Gibson Firebird V 1964

John Shults

Posted on October 03 2021

Gibson Firebird V 1964, Firebird 5 guitar Reverse body

This Gibson Firebird V 1964 belonged to a friend but I've been searching for one like it ever since. The Gibson Firebird came out in 1963 and was made with a unique to Gibson neck through body design with no neck joint. It was only made in this configuration until 1965 when the body style was updated to a traditional Gibson neck joint design. The earliest style like the one here is referred to as a Reverse body style since the treble side upper bout is much longer than the bass side. If you have a Gibson Firebird 1964 and are considering selling then you can contact me here: Sell a Gibson.

If you're looking for more information on vintage Gibson Firebird guitars then I suggest this book: Flying V, Explorer, Firebird: An Odd Shaped History Of Gibson's Weird Electric guitars. Legendary guitar author Tony Bacon discusses some fabulous history of how Ray Dietrich was called in by Ted McCarty to give it a fresh look from a famous car designer. He also discusses a great anecdote about how Fender threatened a lawsuit over the guitar's shape which does remind the viewer of Fender's Jazzmaster model.

How to date a Gibson Firebird

Since the original production run of the the Gibson Firebird line only lasted from 1963 to 1965, having the exact year of manufacture is less important that similar Gibson electric guitar models. However, it's still a valuable part of vintage guitar inspection and identification. If your Gibson Firebird guitar has a serial number with 6 digits or less and no "made in USA" stamp then it's very likely to be from the 1960s. You can contact me here if you'd like a guitar expert's opinion: How to date Gibson guitars.

An original production run Gibson Firebird will have a six digit serial number with no made in USA stamp under it. The serial number will be located on the back of the neck near the tuning machines. The serial number on this Gibson Firebird V 1964 begins with "216". Our serial number records indicate that Gibson used the serial number range 176644 - 250335 in 1964.

Gibson Firebird 1960s serial number

We would also use a number of other features to help find the year of this Gibson Firebird V. I always check the potentiometer codes to see if the date codes support the expected year of manufacture indicated by the serial number. I don't have a picture of the potentiometer codes for this guitar, but here's another Gibson guitar with potentiometer codes we can check out: Gibson Les Paul Custom 1968. The codes on these potentiometers read "137 6745" which indicates that they were made during the 45th week of 1967.

Gibson Firebird V Values

Finding the value of a Gibson Firebird V 1960s begins with proper identification of the year, the exact model, then an assessment of the condition and originality. 1964 is an excellent year for all of Gibson and also for the Firebird V, but it's important to remember that Gibson made 4 different versions of the Firebird model: I, III, V, and VII. The Firebird V is defined by the large trapezoid fretboard inlays, nickel hardware, and two Firebird style pickups. The I, III, and VII have different features and values, so it's important to know which model you have. You can click the Contact Me button at the bottom right of this page to have a Gibson guitar expert's opinion on the model of your guitar.

Gibson offered the Firebird range of guitars in custom colors as well as the standard Sunburst color seen here. Any other color than Sunburst would be considered a custom color. Guitar collectors (especially the author of this post) will most always pay more to acquire a custom color vintage guitar when compared to the standard color. You can contact me here if you think you may have a custom color Gibson guitar: Sell a Gibson guitar.