Brad Avery

The Epiphone Firebird is a Gibson-authorized copy of the classic Gibson Firebird. This version features a mahogany body and a mahogany neck. Gibson had made forays into radical body shapes (such as the Flying V and the Explorer) but they failed. The president of Gibson hired car designer Ray Dietrich to design a guitar that would have popular appeal. Under Dietrich, the Firebird took on the lines of mid-50s car tailfins. Dietrich took the Explorer design and rounded the edges. The most unusual aspect is that the guitar is "backward" in that the right-hand (treble) horn of the body is longer than the other. Thus, the original Firebirds were unofficially referred to as "reverse".

Brad has played his Epiphone 1963 Firebird-VII quite a lot at North Point Community Church, but he also played it when he was still with Third Day.

"Guitar wise my main guitar is still the white Epiphone LP Custom that I've had for several years. I've taken the pickguard off and dropped in classic 57s and it remains my main guitar." ~ Brad Avery

Brad shows his Epiphone Elitist 1964 Texan on the Offerings Experience DVD. That's where he tells us: "I've been told by Third Day's engineer that this is the best sounding guitar ever plugged in. It sounds really, really good. I'm pretty proud of that. It sounds great by itself, it sounds awesome by itself and the fact that it sounds good plugged in, it's a bonus." Brad played this guitar in the studio, but also live. In fact, he played it a lot during Third Day's Christmas Offerings tour.

Brad probably had the "E" emblem removed from the pickguard. Also, the inlays of Brad's Texan are reverse when you compare it to other Epiphone Elitist 1964 Texans, like this one.

North Point Community Church's version of Mumford & Sons' Believe for their series Who Needs God? Performed on August 14 at North Point Community Church with Brad Avery, former Third Day guitarist.

You can see in the Thumbnail that he is playing a natural finish Epiphone Casino

Brad has this guitar, the Epiphone Les Paul Custom Plus, in two different colors: Vintage Sunburst and Heritage Cherry Sunburst. As you can see, this is the Vintage Sunburst. These guitars are in fact the same as an Epiphone Les Paul Custom, but these guitars have a flame maple top. Brad played this guitar quite a lot when he was still with Third Day. He also mentioned in an interview with Epiphone that if he would have to go on the road on a fly show and could only take one guitar, the antique white Epiphone Les Paul Custom would definitely be going, and probably his back up, (this guitar), which is an Epiphone Les Paul Custom Plus. Brad says he can just about cover anything with these two guitars.

"I also still use my Epiphone Firebird and pull out my Epiphone G-400 when I just need to flat out rock and bark a little bit." ~ Brad Avery

Brad Avery uses the Epiphone Elitist '63 ES-335 DOT in Natural, a premium model from Epiphone's Elitist line known for its high specifications and craftsmanship. These guitars, with parts made in Japan, the USA, and Germany, are praised for their exceptional sound, tone, feel, and aesthetics. The natural finish of the guitar is particularly admired. This model is considered comparable to a Gibson ES-335 and is highlighted in a feature on the Brad Avery Fan Base site.

Brad shows this guitar on the Offerings Experience DVD and says it's a pretty new guitar (that was back in 2002) and that he's had it for about two months. Especially the guitar's beauty is mentioned by Brad on the DVD, he says it's a beauty and that it's absolutely gorgeous. The neck pick-up is a mini humbucker and the bridge pick-up is a Gibson Classic 57.

This photo was taken during North Point's Community Makeover, but Brad also played this guitar when he was still with Third Day.

Brad said in an interview with Epiphone back in 2006: "I've been using this guitar a lot lately and I am loving that thing. I used it on the new record on both singles and I've been using it live as well. It's kind of my new favorite. It's great for the power ballads. It's awesome. I get so many compliments on that guitar, not just because it's obviously visually very pretty but because it sounds great too."

You can see Brad playing this guitar in the music video for Third Day's song Cry Out to Jesus. And Brad did not only play this guitar when he was still with Third Day, you can also see Brad playing this guitar live at North Point Community Church for North Point's Easter Opener for Easter 2015.

Brad said in an interview with Epiphone this guitar was used for the acoustic tracks on Wire. This guitar earned a "Mark of Excellence Award" from Guitar One magazine. It is modeled after the Gibson J-45. Epiphone's Elitist line is some sort of "premium" line, since these guitar's are made to very high specifications. Most of the parts were made in Japan but some parts were made in other countries, including the USA and Germany. These guitars cost more than twice as much as a standard Epiphone guitar. The picture on the right is a screenshot I took from the acoustic version of Wire, which you can find on the Rockumentary on the Live Wire DVD