The first of the lockdown guitars. 

This one came in within a week of me going into lock down. Being on the vulnerable list during a pandemic is not the best….

So, back to guitars. This one came in needing a full set up, a re-string to drop C and the jack input checked. This is the first firebird I’ve had on the bench, actually the first firebird I’ve ever played!

I love Gibson’s. The Les Paul is one of my favourite guitar shapes (that and the Fender telecaster), but there was something about this firebird. The weight distribution was great and the neck felt amazing. 

OK! back to it. I always start by assessing the guitar. Playing it, checking the measurements, the intonation and the electrics. This one wasn’t bad. The action was a little high, the neck relief was close and the intonation was slightly off. The jack socket was noisy and needed to be re-shaped as it was not connecting effectively. 

After the assessment the strings came off and I went to work on the body cleaning up the loose debris and finger prints. Once the body was sorted, I cleaned and oiled the fretboard before polishing the frets. 

Next step was to get the new strings on and bring the guitar up to tension. Once in-tune, I tweaked the neck relief and string heights until it’s playing just right. Then I stretched the strings in and give it a re-tune before setting the intonation. The final step here was to clean down the strings and give the body one more wipe down and it’s good to go!