Gibson Guitars has been crafting legendary guitars for the past 127 years. Now the Gibson Custom Shop is paying tribute to a true guitar hero with the release of the Johnny Winter 1964 Firebird V, based on the late player's personal and most well-known Firebird guitar. It’s not often that a guitar captures the essence of an artist, but Johnny Winter’s 1964 Firebird V perfectly matched his style and persona. Only a guitar as cool as the Firebird could keep up with the rip-roaring power and lightning-fast licks of the incendiary bluesman and classic rocker Johnny Winter. The Johnny Winter 1964 Firebird V isn’t just a reissue, it’s a complete replication of an iconic guitar. From the plugged holes and removed Maestro Vibrola, to the faded Firebird logo on the pickguard, right down to the missing reflector on the rhythm tone knob, this 1964 Firebird V in Murphy Lab custom-aged Polaris White finish brings the original to life for a new generation of players.
American singer and guitarist Johnny Winter was renowned across the globe for his high-energy blues rock albums and live performances. Johnny Winter played Woodstock, bringing his younger brother Edgar onstage that night and jammed with everyone from Muddy Waters to Jimi Hendrix and Steve Ray Vaughan. A torchbearer for the blues, Winter also championed and aided the careers of his idols Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker. Winter both created and produced multiple GRAMMY Award-winning blues albums and revitalized Waters' career, also playing on the bluesman's albums Hard Again (1977), I'm Ready (1978), and Muddy "Mississippi" Waters – Live (1979).
Several of Winter's own albums were also nominated for GRAMMY Awards– Guitar Slinger (1984) and Serious Business (1985) Let Me In (1991) and I'm a Bluesman (2004). For his 19th and final studio album Step Back(2014), Winter collaborated with a number of guest musicians including Eric Clapton, Billy Gibbons, Joe Perry, Leslie West, Dr. John, Brian Setzer and more. Johnny Winter posthumously won the GRAMMY for “Best Blues Album” for Step Back(2014)—produced by Paul Nelson--and Winter was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 1988.