Gibson Custom 1963 Firebird V With Maestro Vibrola Heavy Aged Review & Prices

Compare
Gibson Custom 1963 Firebird V With Maestro Vibrola Heavy Aged Review
FIND IT ON:
Sweetwater logo
Set a price alert
  • From Gibson Custom's 2022 Murphy Lab series
  • Made in United States
  • 6 strings
  • 24.75"'' scale
  • 12" Fretboard Radius
  • Layered Mahogany body
  • 9-ply Mahogany/Walnut neck
  • Indian Rosewood fretboard
  • Bridge pickup: Firebird Alnico V (Humbucker/Passive)
  • Neck pickup: Firebird Alnico V (Humbucker/Passive)
  • 2 volume and 2 tone Bell knobs
  • 3-way Switch
  • ABR-1 Maestro Short Vibrola bridge
  • Traditional 1960s SlimTaper C Profile Neck-Through neck
  • 22 Medium Jumbo frets
  • Deluxe Banjo Tuners tuners
  • Compare Specs >

Our Scores and Tone Evaluation

Playability 75
Sound 72
Build quality 74
Value for money 59
Overall Score 74
Tone Evaluation
  • Heavy Metal
  • Hard Rock
  • Jazz
  • Blues
  • Funk
  • Country
Strengths & Weaknesses
Gibson Custom 1963 Firebird V With Maestro Vibrola Heavy Aged
  • Made in United States
  • Expensive Wood
  • Nylon Nut
  • Top Brand Pickups
  • Neck-Through Build
  • Tremolo
  • Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
  • No Locking Tuners
  • No Push Knob or Extra Switch Option
  • No Weight Relief
  • No Luminescent Inlay
  • No Compound Radius Fretboard
  • No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
  • No Strap Lock

Price Overview

Its average competitor's price is $3120, which means that the Gibson Custom 1963 Firebird V With Maestro Vibrola Heavy Aged costs around 214% more than the competition. It might be due to it having additional features, but know that you can find cheaper similar alternatives. This takes into account all instruments of the same category in our database with 6 strings and Tremolo bridge that are made in United States.

SET PRICE ALERT

These are affiliate links. We may earn a fee if you purchase after clicking. These prices are prone to error. Make sure you're buying the right product after clicking on a link from our site. We are not liable if you buy the wrong product after following these links. As an Amazon Associate site we earn from qualifying purchases.

Videos

Gibson Custom Shop 1963 Firebird V in Cardinal Red! Demo!
Gibson CS Firebird V 1963 demo!
Gibson Custom Shop Murphy Lab 1965 Firebird V Maestro Vibrola Pelham Blue | Demo by Paul Audia
Gibson Custom 1965 Non-Reverse Firebird V with Maestro Vibrola VOS - It's orange & lumpy looking.
Murphy Lab Artist Series: Joe Bonamassa
More Videos

Your feedback

Not all instruments are created equally. That's why it's important to have different opinions. Here's what our users who have played this instrument say. If you've played it before, help others by voting below!

Weight

Vote

Tuning stability

Vote

Neck speed (thickness)

Vote

Neck access to high frets

Vote

Neck profile shape

Vote

Fret edges

Vote

Pickups noise

Vote

Pickups power

Vote
View all user feedback

Explore All From Gibson Custom >

Is it Easy to Play?

The Gibson Custom 1963 Firebird V With Maestro Vibrola Heavy Aged meets 4 out of our 8 criteria items for beginner friendliness, which means that it's not bad for beginners, but it could be better. This takes into account the type of frets, scale length, nut width, bridge type, fretboard radius, and neck profile to determine the easiest combination for new players to get used to.

New Player Friendliness

Gibson Custom 1963 Firebird V With Maestro Vibrola Heavy Aged
  • Comfortable shape
  • Easy-to-use bridge
  • Tall frets
  • Comfortable neck
  • Comfortable fretboard
  • Narrow nut
  • Short scale
  • Locking tuners

Hand Size Comfortability

After taking into account the neck profile, scale size, fretboard radius, and nut width, we can conclude that the Gibson Custom 1963 Firebird V With Maestro Vibrola Heavy Aged's construction favors people with relatively small hands.

Nevertheless, this comes down in the end to personal preference. Make sure you test this guitar—or another one with similar characteristics—before buying.

Big Hands
Small Hands

Scale Length

Scale length is the distance the strings will span between the bridge and the nut. It can tell you a lot about the overall playability and tone of the instrument. A longer scale length means longer distance between frets, brighter tone and more string tension—which means lower action, but more difficult bending of the strings.

Here's the Gibson Custom 1963 Firebird V With Maestro Vibrola Heavy Aged's 24.75" scale length compared to other common sizes:

Gibson Custom 1963 Firebird V With Maestro Vibrola Heavy Aged Scale Length Comparison
Gibson Custom 1963 Firebird V With Maestro Vibrola Heavy Aged's scale length (at the top) compared to other popular sizes

This is the scale length used in most Gibson guitars. If you like the playability of a Gibson, this guitar will feel pretty similar. It's a lot shorter than the typical Stratocaster (25.5'')

As you can see from the picture above, a shorter scale length also means shorter separation between frets. If you got really small hands, you probably will feel more comfortable playing this guitar than a Fender Stratocaster.

This scale length also allows for easier bends and vibratos because the strings will have lower tension due to the shorter scale.

Finally, another thing affected by scale length is tone. A shorter scale will give less room for the harmonics, thus resulting in a warmer, more 'bassy' tone.

Still, remember that you string gauge plays an important part in all of this. A lighter gauge will make it easier to perform bends, vibratos and will also give you a brighter tone.

More with the same scale length:

Neck Profile

Gibson Custom 1963 Firebird V With Maestro Vibrola Heavy Aged Neck Profile
Gibson Custom 1963 Firebird V With Maestro Vibrola Heavy Aged's neck profile

The neck profile tells you the thickness (neck depth) and shape in cross section. Every difference will completely change the feeling and comfortability of the neck. This is a highly subjective thing, but most players indeed prefer certain types of necks (like Cs and Ds) because they feel nice in most hands.

It has a C type neck. C-shaped necks like this have been the most popular for the last years. The reason is that they feel good in most hands. It's generally a thin neck that doesn't get in your way when playing fast, but that also has enough mass to give your hands a comfortable grip for chords if they aren't too big.

Thin necks like this make it easier to move your hand across the neck and it helps when playing fast solos, especially if you like to leave your thumb free while playing high on the fretboard. However, thinner necks are also weaker and will need adjustment more often than a thicker neck.

More for different hand sizes

Fretboard Radius

When it comes to fingerboard radius, personal preference will dictate which one is better for you. However, most people seem to agree that a more curved (lower) radius will make it easier to play chords while a less curved (higher) radius is better for soloing and bending.

The Gibson Custom 1963 Firebird V With Maestro Vibrola Heavy Aged has a 12" fingerboard radius.

Here's an image comparing this fretboard radius to other popular choices:

Gibson Custom 1963 Firebird V With Maestro Vibrola Heavy Aged Fretboard Radius Comparison with Fender Stratocaster and Gibson Les Paul
Gibson Custom 1963 Firebird V With Maestro Vibrola Heavy Aged's fretboard radius compared to others

This is the same radius that Gibson uses in most of their guitars. When compare to the other popular radius of Fender Stratocasters, you can see that it's a lot flatter. Guitars with this radius are usually made to bring a good balance between single-note and chord playing.

Compound radius fingerboards give the best of both worlds. Unfortunately, the Gibson Custom 1963 Firebird V With Maestro Vibrola Heavy Aged has the same radius across the board.

More with the same fretboard radius:

Playability compared to main competitors

24.75'' Scale Length
C Neck Profile
1.688'' Nut Width
12'' Fretboard Radius
24.75'' Scale Length
C Neck Profile
1.688'' Nut Width
12'' Fretboard Radius
24.75'' Scale Length
C Neck Profile
1.688'' Nut Width
12'' Fretboard Radius
24.75'' Scale Length
C Neck Profile
1.688'' Nut Width
12'' Fretboard Radius
24.75'' Scale Length
C Neck Profile
1.693'' Nut Width
12'' Fretboard Radius

Nut Width

Gibson Custom 1963 Firebird V With Maestro Vibrola Heavy Aged Nut Width
Gibson Custom 1963 Firebird V With Maestro Vibrola Heavy Aged Nut Width

The Gibson Custom 1963 Firebird V With Maestro Vibrola Heavy Aged has a nut width of 42.9mm (1.688''). This is within the most common range of nut widths for a 6-string guitar. It offers a good balance of string separation at the nut. It's the size that most guitarists prefer as it gives them just enough space to play open chords without muting the strings, but without spreading the strings too wide and making bar chords difficult to perform.

Frets

The Gibson Custom 1963 Firebird V With Maestro Vibrola Heavy Aged has 22 frets. Even though 24 frets has become really popular, there's still a good reason to get fewer frets; the pickup at the neck position will be further away from the bridge. This makes the neck pickup achieve a warmer tone. You might want this if you're playing Jazz or similar genres.

However, if you don't care about the warmer neck pickup, more frets will always be better. It's always nice to have the option to play higher notes if you want to.

It comes with nickel silver frets, so they won't last as long as stainless steel frets. If you use your instrument a lot, you might need to replace the frets after a few years. But this is unlikely as most people change instruments before this happens.

More with the same amount of frets:

Fret Size

Gibson Custom 1963 Firebird V With Maestro Vibrola Heavy Aged Fret Size Comparison
Gibson Custom 1963 Firebird V With Maestro Vibrola Heavy Aged's fret size (in orange) compared to other popular sizes

Finally, let's talk about fret size. Some people prefer tall frets because it's easier to press the strings and perform bends since there's less friction against the fretboard. On the other hand, some people like shorter frets because they like to touch the fretboard when playing, or because they got heavy hands and tend to press too much on the string and alter the of the note pitch accidently.

The Gibson Custom 1963 Firebird V With Maestro Vibrola Heavy Aged's frets are Medium Jumbo size. These sit somewhere between a Jumbo and a Medium fret. They're not quite as tall as a full Jumbo, so you'll still feel the fretboard, but you won't feel it as much as with medium frets. This is a good size if you want to make it easy to press the strings but would also like a little bit of ''feedback'' to know when to stop pressing so the notes don't go out of pitch.

More with the same type of frets:

Playability Score

Bending & Vibrato Ease 80
Chord Playability 65
Solo Playability 80
Playability 75

Tone Analysis

Wood will have little influence in the final tone of an electric guitar or bass. Instead, the hardware, especially the pickups, will be the most important thing to look at. Bur first, let's see the quality of the wood.

Wood

Mahogany wood pattern used for guitar building
Mahogany Body, Neck
Rosewood wood pattern used for guitar building
Rosewood Fretboard

Mahogany Body and Neck: This is the type of wood found in many top-of-the-line guitars, so that's a positive point for the build quality. This red-looking wood Mahogany is found in Africa and Central America and has great sustain and a warm tone due to its high density. The downside about this type of wood is that it's relatively heavy.

Rosewood Fretboard: Since the ban of Brazillian Rosewood, this has become a rare and expensive wood. It's not usually used for guitar bodies because of this, and also because it's heavy. Instead, it's used mainly for fretboards. Sometimes it's also used for necks because it's an extremely hard wood (even harder than maple). Its tonality tends to favor warm tones.

Pickups

This guitar comes with pickups from one of the top brands: Gibson Custom. So you can expect well built pickups with great sound that shouldn't need an upgrade anytime soon.

These are passive pickups, so you can expect a rounder sound and a moderade level of output.

The Gibson Custom 1963 Firebird V With Maestro Vibrola Heavy Aged's configuration is HH. With this pickup combination, you'll get warmer tones and more output than using single coils. Humbucker pickups cancel the noise that single-coil suffer from, which also results in a warmer tone. This pickup combination isn't only for high-gain music like Hard Rock or Heavy Metal. Their warmness is also popular for Jazz, Indie, R&B, Blues and more.

More with the same pickups

22 Frets
Tremolo Bridge
Firebird Alnico V Bridge Pickup
Firebird Alnico V Neck Pickup
22 Frets
Tremolo Bridge
Firebird Alnico V Bridge Pickup
Firebird Alnico V Neck Pickup
22 Frets
Tremolo Bridge
Firebird Alnico V Bridge Pickup
Firebird Alnico V Neck Pickup
22 Frets
Tremolo Bridge
Firebird Alnico V Bridge Pickup
Firebird Alnico V Neck Pickup
22 Frets
Fixed Bridge
Firebird Alnico V Bridge Pickup
Firebird Alnico V Neck Pickup

Versatility

It comes with the popular 3-way switch that is present in most guitars. For more versatility, players tend to prefer a 5-way switch, although it all depends on what you want to use your guitar for.

Unfortunately, it doesn't come with more options for coil split or coil tapping. This makes it less versatile than some competitors.

Diagram

Gibson Custom 1963 Firebird V With Maestro Vibrola Heavy Aged pickups switch and push knobs diagram
Gibson Custom 1963 Firebird V With Maestro Vibrola Heavy Aged's switch options

What music genre is it good for?

As a 6 strings, Solid Body guitar with HH configuration and Passive pickups, we'd recommend it for genres like Hard Rock or similar. However, you can use almost any guitar for any genre. This is just the typical type of music for this particular one.

Sound Score

Pickups 90
Sustain 70
Versatility 63
Tuning Stability 65
Sound 72

Build Quality Analysis

Country of Origin

Knowing where the instrument is produced is a good way to know how well it's built. Some manufacturing countries are known for having higher quality standards. For example, most expensive instruments are made in the US or Japan, but there are some exceptionally great countries—like South Korea—that are building a good reputation.

The Gibson Custom 1963 Firebird V With Maestro Vibrola Heavy Aged is made in United States. Guitars made in the USA have the reputation of being the best instruments you can get. This statement isn't as accurate as a few years ago, but you should still expect top-quality from a guitar made in this country.

Bridge

ABR-1 Maestro Short Vibrola: This type of bridge allows you to change the pitch of the notes by pulling the bridge with the attached bar, which gives you better versatility. Also, since the bridge is not fixed to the guitar body, the bridge will move as you bend the strings. So you'll have to increase the distance of your bends to reach the same tension (note) compared to a fixed bridge. This allows you to perform smoother bends but will also make you slower. Finally, remember that this type of bridge requires a bit more maintenance than fixed ones, especially when changing strings.

More with the same type of bridge:

Nut Material

Another important thing to analyze is the nut material, as it's one of the most important aspects that can affect the sound and playability of your guitar. A well-cut nut will make sure it stays in tune and will make it more comfortable to play.

In this case, the Gibson Custom 1963 Firebird V With Maestro Vibrola Heavy Aged has a Nylon nut. It's an extremely resistant material with very low friction, so it's great for guitar nuts. It will last for a long time and won't get your guitar out of tune. It's not found in most modern instruments only because it's difficult to work with for the luthier due to its hardness, so you'll find it mostly only in vintage guitars.

More with the same nut material:

Neck Joint

The neck joint is the part where the neck of the guitar meets the body. There are three main techniques to attach both parts together: Set-In, Bolt-On and Neck-Through. The latter two provide different advantages, although neck-throughs are the most expensive.

This guitar has a Neck-Through neck joint. Many people believe a neck-through build delivers the best sustain because some of the vibrations from the neck aren't lost like with other neck joints. However, no one has been able to prove this. What we know is that a neck-through build is usually the most comfortable when playing the upper frets because there's nothing on your way at the neck-body joint.

More with the same build:

Build Quality Score

Quality of materials 56
Features 65
Quality Control 100
Build Quality 74

All Specs

Gibson Custom 1963 Firebird V With Maestro Vibrola Heavy Aged
General
Brand: Gibson Custom
Year: 2022
Configuration: HH
Strings: 6
Made in: United States
Series: Murphy Lab
Colors: Blue
Left-Handed Version: No
Body
Type: Solid Body
Body Material: Layered Mahogany
Bridge: ABR-1 Maestro Short Vibrola
Neck
Neck Joint: Neck-Through
Tuners: Deluxe Banjo Tuners
Fretboard: Indian Rosewood
Neck Material: 9-ply Mahogany/Walnut
Decoration: Aged Cellulose Nitrate Trapezoid
Scale Size: 24.75"
Shape: Traditional 1960s SlimTaper C Profile
Frets: 22 Medium Jumbo
Fretboard Radius: 12"
Nut: Nylon
Nut Width: 42.9mm (1.688'')
Electronics
Switch: 3 Way
Knobs: Bell
Volume Controls: 2
Tone Controls: 2
Bridge Pickup: Firebird Alnico V (Humbucker / Passive)
Neck Pickup: Firebird Alnico V (Humbucker / Passive)

More Comparisons

User Reviews

Help others by sharing your opinion about this guitar. Note: to avoid spam, your review will be submitted for approval before appearing here.

You're reviewing as anonymous. to comment with your account.
Your Rating: