Chicago Music Exchange | 5 years ago

From somewhere over the rainbow comes this badass Byrdland. A portmanteau of both Billy Byrd and Hank Garland, who designed the guitar with Gibson’s Ted McCarty, the Byrdland evolved out of the L-5 CES. The three reduced the body depth, scale length, and nut width to make a lean, mean, rift-ripping machine, equally suited for jazz, country, or rock, which Nathaniel happily demonstrates.

The Byrdland is the first of Gibson's Thinline series. Many guitarists did not desire the bulk of a traditional archtop guitar such as Gibson's L-5, one of Gibson's top models. The Byrdland, with its overall depth of 2+1⁄4 in (5.7 cm), is thinner than the L-5's 3+3⁄8 in (8.6 cm) depth. Gibson's president, Ted McCarty, sought opinions and ideas about new products. The suggestions from Byrd and Garland led to the development of the Byrdland. The Byrdland, first made in 1955, is essentially a custom-built, thinner, L-5CES (Cutaway-Electric-Spanish). Later, the two specified a shorter scale and narrower-than-standard neck. Guitarists who had an opportunity to play Gibson samples liked the Byrdland's short scale neck (23+1⁄2 in [60 cm]), which facilitated intricate single-note patterns and unusual stretched chord voicings. The Byrdland then became a regular production instrument. One thing which hampered the instrument's popularity in the ensuing years was the narrow neck width (1+5⁄8 in [4.1 cm] at the nut, as opposed to Gibson's standard nut width of 1+11⁄16 in [4.3 cm]). Gibson developed the ES-350T from the Byrdland using less-costly hardware and detailing, and offered it as a less expensive model.

Check it out here: http://bit.ly/37iZlk3
Watch the quick riff here: https://www.instagram.com/p/B4khM0pFtfC/

Gear used in this video:
- 1967 Gibson Byrdland Sunburst
- 1967 Fender Pro Reverb
- Fulltone Custom Shop OCD Candy Apple Red Limited Edition
- Divine Noise Cables

Songs played in this video:
0:00- 01:17: Somewhere Over The Rainbow by Harold Arlen
01:17 - 01:47: Cat Scratch Fever/Stranglehold by Ted Nugent
02:29 - 02:53: Sugarfoot Rag by Hank Garland
04:09 - 04:35: All Around The World by Oasis
05:06 - 05:24: Misty by Errol Garner

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