Epiphone has unveiled a limited edition signature Hummingbird for country star Eric Church, based on his 2016 super-limited edition Gibson Custom Shop model that reimagined square-shouldered dreadnought in Cobra Burst.
The Eric Church Hummingbird Dark is one sweet acoustic guitar. It arrives in the Inspired By Gibson lineup, retailing for a very approachable £699/$799 street, with that price including a hardshell guitar case with Church’s John Hancock on it.
The pickguard is typically exquisite, a Carolina Blue refresh of the classic Hummingbird design. It has a solid European spruce top, layered mahogany on the back and sides. And for your open-mic pleasure, there’s also a Fishman Sonicore acoustic guitar pickup system. We’ll drink to that.
And helpfully, Church and the Gibson higher-uppers have already thought of this, and have teamed up for a collaborative whiskeys, Tonewood Vol 1 and Tonewood: The Collective, made by Church’s own booze brand, Whiskey JYPSI.
This is MusicRadar, so we should keep things on topic and rattle through some of the key features on this guitar without further delay, but Tonewood Vol 1 is an expression of special interest to any guitar player with a penchant for the amber nectar, because it was finished in offcuts of toasted maple from the Gibson factory.
It is available direct from Whiskey JYPSI and comes with Gibson glasses. Tonewood: The Collective, will be released more widely via select retailers, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Gibson Gives charitable foundation.
The Gibson Gazette has been similarly charitable in knocking these back to provide the tasting notes. It’s tough work but someone’s got to do it.
Expect “mature oak, vanilla, toasted grain, warm baking spice, honey, polished hardwood, caramelised sugar, roasted nuts, seasoned oak, and a long, structured finish” with the Tonewood Vol 1, with the Tonewood: The Collective “a lighter, more lifted character, with vanilla, graham cracker, light caramel, toasted grain, and a clean finish that fades to gentle smoke”. Don't be drowning it in cola, folks.
And perhaps a hint of nitrocellulose in the aroma? Well, not with the guitar at least. It’s finished in high-gloss poly. You’ll find Church’s signature on the back of the headstock.
It has a 12” radius rosewood fingerboard, inlaid with split parallelograms, matching rosewood bridge in the narrow ‘belly down’ style. The neck sounds like it might be comfortable, leisurely affair – a thick C profile that should fill the hand nicely for chords. It joins the body with a tapered dovetail joint. The nut is plastic, 43mm wide. The guitar’s scale is 24.76”.
And that’s that. The Inspired By Gibson Eric Church Hummingbird Dark is out now. Head over to Epiphone for more details. Or if the sun is sufficiently over the yard arm, to Whiskey JYPSI. Bottom’s up!
