Gibson Hummingbird Studio Rosewood Review

This is an excellent guitar!

I originally ordered a Martin HD28E, which is an awesome guitar, but the neck was just too wide (1.75") to be able to grab even a "C" chord without killing the first string. Sweetwater was great about my returning it by my just paying the return shipping. I was hesitant about this Gibson because I saw the review about sloppy finish work, but I inspected Sweetwater's pictures before… read more ordering it. The Hummingbird Studio Rosewood is EVERYTHING I hoped it would be! Not even ONE blemish in the fit or finish. The neck is a perfect fit for my hand. This guitar plays great, and the sound is excellent. I was concerned because this only comes with a LR Baggs Element pickup, but that concern was put to rest when I plugged it up to my Boss Acoustic Singer Pro guitar amp. The Hardshell case is better than most, as it has 3 hinges. I would definitely recommend this to anyone, but remember that it has a nitrocellulose lacquer finish, which means you'll need to take extra care to NOT leave a clip-on tuner attached longer than necessary. Thanks to Brian Loney for his great service- as always!

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Gibson Acoustic Studio Rosewood Acoustic-electric Rosewood Burst

The finish on the the guitar is flawless and beautiful. The playability is amazing. The only drawback is , it dose not have a tone control like my J45. Just volume a volume control. This instrument has a very warm sound. I have always wanted a Gibson Humming Bird , and so glad it is a part of my collection. Also a big Thank you to my sales engineer , Mike Johnson , for making… read more this purchase a great experience, and the team at Sweetwater.

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A beautiful tone and sound, but the price is just too high

So let's get some trivialities out of the way:- there's no Hummingbird decal. I personally prefer this but if you really want the bird drawing then this is not the guitar for you.- it's rosewood, not mahogany. I can't compare the sound too directly since I only have the one Hummingbird, but compared to recordings of new mahogany Hummingbirds, it seems that the rosewood is clearer… read more and brighter. I think these two "issues" are basically irrelevant but they are worth mentioning since the Hummingbird is a famous style of guitar whereas this is a bit different. But this is certainly a nice guitar:- despite the standard body size this thing really packs a serious punch; it's a cutting, booming sound where each string rings clearly. It will turn heads and stand out in a crowd.- it is a very pretty guitar and the rosewood used in the body is clearly extremely high-quality. No QC issues I've noticed.- it has a clear high end and great sustain with fretted strings (perhaps at the expense of a rich open string voicing compared to a similarly-priced Martin). This is a great acoustic guitar for jazz/R&B/etc players who use nonstandard chord voicings. The bass is a bit weak in terms of how well it "thumps" but the soundboard picks up a lot of subtleties in the E and A strings, so you can still add a lot of flavor and energy to the lower register.- out of the box the intonation and playability were superb. It's also held up well with some heat and humidity in August/September - I try to keep my apartment reasonable but it's hardly a controlled climate. It came with coated strings, which I hate, but I suppose it's the fashion these days. That said… I can't help but feel that $ is too much money for this particular guitar. I am still playing with the stock coated strings and perhaps that's part of the problem. I am also not an expert on flat-top acoustic guitars (I typically play archtops). But I have played "mid-range" Martins for less than $2000 that sounded better.I wish I had a more rigorous explanation than this, but if you're a guitarist you'll understand: a while back I tried the cheapest Gibson Les Paul at the store ("only" $) - and was totally blown away at the quality of the guitar. More recently I was blown away by a Loar acoustic archtop. I bought both guitars and they were worth every penny.Sadly I am not "blown away" by the Hummingbird. Especially given that this isn't a more unique mahogany guitar, I am sure you can find a nicer rosewood dreadnought acoustic at a lower price. At $ I really can't recommend buying this guitar (especially online).

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Sounds great!! Beautiful tonewood! Sloppy finishing work.

Gibson is notorious for sloppy finish work so it's no surprise that this would be my singular issue with the guitar. The guitar sounds BEAUTIFUL and the particular pieces of rosewood and spruce they chose for this build are top notch!!! But the finish work, particularly on the cap of the headstock, leaves a bit to be desired. I slightly bumped the edge of the headstock with my… read more clip on tuner as I was clipping it on and it caused a bubble in the clear top coat, which quickly became a fairly noticeable chip. Also there was noticeable dried glue squeezing out from the edges of the bridge, I was able to break those dried pieces away safely but that seems like something Gibson would do before letting it leave their shop. As far as the finish goes, it is not a huge problem for me because I do like guitars to get naturally worn over time, but if you're a person who obsesses over your guitars finish quality these Gibsons may not be for you.

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