1968 Gibson Factory built Left-Handed Firebird

by anthony Arcuri
(South Carolina)

Long story short, I'm Left-handed and started playing guitar when I was 5 years old. Went to the 1966 Allegheny Guitar and Accordion competition and did not place. Pretty bummed out. My dad said that if I won 1st place overall in 1967, he would buy me any guitar I want. I spent 1 whole year practicing 1 song. Malaguena. Low & behold I won. So, at my guitar teachers I was going through the catalogs and saw the firebird. The only reason I wanted it was because of the cool firebird emblem on the pickguard. Guess I lucked out! Gibson took a year to make this for me. ($50 up-charge!) Notice the Truss rod cover is upside down on the 1968 pic. I don't know why they stopped short of the logo. Had the truss rod cover changed in the 70's because I thought it wasn't cool upside down. Dumb move, but I was a teenager. Enjoy the pic as this is a very rare guitar (only one?) and I still own it along with a 1968 Gibson Explorer Amp. Tony