1973 Gibson Hummingbird Dreadnought Guitar

Overview: Who doesn't like a Hummingbird? The look is iconic and the older ones, like this guy, have enough fading to their cherry-red sunburst finish that they now look like a nice sunset-sunburst rather than a blazing-fire sunburst. Time just makes these better! The '60s versions of these guitars are a little more chunky-sounding but this one has a sound which mixes that palette with a bit of that D-18 snap and punch.

Tone: It's clean, balanced, a bit woody, punchy, and loud. The lower-mids still do that Gibson "chunk" but the top-end has a lot more power.

Feel: It's got a quick-feeling neck with a medium C profile to the rear and a steeper, 9 1/2" board radius.

Interesting features: This has a longer, 25 3/8" ("Martin") scale length and the neck has the more-stable, 3-piece, '70s-style construction. This era of Gibson used the "belly-down" bridge style and these bridge are thinner than the older Gibson bridges and, as setup at the factory, did not feature much break-angle from the strings over the saddle. When they're reset to get a nice, taller saddle, their tone improves quite a bit (better break-angle over the saddle = more power) and it feels like they've "woken up."

Repairs included: I gave it a neck reset, fret level/dress, seam and crack repairs, minor brace repairs, setup work, and a new bone saddle. It's playing spot-on and ready to go. I did have a little extra fuss with the frets around the joint (Gibson necks like to "S curve" under tension until you tame them) at first.

• Weight: 4 lbs 8 oz
• Scale length: 25 3/8"
• Nut width: 1 11/16"
• Neck shape: medium C
• Board radius: 9 1/2"
• Body width: 16"
• Body depth: 4 3/4"
• Top wood: solid spruce
• Back & sides wood: solid mahogany
• Bracing type: x
• Bridge: rosewood
• Fretboard: rosewood
• Neck wood: mahogany 3-piece
• Action height at 12th fret: 3/32” bass 1/16” treble (fast, spot-on)
• String gauges: 54w-12 lights
• Truss rod: adjustable
• Neck relief: straight
• Fret style: wide/low

Condition notes: There's a repaired crack on the top-lower-bout. There's weather-check to the finish here and there throughout. The finish has faded in certain areas. There's a bunch of pickwear at the soundhole and some has rubbed-off the printing on the pickguard, too. As per the usual, the frets are wide and low (it was a Gibson thing back in the day) and that may or may not be to your fretting hand's taste. 

It comes with: It's got an old hard case that's seen better days but is still functional.

Consignor tag: BERN