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Electric guitar

Maker Gibson, Inc.

Maker Gibson

Date1964

Place MadeKalamazoo, Michigan, United States, North America

ModelFirebird VII

Serial No.155910

SignedLocated on peghead: Gibson.
Located on tailpiece: [lyre and leaves] / Gibson.
DescriptionGibson’s Firebird series was introduced in 1963 to compete with Fender's instruments. While Gibson wanted something progressive-looking, they were still smarting from their experience with the Flying V and the Explorer, radical instruments that did not sell well in the late 1950s. The Firebird was designed by a consultant, Ray Dietrich, a car designer who worked for Chrysler from 1932 to 1938 and after that was a consultant for Kaiser, Packard, Ford, and others. The Firebird body ended up resembling the Explorer, but with more rounded corners. The pick guard featured the engraving of a firebird (phoenix), while the companion bass featured the thunderbird, playing up the Ford sports car connection (the GM Pontiac Firebird, however, came after the guitar, in 1967). The neck runs through the entire length of the body, with wings attached to form the distinctive outline, thereby saving wood. The Firebird VII was the top-of-the-line model with three gold-plated pickups, and was available in the understated sunburst seen on NMM 6760 or in more flamboyant metallic colors. The Firebird line was revamped in 1965, and the curves of the body were changed so that the projecting upper lobe was on the bass side of the neck (known to collectors as the "non-reverse" body), rather than the treble (the "reverse" body), where it had the tendency to pull the neck downward when played.

NMM 6760 was owned and used by Danny Chauncey and can be seen and heard in .38 Special’s music video, The Sound of Your Voice. Danny Chauncey, guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter, and producer, co-founded the California heavy metal group Billy Satellite in 1983. Chauncey later joined the prominent southern rock group, .38 Special (the group’s lead singer, Donnie Van Zant, is the younger brother of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s singer/songwriter, Ronnie Van Zant, who was killed in a plane crash in 1977, along with two other Lynyrd Skynyrd band members.) Chauncey joined .38 Special in 1987, and can be heard on their albums Rock & Roll Strategy (1988), Bone Against Steel (1991), Resolution (1997), Live at Sturgis (1999), and A Wild-Eyed Christmas Night (2001).
DimensionsHeight: 43" (1092 mm)
Body Width: 14. 5" (350 mm)
Fingerboard Length: 18" (547 mm)
Vibrating String Length: 24. 5" (715 mm)
ProvenancePreviously owned by Danny Chauncey of 38 Special.
Purchased from Gruhn Guitars, Nashville, Tennessee, 1999.
Published References"Recent Acquisitions," America's Shrine to Music Museum Newsletter, Vol. XXVII, No. 4, (November 2000), p. 6 (photograph).

Credit LinePurchase funds given by family and friends in memory of Lindsay William Smith (1954-1997), Edina, Minnesota, 1999

Object number06760

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