Elliot Easton Tikibird Gibson Model

Typical – a severe drought of left handed Firebirds and then two come along at once! Gibson recently offered the Firebird V 2010 in a left handed model, and now it looks like Elliot Easton is working hard to bring us another!

Elliot has been chatting very openly about his upcoming Tikibird signature model and has even shared photos of the first prototype design.  If you want to read all of the comments you will find a link to his forum post at the bottom of this page.

Elliot Easton Gibson USA ‘Tikibird’ Firebird Guitar

• Firebird (Tikibird) V in Gold Poly Mist (one color only to start)
• Full Size Humbuckers-’57 Classics
• A Bigsby B3 Vibrato Tailpiece
• Nylon bridge saddles
• Domed thumbwheels on the tune-o-matic, so that the bridge rocks slightly when the Bigsby is used. This was done on vintage Gibsons that had Bigsby’s and I find that it really helps the guitar to stay in tune when you use the vibrato effect
• My trademark Tiki on the Pickguard, rather than the traditional Firebird hot stamp
• Four small slider switches. These do essentially the same thing that the push-pull pots did on the last iteration of the Les Paul Standard. I thought that wiring system was fantastic, and added many very usable tones to the guitar. The Firebird is too thin to fit the push pull pots so we went with slider switches. From top to bottom they are:
  • 1-coil tap for neck pickup
  • 2-coil tap for bridge pickup
  • 3-out of phase switch for when both pickups are engaged
  • 4-blower switch that gives you the bridge pickup routed directly to the jack-no volume, tone switches, caps or any extra wiring, for maximum wailing!
• Steinberger Gearless Tuners-more efficient, lighter (no neck dive) more precise.

Changes Planned For the Production Model

1. The slider switches are going to be white instead of black and will blend into the pickguard for a less cluttered, more elegant look.
2.The signature and the word “model” (in Rat Fink font, as usual for me!) are going to be moved from the edge of the pickguard, and be made into a decal that will be on the back of the headstock, parallel to the serial #, again giving the pickguard a cleaner, less cluttered look. I don’t need my name on the front of the guitar!

Elliot mentions that he is hoping for a 2014 launch – keep your eyes peeled!

For more information:
Les Paul Forum Post by Elliot Easton

More Lefty Gibsons

Check out my guide to the full range of left handed Gibson guitars and basses! In it you will find the entirety of the current southpaw stable available from Gibson.