SOLD! - 1963 very early Gibson Firebird V Reverse Maestro Lyre Vibrola

This is one very rare bird: 1 of only 62 pieces made in 1963!!
 
Very rare and wonderful very early Bird that is in excellent all original condition. No cracks, breaks or repairs! This was a first run example with the two piece neck, invisible heel, no-bird pickguard with black pickup switch ring and early control cavity routing. Pots date to week 36, 1963. 
 
It plays super easy and sounds amazing. The action up and down the neck is very low and spot on. No breaks or repairs whatsoever, no touchups, no nothing. It's all there and all original!  Comes with a later Gibson Firebird rectangular hardshell case. 
 
Gibson launched the Firebird design in 1963 with four main models: the Firebird I, II, V, and VII. Each was distinguished by different pickup and hardware configurations, though they all shared thru-body construction and a unique "reversed" body shape with a large lower horn. The Firebird V in specific used nickel-plated hardware, a deluxe maestro vibrato tailpiece, two mini-humbucker pickups and trapeze inlays on a bound dark rosewood fretboard.
 
The original Firebird pickups are what make these guitars so incredible with a fantastic sound, often referred to as the perfect match in between a twangy Tele pickup and a soaring PAF. Lots of fatness and warmth, but with a single-coil-like twang and sparkle. 

It all started in 1963 when Gibson introduced its new Fender-rivalling solidbody: the Firebird. The design had strong links with the failed Explorer, which had already been discontinued. Nonetheless, Gibson hoped that a new spirit of innovation would win the day.
 
The company hired an outside designer to create the Firebird, someone who would not be limited by traditional approaches to guitar design and who would reconsider the way an electric could look and work.
 
Ray Dietrich had been a legendary car designer for 50 years. He started in the drawing office of a small company in 1913, and over the next few decades established the idea of the custom car- body designer. Based in New York City and then Detroit, Dietrich headed a number of firms, including his own, LeBaron Carrossiers, designing and building luxury car bodies and working for brands such as Lincoln, Packard, Duesenberg and Ford. Some of his best work was done in the 30s, when he designed the striking Chrysler Airstream.
 
He founded Raymond Dietrich Inc in 1949 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Four years later he returned to consulting work, and in 1960, at the age of 66, he retired to Kalamazoo.
 
One of the ways Dietrich whiled away his retirement was to give talks on his life in car design. Gibson boss Ted McCarty happened to go along to one, and afterwards, he introduced himself and asked if Dietrich would be interested in designing a guitar. Dietrich agreed, and Gibson hired him to devise a new solidbody electric line.
 
He eventually came up with the design we know as the Firebird, but at first it didn’t have a name. “I was sitting in my office one day with Ray and a couple of the other fellas,” McCarty later recalled, “and we were trying to come up with a name for this thing. He said, ‘Why don’t you call it Phoenix?’ I said, ‘Phoenix, that’s the firebird, the old story of rising from the ashes.’ So, that’s where the name Firebird came from. And Ray also designed the firebird logo that’s on the pickguard.” The new models appeared in Gibson’s 1963 catalogue, with the blurb insisting the Firebirds were a “revolutionary new series of solidbody guitars.
 
"Exciting in concept, exciting to play. You’ll find a whole new world of sound and performance potential... plus that sharpness in the treble and deep, biting bass... A completely new and exciting instrument that offers all the sound, response, fast action, and wide range that could be desired.”
 
There were four Firebirds for the 1963 launch – I, III, V, and VII – each with different appointments but following the same overall design and build. The missing numbers II and IV went to two complementary Thunderbird basses, but there was no VI. Gibson announced the new line just before the July 1963 NAMM show in Chicago, and they first appeared on a July price list, with production starting about three months later.