Pre Loved Gibson Custom Shop Byrdland Venetian 1998 - Wine Red

The Gibson Custom Shop continues to set the standard for high-end luthiery, offering both historically accurate reissues and fully bespoke instruments crafted to the highest level. This pre loved Byrdland exemplifies this precision craftsmanship with premium tonewoods, refined appointments, and exceptional tonal response.

This model features a hand-carved solid AAA-grade spruce top, selected for its stiffness-to-weight ratio and acoustic transparency, paired with highly figured maple back and sides. This combination delivers a bright, articulate voice with pronounced upper midrange detail and excellent projection. The high-gloss Wine Red nitrocellulose finish enhances both visual depth and tonal resonance, while showcasing the dramatic figuring of the maple.

The neck is a 5-ply laminate of figured maple and walnut, offering exceptional rigidity and resistance to environmental fluctuations. The profile is a custom-tapered carve, measuring 0.780" at the 1st fret and 0.950" at the 9th fret, optimized for comfort and playability. The shortened 23.5" scale length allows for reduced string tension and faster fretting-hand mobility, ideal for complex chord voicings and jazz phrasing.

An ebony fingerboard with a 12" radius and pearl block inlays contributes to a fast, articulate feel under the fingers and imparts a tight, percussive attack to the tone. The bound headstock is adorned with a pearl torch inlay, reinforcing the instrument’s ornate aesthetic.

Electronics include a matched set of Gibson Humbuckers, meticulously wound to deliver dynamic nuance, harmonic complexity, and a wide frequency response. These pickups exhibit exceptional touch sensitivity and clarity, with warm low-end, balanced mids, and a sweet high-frequency roll-off. Independent volume and tone controls for each pickup provide extensive tonal shaping possibilities.

Hardware appointments include an ABR-1 bridge mounted on an ebony base with a pearl inlay, offering superior transfer of string vibration and tonal richness. Tuning stability is ensured by Gibson machineheads, known for their precision and durability in both studio and live settings.

As the guitar has aged, you can slightly feel the join of the pieces of wood along the back of the neck as the centre piece has protruded, but this is only a fraction as doesn't impede on the playing experience. There is also a mark on the back of the guitar along the back join (pictured) where the wood has moved slightly an the lacquer has shown through. This has also happened on the back of the headstock. There is a laquer crack on the front of the guitar and at some point a hole has been drilled for another strap button. But all of these issues are cosmetic and the guitar functions as intended.

This Byrdland ships in a Gibson hard shell case, providing secure transport and storage for an instrument of this calibre.

Weight-7.07lbs