NGD: 2003 Music Machine Stinger-Series Gibson Hummingbird

[Ed Driscoll]

(I posted this at the LPF, but it occurred to me that not everyone at TFF reads LPF, IYKWIM , so I thought I'd post here as well.)

When I went to the Dallas Guitar Show at the start of May, I knew I wanted to buy a Gibson Hummingbird. If Gibson had been there, with their usual trailer full of instruments, I would have likely bought one of their new reissues of the 1960 Hummingbird. But they, and Fender, were no-shows, presumably as this was the first big guitar show as the pandemic winds down. The best example of a Hummingbird that I saw at the show was at the Jimmy Wallace booth, labeled as a Gibson Hummingbird with “Brazilian rosewood back and sides, and an Adirondack spruce top.” It had Grovers as its tuners, and I thought it looked and played great -- so I bought it. I noticed it had a stinger painted on the headstock, and I remember telling my wife that afternoon back in the hotel that “I remember there was this big reissue series of Les Pauls that were popular at the LPF right around the time I joined,” and started googling to read threads at the LPF and elsewhere to refresh my memory of the old Music Machine Stingers. But then I started to get cold feet – what if I had bought a Chibson? (While I was in this Schrodinger’s Guitar phase, I thought, if this is a Chibson, it plays and sounds fantastic!)

So I emailed Gibson photos of the guitar, didn’t hear anything back, waited a week, and ultimately I called the Gibson customer support number. I got a hold of someone who found my photos, and started researching the serial number, telling me it was made in Bozeman in 2003.

Stinger. 2003. Is this a Music Machine Hummingbird?! I was able to get in touch on LinkedIn with former Music Machine owner Rick van Heel, who verified the guitar for me, telling me it was one of five Hummingbirds Music Machine had commissioned from Gibson, with a Brazilian back, sides, and fingerboard, and provided the COA.

Somehow, I’ve lucked into a very rare, great sounding guitar – thanks Rick for verifying it, and for being part of the team that commissioned it in the first place!









2007 Gibson Everly Brothers, 2003 Gibson Music Machine Hummingbird, 2019 Nashville-Strung Taylor Mini.





2003 Music Machine Stinger Series Brochure.

[phantomman]

It's certainly no "Chibson", Ed.

Absolutely stunning!

[Ed Driscoll]

It's certainly no "Chibson", Ed.

Absolutely stunning!

Thank you!

[gibsonjunkie]

Beautiful!

[OldStrummer]

Wow, terrific story, and terrific guitar! This shows what perseverance and dedication can do. Well done!

[DanTheBluesMan]

Hummingbirds are on my very short list of acoustics I'd like to get.

[Bill Moore]

That is beautiful!
My sister in law has a Hummingbird that an old boyfriend gave her back in the early 70's. It plays and sounds great, however there is a crack developing on the rear. I told her to let Gibson fix it, but she is afraid that the guitar may have been stolen, (why the boyfriend was able to afford it!)

[ch willie]

Lovely, Ed. That's a special one, for sure.

[Tele-Bob]

Love the stinger! Nice looking guitars!

Maybe they're a collection of "in-house" guitars that fell over and had peghead repairs. The black paint covers the repair. LOL.

Just kidding. I painted a stinger on a guitar I had once repaired. Covered the sins.......

[Ed Driscoll]

Love the stinger! Nice looking guitars!

Thanks!

Maybe they're a collection of "in-house" guitars that fell over and had peghead repairs. The black paint covers the repair. LOL.

Just kidding. I painted a stinger on a guitar I had once repaired. Covered the sins.......

Isn't the story that the owner of Music Machine owned an original 1959 sunburst Les Paul that had a stinger on it, and he liked the look, so he ordered up the Historic Les Paul Stinger series from Gibson with Brazilian boards in 2003?