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Board index » Instrument Restoration and Repair

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Chris Pile
 Post subject: Re: 1976 Ibanez Firebird
PostPosted: Thu Apr 27, 2023 3:35 pm 
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Okay, I finally have this thing done. I ended up ordering 3 different Vibrolas because the springs on the first 2 were mild steel and folded up under string pressure. I could not get the pickup rings to buff because the guy who fabbed them up used heavy shot to bead blast them. Instead, I had to order a half dozen rings made to get a decent price. Thank goodness they look great. They are full size on the outer dimensions, and cut for mini-humbucker size on the inner dimensions. I wanted Alnico 5 magnets in the pickups like Gibson used in the 60's. Most winders use ceramic magnets that sound brighter. Turns out Allparts offered vintage style Firebird pickups with Alnico 5 magnets, and I have to say they sound terrific.

So here it is. Looks good, plays great, sounds amazing (in my opinion). It took too long to do, cost too much in parts, but the next owner will get a lot of music out of it - I guarantee you.

https://i.imgur.com/nl7ydE0.jpg

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Last edited by Chris Pile on Thu Apr 27, 2023 5:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.

These users thanked the author Chris Pile for the post: Hesh (Fri Apr 28, 2023 5:39 am)
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joshnothing
 Post subject: Re: 1976 Ibanez Firebird
PostPosted: Thu Apr 27, 2023 5:22 pm 
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Looks great Chris!


These users thanked the author joshnothing for the post: Chris Pile (Thu Apr 27, 2023 5:43 pm)
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Hesh
 Post subject: Re: 1976 Ibanez Firebird
PostPosted: Fri Apr 28, 2023 5:42 am 
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Yeah it looks fantastic and what a vintage vibe too. Very, very nice Chris!!!

PS: Trying to learn note for note Johnny Winter's Memory Pain (he played on a firebirds) and it's a bit above my pay grade.... and will likely take me a year to learn. :)

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These users thanked the author Hesh for the post: Chris Pile (Fri Apr 28, 2023 8:10 am)
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Chris Pile
 Post subject: Re: 1976 Ibanez Firebird
PostPosted: Fri Apr 28, 2023 8:14 am 
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My high school years were spent listening to a lot of Johnny Winter LP's so I'm hip to his licks (even if I can't play them). Gotta say, big props to Allparts for the alnico 5 Firebird pickups. They sound a lot beefier than the Gibson mini-humbuckers that were installed in this when I bought it. It sounds good through the Fender, the Roland, and the Marshall - clean or crunchy, the tones are tasty.

Also, I think I already have it sold so color me a happy boy.

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These users thanked the author Chris Pile for the post: Hesh (Sun Jun 25, 2023 3:50 am)
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dzsmith
 Post subject: Re: 1976 Ibanez Firebird
PostPosted: Fri Apr 28, 2023 9:39 am 
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Well done!

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These users thanked the author dzsmith for the post: Chris Pile (Fri Apr 28, 2023 10:59 am)
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dzsmith
 Post subject: Re: 1976 Ibanez Firebird
PostPosted: Sat Jun 24, 2023 8:19 pm 
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Image
Found a photo of my bandmate and his Ibanez.
It had a unique sound that I liked very much.
I liked the vibrato system too.
Circa 1976


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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These users thanked the author dzsmith for the post: Hesh (Sun Jun 25, 2023 3:51 am)
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Chris Pile
 Post subject: Re: 1976 Ibanez Firebird
PostPosted: Sat Jun 24, 2023 11:53 pm 
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That's so cool.
Basically when it was new!

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These users thanked the author Chris Pile for the post: dzsmith (Sun Jun 25, 2023 4:37 pm)
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