insubstantial-feeling as period SG necks. The knobs are the cooler back-painted amber style with a metal cap that disappeared in 1966-7. The visible pot codes on this particular guitar date to the 39th week of 1965 and the serial number tithe same year, so this is a fairly early example of this style 'bird. Gibson rarely used P-90s in this way and it's a cool and unusually quirky tone specific to the '65-'69 Firebird III. The settings are the same as three-pickup Les Paul or SG models: neck pickup, bridge pickup, or in the center position bridge/middle in an out-of-phase combination.

This guitar has a slider switch for pickup selection, as used on most non-reverse Firebirds. Typical for the second half of 1965, this 'bird mounts all chrome-plated hardware, including Gibson's 'short' Vibrola unit with a plastic-tipped handle and the stud-mounted bridge. The non-reverse III is particularly distinguished by offering not two but three plastic-covered P-90 pickups, an unusual combination that Gibson had not used before. This Firebird III has a body of one-piece mahogany with a standard glued-in neck, which was far simpler to build than the earlier laminate neck-through-body Firebird design. 'If you've got a red one, they want a blue one' was the complaint, and whatever the truth, the solid color guitars are exponentially rarer than the standard sunburst models. Gibson lore holds that most dealers simply ignored the special Firebird color chart brochure Gibson helpfully provided, as they were more interested in selling stock models off the wall. This example of the midline-model Firebird III is finished in a striking Cardinal Red, one of the special custom colors advertised as available on the line but in practice not often ordered by customers.

Introduced in summer 1965, these new Firebirds were available through the late 1960s in dwindling quantities, but were never really considered a sales success. One of Gibson's less heralded 1960s classics, the second-try 'non-reverse' Firebird models were lower-priced, simplified versions of the earlier 'reverse' body Firebird series guitars. Gibson Firebird III Model Solid Body Electric Guitar (1965), made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, serial # 501585, Cardinal Red lacquer finish, mahogany body and neck, rosewood fingerboard, tweed hard shell case.

Gibson firebird guitar