Epiphone's Firebird Studio combines the “reverse-body” style of the original series with our traditional set-neck design and full-size, Alnico Classic humbucking pickups.
Worn Firebird Studio
Reviewed by:
mp3stalin, on october 09, 2007 10 of 10 people found this review helpful
Purchased from: MusiciansFriend.com
Features: Basically the big hit here is the Tuners. Stienberger's "Direct Drive Locking Gearless Tuners" (try saying that five times fast). they are literally the best tuners ever made. And by themselves they retail about $90. But they're stock on this. They seem to hold tune just almost well as my friend's Floyd Rose and are literally the easiest restringing you'll ever do. You simply wind it out, unlock the clamp, and then restring it, clamp the strings back into lock, and just tune each string. The ratio on them is 40:1 which is insanely accurate and best of all, they're just so smooth that it feels like I can go into "D tuning" in the same time someone else takes to go to "Drop D tuning". Fretboard is a 22 fret rosewood, body is solid mahogany, 2 volume, 2 tone, 3-way selector switch, and it's a set neck and has two fullsized humbuckers just like the Gibson counterpart. The Pickups are Standard Epi Alnicos based on the Gibson 52's I think. They have a nice bluesy sound to them and will do for anything short of metal. And as a nice bonus, you look on the back of the headstock and you'll see a "Epiphone Custom Shop" logo stamp. Only problem I had with it is that the headstock is alittle long and so it tends to fall a bit unless you place your arm on the back or hold it at an angle. It's super comfy when you're sitting. Not so much a problem, just a perferance. For the money this is a true steal. // 10
Sound: One word, bluesy. It has by far one of the prettier cleans I've ever heard. But the stock pickups can barely hit a gain level high enough for punk. If you like classic rock and blues it's perfect. But if you want something with some more gain, you're gonna need to buy some Seymour Duncans and pop them in. // 8
Action, Fit & Finish: The guitar came to me perfect. The action, inotation, pickup height, everything was perfect right outa the box. The real kicker is the finish. It feels almost like a dress. It's almost like rubbing satin instead of a finish. And mine is a bright cherry red but I saw it in a beautiful looking sunburst too. // 10
Reliability & Durability: It's a Epi. Meaning it'll take whatever it needs to take, but I wouldn't go slaming it around, it's a set neck after all which gives it a better sustain, but makes repairs something you don't wanna know about. I'd easily use this and not worry about needing a backup. the finish seems to be holding up well and everything else on it feels rock solid. // 9
Impression: For the price it's the best deal I've ever seen. The tuners are almost worth the price of the guitar, and it's body is really light and comfy yet seems like it will outlast me. The neck is super easy on the hands and the fretboard is just wide enough without being for "big hands only." I plan to change the pickups on it but everything else I wouldn't change for the world. // 9
Worn Firebird Studio
Reviewed by:
Yerjam, on march 01, 2008 1 of 1 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 479.46
Purchased from: thomann.de
Features: This guitar was made in Korea, I think in 2006, but I'm not quite sure. The fretboard is Rosewood and has 22 frets, scale is 24.75". The body is Mahogany and it's a set-in neck (meaning better sustain than a bolt-on). I managed to get hold of the Vintage Sunburst edition (quite hard too find now) and it's an excellent finish, it's a lot glossier than what the stock picture shows. Like the other reviewer said, it feels more like a dress than a wood finish! It's got that nice soft satin feel to it. Moving on, what you think of the Firebird's shape is very subjective. The Firebird is the marmite of the guitar world, you either love it's design or you absolutely hate it. I for one, absolutely adore it and it's a great way to distance yourself from the LP-Strat obsessed world and go with something different. The body does take a while to get used to if you're accustomed to LPs and Strats, its unusual shape can annoy you a bit when you first start playing it, but you do get used to it. The headstock is a bit annoying too, it's very long and throws the body out of balance a lot, so make sure you have a decent leather strap to hold it all up, but again, it just takes getting used to. Moving on, the Firebird has passive electronics and has 2-volume and 2-tone knobs with a 3-way pickup selctor. It has two full-sized Epi alnico humbuckers (not the mini-humbuckers you see on Epi's 963 Firebird VII). The pickups are superb for clean blues sounds right up to heavy rock. I can get a whole multitude of genres out of them, clean sounds, blues, blues-rock, some funk, and hard rock, etc. They struggle a bit with heavy metal, but you can always replace them with different pickups if you so desire. The Steinberger 40:1 direct-Drive gearless tuners, however, are the best features on the guitar, without a doubt. Using them, I always wondered how I lived with just using Standard Grovers! They are so simple to restring (wind them out, take off the clamp, restring, clamp the new strings in, then tune) and tuning is so easy due to the how smooth and accurate these babies are. Included in the box with the guitar was a manual, a poster, a couple of Allen (hex) keys, a very short angled-cable (which I'm just going to keep as a spare) and it also came strung with some D'Addario strings. // 10
Sound: The Firebird's sound suits me down to the ground (by the way, I'm running the guitar through a Vox AD50VT, no effects pedals). I love getting clean blues (BB King, John Lee Hooker) and 50s rock and roll sounds (Chuck Berry) but I also love harder, more distorted rock sounds (AC/DC, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin) and this guitar suits each of these styles perfectly. However, the Firebird isn't so versatile when it comes to the heavy distortion of heavy metal and some punk. If you plan on playing these genres too, it might be a good idea to Switch the pickups to something that can handle these genres well. // 9
Action, Fit & Finish: Right out of the box, the Firebird was set-up perfectly. The action was fine, the intonation was true and the pickups were the perfect height. The finish was flawless and everything else (tuning pegs, fret-filing, controls) was perfect. The only thing was that the input jack on mine came a little dented, it's nothing major, but you'd expect everything to arrive perfect. // 9
Reliability & Durability: I think this guitar could withstand an awful lot, but then most guitars in this price range can. I haven't tested it yet, but I'm sure it would definitely withstand Live-playing (being an unusual shape, you'd definitely get some looks for using it). Most of the hardware looks like it'll last a lifetime, but I'm not so sure about the pickup selector (it feels a little flimsy), and I'd also be careful with the set-in neck - it looks reliable but if it ever gets damaged, it'd be hell (set-in necks are notoriously difficult to replace/repair, if you can even do that). Apart from that, everything else looks quite durable. // 10
Impression: Like I said, I play a lot of blues, 50s-style rock and roll and hard rock, so this guitar suits me down to the ground. I've been playing for about a year and a half now and I also own a Cort Zenox Z44 and I play through a Vox AD50VT. The Zenox is a lot better for metal, but it can't beat the Firebird for blues and rock. My brother owns a Westfield E2000(SG copy), some sort of Limited Edition Les Paul (not sure of the exact model) and a Mexican Stratocaster and compared to these guitars the Firebird Studio holds up well, the LP being it's only rival when it somes to the clean blues sounds. If it was stolen I'd probably stop playing guitar! Only kidding, I'd be heartbroken because with the Vintage Sunburst model being a limited edition, I'd probably not be able to find it again. But I'd probably just stick with my Cort and start saving up for a Gibson Firebird. In terms of my loves and hates about this guitar, I love the tuners, the shape, the feel, the sound and most of all, the price! It's insanely good value. I hate how long the headstock is (you have to be very careful not to let it knock into things), the fact the pickups can't handle metal too well and how flimsy the pickup selector feels (not a huge issue, I just have concerns over how long it'll last). Without a doubt my favourite feature is the Steinberger tuners, easily the best tuners I've ever worked with. The only thing I wish it had would be more versatile pickups, but then if I ever want to play metal I'll always have my Cort. // 10
now i have to say i like the sound of the epi i got , and dark aegis is right not all epis are junk , but the one i had , plus the 2 my uncle had , ALWAYS had some technical difficulty and we take very good care of our guitars , they have a good sound , just not built to stand up to harshness as well as a gibson would
I like Firebirds. Epiphone is pretty much the only way to get Gibson styling for less than about $1000 or so. Id think that a pickup change would come soon tho. I have an Epi acoustic, which is pretty good for being only $300.
that looks pretty sweet. we have this amazing ep 12 string acoustic with all of this beautiful mother of pearl inline and uses like 5 different woods on the back. we bought it some guys garage sale for $300 when its worth $1200. it sounds amazing. lol and he threw in a metal zone distortion pedal and a case.
MetalGore :
I once had a epiphone. I wont do the same mistake again.
i have an epiphone if you spend like 160$ well pretty much any guitar will be crap (not all guitars) but if you buy a 500$ epiphone yor getting your moneys worth
i agree. my epi LP custom is kickass. warm when i need it, crunchy when i want a tool sound. of course anything like the LP100 is going to such, it's meant to satisfy LP wants at a low price. spend a little more cash on an epi and you'll be pleasantly surprised at the quality.
I have 2 epi's an goth explorer and a sg goth.
i replaced the humbuckers of the explorer for 2 EMG's 85/81 and it sounds really ****ing sweet. also does the SG so if someone say's epi's are stupid.
Screw Them
im either gonna buy one of these or a G400 custom. ive never played either one. my brother has a regular g400 and its ok and i played my teachers 80's gibson firebird once when i forgot my guitar and it was awesome but i was 12 at the time. ive played for 3 years now but not seriously until recently and my Ibanez has become very beat up over the past year. i usually play hard rock or metal but also blues and stuff. the obanez suits it all fine but i like the sound from gib/epi humbuckers.at the moment im usually playing a rotation between master of puppets, brown sugar, moby dick and about 4 different ACDC songs. i was wondering if anyone could tell me which one i should get. and anyone who says go get a gibson can bugger off because im 14 and in australia they are way expensive. the cheapest gibsons here are about $1300AUD and hell if i want a lp junior for that much
im either gonna buy one of these or a G400 custom. ive never played either one.
i played both... the custom has heavier pickups... but the firebird just felt better to me... not to mention had those tuners i love so i went with it. i'd recommend you go custom tho. unless you're gonna change the pickups then firebird all the way
Definately, the tone is amazing, the neck is a tad wiser then a strats, not too much , just enough to make it hard to pluck the wrong string accidentily, and you can actually do 7ths without screwing them up the tuners totally rock
If anything Epiphone is better than gibson, i believe They use the same woods, its just the electronics that are different. So you could go out and buy a Bargain epiphone, get some decent pickups/electronics to suit your style and wheheyy, youve got one of the best and cheapest guitars youll ever play.
I played this guitar today at band practice - the singer brought it for me as I couldn't take my guitar. This ruled. I am seriously considering buying this over a MIM Tele in June. I loved the neck pickup, and the cleans were great.
Right now i have a Ibanez GAX30 and im looking to buy a new electric. But i cant decide between the G-400 and the Epiphone worn Firebird studio. Which do you think is better?
Right now i have a Ibanez GAX30 and im looking to buy a new electric. But i cant decide between the G-400 and the Epiphone worn Firebird studio. Which do you think is better?
The firebird's got the tuners, the looks and the bluesy tone- If you want something with a heavier tone, go for the SG.
I played this guitar today at band practice - the singer brought it for me as I couldn't take my guitar. This ruled. I am seriously considering buying this over a MIM Tele in June. I loved the neck pickup, and the cleans were great.
Well, turned out I got an amp haha. But whilst I loved it, I think I'm turning my attention away for now.
I just bought this guitar today and I must say, this is the greatest guitar I have ever played. The tuners are incredible. The headstock is a bit heavy but if you hold the neck it's fine. It's a beautiful guitar and plays amazingly.
I'm looking to buy either this beauty or the Epiphone Limited Edition 1966 G-400 (SG) but am not exactly sure which one to get. They basically have the same pickups but the Firebird seems too lose at high gains while the SG seems to do better (from what i've read). I want to try them out but with the holidays coming its really just a decision i have to make to ask my parents, and even then i mite not get it with money being tight. But my life story aside, are there any recommendations on which one to get?
I love to play blues, classic rock, and hard rock, thats my main flow but i play alternative, punk, and nu-metal in a band (i like them too but not as much). Which one will have the versatility i need? I would appreciate any tips or whatnot
That guitar could be better, just put emg hz h4 humbuckers to it.
umm... that would be absolutely horrible. EMG's (even passive ones) in a blues guitar would kill the character. I love the stock bridge pickup on this. When on a clean setting with the treble up, it's really twangy, but not as much as a tele. Perfect for playing Dire Straits-like songs
I have the Firebird studio and i absolutely love it. i paid 475 with a Gibson formfit case. But i need to know what strings come standard on it. i really love them because they are really easy to bend. does anybody know? or recommend really bendy strings? ive tried EB super slinkies the 9-45 and they are just too stiff. help!
the tuners totally rock