I am weak: NGD Gibson Hummingbird
Aug 27, 2016 2:22:03 GMT
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Colchar, Marshall 'n' Moonshine, and 2 more like this
Post by jdto on Aug 27, 2016 2:22:03 GMT
I posted this over at AGF last week, but figured I'd share with my jolly band of miscreants over here.
Several weeks back, I was in a local shop and curiosity struck. I'd never really focused on Hummingbirds, tending to look more at the slope shoulder or small body Gibsons when checking them out. But for some reason, I figured I'd pull this 'Bird down off the wall and give it a strum. It sounded great! It was there on consignment and had a lifting pickguard, but that didn't matter to the sound.
I held off that day as I had gone in for my Eastman, but the Hummingbird wouldn't leave me alone. I played several 'Birds around Toronto at different shops, including a very impressive 2016 Vintage model, but for some reason none of them quite struck that chord with me. I went back to the same shop and played the 2010 again, as well as a new model they have on the wall, and both were more impressive than any of the Standards I'd played. But the 2010 had a mellow sweetness and more open tone, especially on the bass, likely due to being more broken in, but I liked the sound.
I decided to give it a few more weeks and see how it went, but finally, I went into the shop this week and was once again struck by that initial chord, so I brought it home.
I swapped out the standard, heavy Grover Rotomatics for some Gibson Gold Deluxe tuners. In part because the guitar was slightly head-heavy, but mostly because I love the classic look and am not a fan of the Grover RM look. I'm getting some adhesive sheets from Stewmac to fix the pickguard and a couple of gold screws for the truss rod cover (gotta match, right?
) and that will complete this beauty.
Having played it most of this week and broken in the new strings, I'm still enraptured by this mofo. I shouldn't really have two high-end, kickass Gibson acoustics in my arsenal, but between this and the J-45 True Vintage, I'd be hard-pressed to let either go. My poor LP Trad is turning into a case queen with all of the acoustic love going on lately...
Several weeks back, I was in a local shop and curiosity struck. I'd never really focused on Hummingbirds, tending to look more at the slope shoulder or small body Gibsons when checking them out. But for some reason, I figured I'd pull this 'Bird down off the wall and give it a strum. It sounded great! It was there on consignment and had a lifting pickguard, but that didn't matter to the sound.
I held off that day as I had gone in for my Eastman, but the Hummingbird wouldn't leave me alone. I played several 'Birds around Toronto at different shops, including a very impressive 2016 Vintage model, but for some reason none of them quite struck that chord with me. I went back to the same shop and played the 2010 again, as well as a new model they have on the wall, and both were more impressive than any of the Standards I'd played. But the 2010 had a mellow sweetness and more open tone, especially on the bass, likely due to being more broken in, but I liked the sound.
I decided to give it a few more weeks and see how it went, but finally, I went into the shop this week and was once again struck by that initial chord, so I brought it home.
I swapped out the standard, heavy Grover Rotomatics for some Gibson Gold Deluxe tuners. In part because the guitar was slightly head-heavy, but mostly because I love the classic look and am not a fan of the Grover RM look. I'm getting some adhesive sheets from Stewmac to fix the pickguard and a couple of gold screws for the truss rod cover (gotta match, right?
) and that will complete this beauty.Having played it most of this week and broken in the new strings, I'm still enraptured by this mofo. I shouldn't really have two high-end, kickass Gibson acoustics in my arsenal, but between this and the J-45 True Vintage, I'd be hard-pressed to let either go. My poor LP Trad is turning into a case queen with all of the acoustic love going on lately...
~~~~~~~~~~~