Gibson Custom Shop Johnny Winter 1963 Firebird V Prototype.To commemorate his career, the Gibson Custom Shop decided to make a special, limited edition, Johnny Winter version of their Firebird. It was discussed at length what a Johnny Winter guitar really would be or should be.Johnny immediately thought of his 1963 Sunburst Firebird. Johnny loved the sound and the scarred appearance. To him, a new Firebird didn’t say anything; his old friend, with all its scars and scuffs, was the real thing.Gibson was called and asked if they could make a guitar that really represented Johnny. So, Johnny\'s Firebird was flown to inner sanctum of the Custom Shop to be studied by Gibson\'s luthiers. They took tons of pictures, weighed, and examined every detail of Johnny’s guitar until they felt sure that they could start to build the prototype duplicate as faithful to the original as possible. When finished, it was sent to him for his inspection and, hopefully, his approval. Johnny loved the guitar. It came so close to Johnny’s old guitar that it went out on the road, playing gig after gig. Though it could never replace Johnny’s original instrument, it sounded and felt much like the original. The prototype was and is as close to this “Holy Grail” of instruments as humanly possible. Johnny was told by Gibson that no guitar in their history had ever sold this quickly. Every detail has been painstakingly attended to in this recreation. Each guitar made in this series is built in the custom shop, distressed and worn to look as aged as Johnny’s, including wear patterns and cracks. Even the crack on the neck has been recreated. This guitar is presented in its original case, which features Johnny Winter’s signature printed on the side.This particular prototype guitar was presented to Johnny onstage at the Gibson Custom Shop in Nashville by Slash and Larry Carlton right before they all performed Hwy 61 together with Johnny and his amazing band...