His first three (?) albums were recorded with a Firebird. The sound is distinctive, which is not to say that its particularly good, but it does stand out.

I've only ever played just one, so I can't really generalize.

Played it through an Ampeg VT-22. This amp has a fiercely powerful :eek: clean, sound. The special charm of this particular amp is that it can give you back exactly the sound of your guitar, every nuance intact (but hellaciosly loud) :eek: :D if you keep it turned down below the level where the output stage starts to distort. This amp has been pressed into service for keyboards and even vocals.... I had a point to make here somewheres... Oh, yeah, the Gibson Firebird!

It sounds... thin :confused: ?? The 'southpaw' headstock allows the unusual length of high-pitched strings between the nut and the tuning pegs to contribute some phantom weirdness. This may have been Gibson's attempt to give their customers 'a taste of Hendrix', but without distorton, the sound is unsatisfying.

It may be instructive to note that Johnny Winter used serious amounts of overdrive in his sound. I don't know what kind of amplifier he used with the 'bird, but it sounds like a Fender with the front end saturated by a pedal. Maybe a Mesa-Boogie?

It didn't inspire me, but then I base my assessment of a guitar on what it sounds like [u]before[/u] I load in distotion or FX. If you decide to get a 'bird, I recommend you approach it as only one element in the total system. After all, those early JW tracks still kick azz! :D :D