A fresh look at the 12 guitars featured in PG''s monthly Guitar of the Month column in 2010.
"In 1966, Tony Acuri competed in the Allegheny Guitar and Accordion Contest. The young guitarist didnуt place and was quite dejected, but there was a silver lining to the defeat. рMy dad said if I won first place overall in 1967, he would buy me any guitar I wanted,с remembers Acuri. рI spent a whole year practicing тMalague√aу and lo and behold, I won the 1967 competition. So the next time I was at my guitar teacherуs studio, I went through his catalogs to pick out a guitar, and I came across Gibsonуs Firebird. The only reason I wanted it was because of the cool emblem on the pickguard!с Acuriуs father put the order in and was charged $291.50яincluding a hardshell case and a $50 up-charge for the custom left-handed setup (shown on the receipt at right). In addition to the left-handed Firebird I, he purchased a Gibson Explorer GA-15RVT amp. It took more than a year for the package to arrive because apparently back in the у60s, the entire production line had to be stopped, shut down, and reset for a left-handed instrument. The best part of this tale is that Acuri still owns and uses both pieces of cherished gear."