“In ’73 it was listed in Melody Maker for £400. Glad you enjoyed it”: Phil Manzanera finally finds out the real story behind his iconic Firebird – 50 years after he bought it

Phil Manzanera's red Gibson Firebird VII is one of the most unique instruments in rock music, given that it looks unlike any other electric guitar – and recording with it, the Roxy Music legend says, is like “going onto analog tape.” It’s got a life of its own.

Yet, there's more to the guitar's unlikely origin story than meets the eye. After 50 years of owning the guitar, the full picture of where the guitar came from – and why it ended up in his hands – has finally been revealed.

The Gibson, made in the firm's original factory in Kalamazoo, Michigan, has featured on practically every record the Roxy Music man has played on, including all 14 of his solo albums.

At the time, he'd been on the hunt for a “flash” red guitar for Roxy Music, and after finding it advertised as a private listing in the back of music magazine Melody Maker in 1973, he stumped up £120 for it. Taking inflation into mind, that equates to approximately £1,900, or $2,500, in today's moolah.

“We’d buy it religiously every week and scan its columns for the latest gossip, news of who was playing where, reviews, the charts, and items for sale,” Manzanera told Guitarist of his Melody Maker obsession.

“It was sometime in 1973 that I spotted an ad which simply read: ‘Red Gibson for sale.’ There was no further description or indication of the model, but I made a call and was invited to a very posh house in Regent’s Park.

“I knocked on the door, which was eventually answered by an American kid aged about 16,” he develops. “He told me his parents had bought him the guitar, but he hadn’t played it and wasn’t likely to. I waited while he went back into the house, and a few minutes later he reappeared – this time holding a 1964 Gibson Firebird VII in that classic cardinal red they used for 1950s American cars.”

“It’s a bit like the Hofner Galaxy, but with bolder and more pronounced contours and curves,” Manzanera adds. “I’d never seen one in red before, and I’ve never seen another one since.”

So taken aback by this seemingly one-of-one electric guitar, he didn’t even play it before parting with the cash.

Phil Manzanera: My Go-To Guitars - YouTube

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“It has ended up being part of my musical trademark from that day to this; a reliable and constant friend which sits happily within a few feet of me even as I write,” he says.

But what of that American kid? Well, he’s recently come out of the woodwork to reveal his version of events. It illuminates the story more than ever before – but also throws up some more burning questions.

Commenting on a Guitarist YouTube video discussing Manzanera’s go-to guitars, Joe Kolinger writes: “Hi Phil. That was my guitar. I was away at college in Switzerland, and getting ready to move to San Francisco.

“We lived at 33 Chester Terrace in Regents Park,” he explains. “Posh house indeed. You met my mom and little sister. We were from Chicago, not Kalamazoo. I bought the Firebird used in the Old Town section of Chicago for $350 in the summer of 1972.

“In ‘73, it was listed in Melody Maker for £400. I already had a Les Paul Custom and a Strat. The Firebird was a nice instrument, but I felt it was too large and heavy. Glad you enjoyed it.”

It’s been widely believed that the guitar was a Custom Shop build, which explains its unique colorway. But if Kolinger, the guitar’s previous owner, wasn’t its original adoptee, who was?

As stated above, the guitar was made in 1964, meaning nearly a decade passed before Kolinger bought it second-hand. What happened to it during that time remains a mystery.

Roxy Music - Amazona [HQ] - YouTube

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Manzanera, however, is left to hope that other characters from his past will follow in Kolinger’s wake – and provide new information regarding some of his other guitars.

“Perhaps the person who stole my Gibson 335 out of the back of a Ford Transit van outside the Van Dyke Club in Plymouth on the 16th June 197, after a Roxy Music gig, might one day do the same: get in touch and return it,” he laughs.

The guitarist, who rubbed shoulders with David Gilmour in his youth, also recently revealed the bold move that got him the gig as guitarist and producer for the prog icon.