Features Designed to benefit all musicians Crisp Bright tone Wine Red Description Product Description Body At the request of Billy Byrd and Hank Garland, the Byrdland was made with a reduced scale length, but featured all the finery of a top-of-the-line Gibson archtop guitar. The Byrdland’s super-thin neck and 23 1/2” scale length might have implied a “student model” instrument, but it was intended purely for speed and playing ease, and its five-ply binding, ebony fingerboard with pearl block inlay, gold-plated hardware, and triple-loop Byrdland trapeze tailpiece all single it out as a top-shelf guitar. Hardware Originally offered in 1955 with Alnico V single coil pickups, the Byrdland was upgraded to PAF humbucking pickups in 1957, and that remains its most popular incarnation. Coupled to the traditional independent volume and tone controls and a three-way selector switch, these units gave the Byrdland the ability to produce anything from a smooth mellow purr to a hot, cutting twang.