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My dream would be a cross between the fairly recent Epi Byrdland Elitist with the "snakehead" and deep Florentine cutaway and the L-5 George Gobel thin body.Until then,I'll keep hugging my Stromberg Monterey.
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11-26-2011 03:19 PM
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A little market note: It seems that a minty Epi Byrd went on the 'Bay for $1,900 recently. This is sort of notable only because those guitars have been going for as much as $2,500 for a little while. Consdering the original new price of $1,999 and the (around late 2006 I think) GC blowout price of $1,699 - then $2,500 was "up there".
Of course considering the unique spec. and superb quality, $2,000 to $2,500 is maybe not so crazy a price.
It will be interesting to see if these start going regularly for under $2K.
Chris
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The sunbursts were produced early in the run, but later is was all blondes.
I had a sunburst first-year "Elite" Byrdland. Great looking guitar to say the least.
It was inexplicably (to me anyway) slightly brighter than the later blonde "Elitist" I had. Probably due to the wire color,...
I bought the burst from a dealer who could not get rid of it (hah, at the time,...). I had to un-do the "improvements" from a very well known guitar mod and component company. Fortunately the original PU's and parts were included.
I sold it later to a good guy in Toronto; I hope he still is playing it.
I sort of wish that I had one of them back, but at the same time once I got a Bravo the Byrdlands went unused. So I am a devout non-collector and "un-played" means time to move on to someone who will make great sounds with the guitar.
If a Byrd is your style, the Epi is absolutely superb. Unfortunately, it is probably worth $2,500 as a guitar. So maybe the prices will stay high for quite a while?
Chris
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as an insufferable modder, i'd love to know what came out of there. the stock components aren't that horrible.
Originally Posted by PTChristopher
sadly, this is true. if you want a byrd, there's nothing you can do. its very much its own thing. whether it's "worth" $2500 i can't say, but if you want one, its going to cost you. and yes, it is a fantastic guitar. Originally Posted by PTChristopher
not sure if this was the case for byrds, but i know for other semis/hollows in the elitist line that the bursts were phased out first. the naturals carried on until the end, the bursts were killed off about a year before.
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Roosto,
I can only find this truly awful pic showing it with another long gone guitar. Sorry, but that's all I have of it. It looked better than the pic suggests.
[Feet] >>> i'd love to know what came out of there. the stock components aren't that horrible.
The Burst-Byrd had some custom wund PU's (custom weakened alnico II magnets as well), plus some ridiculous custom-taper pots that did nothing from 10 to about 8 3/4, then kicked in. It had wonder caps in it as well, oil/paper.
And to try to tame the very thin and emaciated sounding PU's, the ostensibly high end place that did this had put a cap across the output jack. It did help to make it less awful sounding.
EDIT: I took out the name of the PU's and business that did the work. I do not want to criticize their work or choices.
Anyway, I put the supplied stock PU's back in, and put in normal CTS pots and whatever I had around for caps. It sounded fine.
The stock pots on these were mini-pots for some reason. So the holes had been opened up for the "custom" pots. So I did not put the original pots back in even though they came with the guitar as well.
I just noticed in the pic that I had tried nylon saddles in the bridge, but left the low E as brass to ground the bridge (anti-static in the dry winter).
I did not recall the keystone tuner buttons, but there they are in the pic.
ChrisLast edited by PTChristopher; 09-24-2012 at 10:47 PM.
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its also hard to get a broadway elite in sunburst colour
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Hi folks,
For a while now, I've been keeping half an eye out for an Epiphone Elitist Byrdland to try. I know from reading various threads that these are highly rated instruments and difficult to come by these days.
Yesterday found a Byrdland at a London store and plan to head up and try it out this weekend.
I note that it is labelled as an 'Elite' and not an 'Elitist'. A quick internet search suggests that the Elite range became the Elitsts but can anyone help with the approximate age of an Elite Byrdland?
It's up for £1699 (approx $2700). Fair price? A lot of the gold plating has come off both pickups and it looks like the bridge and tailpiece too. Non-original case.
Are these Byrdlands nitro or poly?
DB
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I had one for a bit….cost £999 around 10 years ago, so not a bad price altho not a bargain. They are excellent guitars but the (gibson) pickups are 490s I think, so don't sound the same as PAFs. The finish is poly.
As you'd expect, it's mainly about whether the 231/2 scale works for you, and whether the slightly brighter neck pup sound works for you too. I loved the guitar, but they didn't quite work for me so I sold it on, very easily. But if you can bond with a byrdland, this is easily the most cost effective way to do it. They are virtually the same as a real one, apart from the pickups and poly.
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The Elitist Byrdlands were made from 2004 - 2008. The Elite Byrdlands were made in 2003 and prior (and possibly only in 2003 - I don't know when Epiphone actually started this series). Another guitar company challenged Epiphone over the use of 'Elite' so the series name was changed to 'Elitist' in 2004. No other change to the series other than the name.
On eBay, Elitist Byrdlands having been selling for $2000+ for the past few years in the US. Several have sold in the $2200 - $2600 range during the past few months. Possibly the last brand new Elitist Byrdland (NOS) in north america was sold at the 12th Fret in Toronto for $2800 in early 2010.
Since guitars always seem to sell for higher prices in EU than they do in north america, I would say that your $2700 Elite Byrdland in the UK is in the ball park. Not a bargain, but in the ball park. I would probably try to negotiate a lower price based on the worn gold finish. The guitars that I've watched on eBay here in NAM were in excellent condition - many almost 'like new'.
I have a 2004 sunburst Elitist Byrdland.
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Well, the Byrdland came home with me this afternoon!
Needs some heavier strings but I'm really enjoying this guitar!
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welcome to the club. the awesome guitar club. all i can tell you about the byrdland is that it is its own thing. you're in or you're out.
one thing to note is that it is very sensitive to right hand placement. want more or that old school warmth? move your right hand closer to the neck. pick over the neck pup or last few frets if you can. pick between the pups for the signature brightness and closer to the bright to bring the twang.
ernie ball 13s feel ok to me, but i want to try 14s and tune it down. they are very sensitive to tension as well. it was not happy with 12s. at least for what i do. i may try flats one day as i suspect it'll be amazing, but i'm still having so much fun with the round wounds.
the pickups are fine. i wanted to change them because i change everything, but they aren't bad at all.
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The Byrdland is off getting a set-up and a set of Thomastik 13-53 swing flatwounds. It should make an interesting contrast to my other guitar (carved/floater/roundwounds). I must say I haven't had any issues with the scale or neck profile. I am toying with the idea of a Lollar Charlie Christian neck / P90 bridge pickup set in this guitar a la Hank Garland, but I'll spend more some time with the stock pickups, which seem fine.
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Let us know how he scale thing works out.
What guage strings do you normally prefer?
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Hi Sam,
I've used Thomastik Bebop roundwounds 13-53 on my guitars for a few years now. Flatwounds should make for a nice contrast.
Here's a snap of the guitar before it went to the tech.
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Nice ! Exactly like mine. And the sunburst version seems to be the hardest to find.
What year ? (don't know why I have to ask or why it even matters, but I have to ask)
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scale length wasn't an issue for me. a quick test to see if someone is byrdland compliant:
grab a (24.75) guitar. put a capo on the first fret. play.
looks like someone swapped out the truss rod cover and put some more period correct witch hat knobs on them. looks good to me. is that pick guard solid black or tortoise? the (super sweet) sunbursts are more rare (and possibly worth more) because they were discontinued a year or two before the blonds were.
these things ring, zing and ping in such a beguiling way with round wounds, but most people aren't into that. i can't wait to try some flats on them, though. what i did was just not change the strings on it for like a year to see what happens and it didn't sound bad. like i said before, right hand placement changes a lot, tonally. like most gibson-esque 4 knob guitars, the middle postion is underrated and extremely useful. even the bridge is pretty cool with a little volume and a little gain.
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As it's marked 'Elite' rather than 'Elitist', it's a 2003 or earlier, according to the information from forum members and elsewhere online. Originally Posted by va3ux
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Hi Feet,
It's a plain black pickguard on there.
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You can tell from the serial #. It should begin with a 'T' ( for Terada), and the first digit will be the year. Mine is T4xxxxx
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Hi va3ux
Thanks for the tip. I will look when I pick the guitar up on Saturday.
PS. I didn't mention it earlier but the first of this guitar's two owners is Chris Rea apparently.
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It must be my old one then.. Chandler's sold it on consignment to Chris Rea ( unless he collects epi byrds of course!)…
Good luck with it.
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Hi Va3ux, Originally Posted by va3ux
Picked up the Byrdland this afternoon and had a look at the serial number. It's a 2003.
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Hi Franz, Originally Posted by Franz 1997
I got the set-up done at Chandler's so mentioned this to them. They looked it up on the computer and sure enough, it must be your old one! The set-up revealed that the bridge has been pinned down (not a major concern for me). The previous owner has put the volume and tone knobs all on the wrong pots and all go to 8 - neither me nor the Chandler's crew have been able to get them off without risking damage - someone must have glued them on.
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It wasn't me David! Not sure why anyone would do that - and I don't remember those knobs as being original either.
Shame - but otherwise it looks great.
It used to be an effortless player; I guess it still is.
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An Epi Elitist Byrdland just sold for $3K today on eBay, with BIN. Another one sold for $3K back in October.
So your $2700 isn't looking too bad.
How do you like the guitar with the 13's on it ?
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