Firebird Raised Center Lam: Ideas?

[B3Guy]

Currently the Firebird body type is available with the raised center laminate on the condition that the body be exclusively mad from Mahogany wood. First off, is this for real, Warmoth? I mean, I understand that many woods are likely not well-suited to this raised center construction, but I find it hard to believe that mahogany is the ONLY wood with which is financially feasible to raise the center.

One idea for getting around this would be to offer a pickguard in place of the laminate. I think it could look pretty cool if done right, and ultimately it would look awesome if the pickguards were available in various laminated wood finishes  :icon_thumright:

Just an idea. Anyone else got ideas?

 

[line6man]

They probably only do it in Mahogany because it requires a thicker piece of wood than is available with most of their stock.
Maybe one of the Warmoth guys can chime in.

 

[bagman67]

I like the idea of the raised strip up the middle having a contrasting lam-top (freaky quilt maple on mahogany, something like that).

 

[Cagey]

I like the idea of just saying "no" to Gibson's LSD-inspired '60s-era guitars <grin>

 

[anorakDan]

"The Firebird line went on sale in mid-1963 with four models distinguished by pickup and tailpiece configurations..."

"...Gibson...hired car designer Ray Dietrich to design a guitar that would have popular appeal. Under Dietrich, the Firebird took on the lines of mid-50s car tailfins. Dietrich took the Explorer design and rounded the edges. "

The early "Futuristic" designs from Gibson; the Explorer, the Moderne and the Flying V were designed to appeal to blues guitarists, inspired by Bo DIddley's custom guitars.

I just had to jump to Gibby's defense, Cagey, and I couldn't resist this chance to ...well, rattle your cage. <grin>While LSD had been around since the late 1930's and was used by the CIA on servicemen and students in the 1950's, I kinda doubt it was in wide-spread, recreational use by 1963. 62 really, allowing for design and production times. Unless Dietrich was really, really hip... or the CIA was covertly doping car designers!

Quotes from Wikipedia

 

[B3Guy]

They probably only do it in Mahogany because it requires a thicker piece of wood than is available with most of their stock.
Maybe one of the Warmoth guys can chime in.

That's what I suspected. When I get around to building a Warmoth, I may just contact one of the wood pickguard companies and ask them to make me one, then get them both finished together by a third party. Most likely, I'll go with a zebrawood top, but a black korina lam isn't out of the question either.

Of course, if all this gets too spendy, I'll be in carved-top soloist price territory, in which case I would get one of those. (They look insane in the new builder, btw. Throw one together with either a zebrawood top, or a SPRUCE [yes, they have spruce for carved top] . . . then dress it in various burst finishes . . . INSANE.)

 

[erogenousjones17]

The pickguard idea is intriguing, especially (to me anyway) the ida of a raised centre pickguard made of regular pickguard material instead of wood. Imagine a white Firebird with a black/white/black pickguard centre section... Or--egad!--tortoise over surf green! The possibilities are endless. Or maybe I just have a pickguard fixation.  :laughing7:

 

[B3Guy]

The pickguard idea is intriguing, especially (to me anyway) the ida of a raised centre pickguard made of regular pickguard material instead of wood. Imagine a white Firebird with a black/white/black pickguard centre section... Or--egad!--tortoise over surf green! The possibilities are endless. Or maybe I just have a pickguard fixation.  :laughing7:

Yes, even non-wood pickguard stuff would look pretty rad IMO. Tortoise on a bby burst with the "normal" pickguard in cream or mint . . . mmmmm  ccasion14: