In 1975 I put my Gibson L-5 away and bought a second-hand Gibson Hummingbird, the second-in-command of the Gibson dreadnought line (the Dove being the flagship). I still have it and it is probably the prettiest guitar on the planet.
Up until the Hummingbird debuted in 1960 all Gibson guitars were round-shouldered. The square design was to copy the Martin dreadnoughts which were the folk standard at the time. The Hummingbird has mahogany back and sides, a decorative pickguard with a hummingbird dipping into a flower and mother-of-pearl fretboard and headstock inlays. The top is spruce (naturally) and the fingerboard is rosewood. The standard finish is cherry sunburst, although some natural finish models were produced.
The Gibson Hummingbird was winner of Acoustic Guitar’s Player’s Choice Award for the Dreadnought Category in 2000, and was described thus: “The Hummingbird has a very wide range of sound, from gutsy and loud, to sweet and soft. Superb for all styles of playing, whether just chording or playing intricate solo’s.”
As for me, it was a great companion on the road and I even took it to Fiji and Australia. Right now it’s hanging on my wall - not as an ornament, because I do play it - because I love looking at it.