Allen Collins Firebird III back from the dead

[brcampbe01]

Thought you guys may enjoy this one. This is Allen Collins of Lynyrd Skynyrd's 1964 Firebird III he used from April 1975 into April 1976. There are some really great live recordings of this guitar including The Old Grey Whistle Test in London in 1975 and Winterland in 1976. My friend owns it here in Jacksonville, FL and it was painstakingly restored in 2016, 40 years after it was broken on stage. It wasn't until a couple weeks ago that we really let it scream again. He always told me if I found the right amp then we could make it happen. I ended up restoring a very rare factory tweed covered '75 Peavey 212 cabinet with a '76 Mace head and a pair of wonderful JBL E-120s, which is as close to an original Skynyrd amp as anyone can get. We have offered it to the Gibson Custom Shop to blueprint for free in order to create a signature series, but Mat Koehler is not interested at this time. Maybe one day... it truly is a wonderful sounding guitar.

Anyways, here it is being played by Jacksonville's best. The right guitar, the right amp, and the right hands!

Firebird

The amp

 

[Tobaccoburst83]

Wow, great sound! I love his Firebirds. For me he was the best Skynyrd guitarist.

 

[mdubya]

I am not a fan of the Bad Ass bridge, but everything else is perfection.

 

[brcampbe01]

Thanks for embedding it! I think it sounds a lot better than his Explorer did, more bite.

 

[mdubya]

Thanks for embedding it! I think it sounds a lot better than his Explorer did, more bite.

Definitely unique and wild.

 

[Cjsinla]

What had to be restored? Did it have a headstock break?

 

[sputnik]

I’d love to own that one. Very cool!

 

[brcampbe01]

Here it is back in 2017 re-united with the "stoned roadie" himself, Craig Reed, who along with Joe Barnes had to fight the fans in the audience to get it back. This guitar was almost thrown away in 1990 when Allen died... true story.

 

[brcampbe01]

It is the same Firebird Allen is playing here at the Old Grey Whistle Test in London in 1975.

Old Grey Whistle Test

 

[SKYNYRD FRYND]

Hey, this is incredible!! Wish a little bit more knowledge would get posted here, but regardless I appreciate the thread. Does anyone or the OP know what happened to the youtube video of this firebird? It tells me the video is unavailable. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Best regards

 

[brcampbe01]

 

[SKYNYRD FRYND]

Thank you my friend, appreciate it

 

[J-Dizzle]

I love seeing famous old destroyed guitars resurrected.

Obviously the greatest example is Peter Frampton's. This one is awesome too.

 

[musicmaniac]

Sweet!

 

[TheHarleyMan2]

Boy I wished I had the money! Lynyrd Skynyrd and especially Allen was the reason I took up guitar in the first place! My very first guitar was a 1976 Gibson Firebird!

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/ite...IkbEfJI-V06qgR7BosSAkL3bTBhGi3OHnuSyFgFBAgvPs