Gibson All American II

1992 All American II out of the Nashville Gibson factory. It took me a week to figure out what I had just bought. Assuming a Mahogany body, two out-of-phase single coils, double cutaway, cheap floyd rose style trem (which I promptly bolted down and removed the bar). Even with the stock nut, this guitar stays in tune! Bought it with an old (90's) Crate amp (60w, 2x10" Celestions, powder blue!!)paid $300 for the pair!!

Surprisingly versatile, this guitar loves a chunky blues sound (with the right amp tweaking, of course) or some bright spacey sounds. The pickups are not particularly impressive by them selves, but in the middle position, the two out-of-phase coils work like a big split humbucker, noticeably quieter than either bridge or neck settings alone. Full yet bright sound, easily altered by effects for a wide range of tones.

The pickups tend to float after a while, even rising to the point where they impede the high E string! Wineburst finish is nice, but not quite Les-like in its quality and depth. Had it professionally set up right after purchasing it used, and couldn't have been happier!

Seems dependable...I don't play out, so I can't really say for sure. Looks sturdy enough.

Not Applicable.

I play as a hobby, so I can't verify any of the On-The-Road playability factors. As a $300 investment with amp included, it was a steal. I had found it difficult to find a replacement for my '80 Grestch BST 1000 until I found this little princess. All the guitar I could ever need (but I am still shopping for a Les Paul!).

These have been covered below. Mine is an all-black All American II from 1996, made in Gibson's Nashville factory.

Two single pickups, same as a Melody Maker, strat-like trem, set neck.

I find the pickups excellent (more on them below) and the tremolo not so great. It's basically the same as in Strat, and I've nevr liked those sorts of tremolos.

I bought it second hand at a pawn shop. The people at the pawnshop thought it was a cheap guitar and disregarded the fact that it was a USA-made Gibson. I had never heard of this model, but after trying it out I was impressed by the sound and playability.

I play alternative/experimental music. My main influences are the Edge from U2 and Daniel Lanois. This guitar does a very good job for these styles.

It has a great sound, somewhere between a Fender tele and a Gibson les paul (though closer to the Les Pauls I have played). The pickups have a high output that allows them to distort easily while keeping the transparency, shimmer and bite of single pickups. As far as I am aware they have not been used in any other Gibson guitar, which is a pity, as they sound wonderful to me, not far from P90s.

The neck pickup is nice and bluesy. Not as warm as a Les paul humbucker, but in exchange you get a brighter sound that distorts pretty well and is fantastic for arpegios and mild overdrive. I have also had great success when using it for Lanois-like tremolo sounds (see Still Water, Jimmy Was for examples of the sound I mean).

The bridge pickup has a powerful sound without any shrillness or excessive treble, which is unusual for such a single pickup on that position. With some modulation delay and amp overdrive, it's great for an Achtung Baby-like guitar lead.

The middle position gives it a nice phasey sound that is hum-cancelling and is therefore even less noisy than the bridge or neck positions. It's very useful and certainly more Les Paul than Telecaster.

The action and intonation were good from the first day, and it was strung with 011-046 strings, which are the ones I usually use. The neck is solid and comfortable and the guitar is as a whole great to play.

The tuners are stable and reliable, as are the jack and all pots.

The only downside is that the pickups were a bit loose and had a tendency to move around, probably through some cost-saving measures on the part of Gibson (their promotional blurb for this model mentioned that the construction of the pickups had been one of the aspects where they had managed to save most money without compromising the sound). I took the guitar to a repair shop to get fixed (??10), and now they don't rattle anymore.

The guitar is not great aesthetically, as the plain black finish does not look very special and the standard tremolo makes it look a bit cheap. I think its "cheap look" was what allowed me to pick this guitar up for such a good price.

I think that, once the stability of the pickups has been fixed, this is a very reliable guitar, very well built.

Have not contacted Gibson, as I bought it second hand.

Belying its humble appearance, this guitar sounds great, is durable and very easy to play. It has the bonus of not being a watered-down copy of any other guitar, and actually having its own sonic identity.

1997 Gibson All American II. Double-cutaway, mahogany body, set neck, 24-fret rosewood fingerboard. Black finish. Vintage-style strat trem, single-coil pups. Master volume and tone controls and 3-way selector.

I decided to do some in-depth research on the precise effect that the shape of the body of a solid-body guitar has on its tone and to determine the manner in which its electronics either fight the instrument's tone or complement it. I had a clear idea of what sound I preferred and bought my All American II primarily because of the body shape and the trem. It was my intention from the beginning to heavily modify this guitar to test out my ideas.

On the positive side, the guitar is nice and simple. Two pickups and master volume and tone and a 3-way switch. There aren't many extras but then it doesn't need any. The fact that it's a Gibson-style guitar with a trem gives it what I was looking for. On the negative side however, the pickups and hardware are extremely cheap. The pickups aren't even standard-sized single-coils and they're screwed right to the body. The bridge is much flimsier than a vintage-style Fender bridge. None of this really mattered to me because it was all going to go.

I stripped this guitar down to nothing but the neck and body. I wanted to retain the classic Gibson aesthetic so I switched all the hardware to gold with cream pickups. It needed to be routed out more if the pickups were to be replaced so I had that done and fitted it with a pair of DiMarzio "Pro Track" humbucking single-coil replacements, which are supposed to have a PAF tone (and kinda do). The vintage trem was replaced with a gold 2-point fulcrum trem from WD and the saddles were switched out with Graph Tech String-savers. It now has a Graph Tech nut and Sperzel locking tuners as well. Lastly, I designed a pickguard for it which WD fabricated featuring their "Nebula" graphic. Very spacey, which I could get away with since the guitar is plain black.

My rating is for the guitar as it came stock. It starts one point below average for overall quality then gains one point for simplicity and one for the trem. Gibson cut a lot of corners with this guitar to make it affordable, and if considered as a stock guitar, its a failure. Granted, most of the other reviewers here got a better deal than I did, but the guitar was still too expensive and many of the parts were way too cheap. It was the set neck that tipped the scales and made me buy it.

I'm a progressive rock player (YES, Rush, etc.) and require a versatile guitar but also one with a distinctive tone for soloing. My rig is very basic: just a BOSS GX-700 preamp/processor with COSM amp modeling, a Roland FC-200 midi foot controller, an Alesis stereo 31-band EQ, a used Hafler Pro 120 stereo 60W PA power amp, and a pair of Peavey TSL112 (1-12" + horn) PA speakers. The COSM amp simulations of the GX are exceptional and allow me to custom-design my own amplifier. The patches I created for my "signature sound" simulate an amp with (1)5751 and (3)12AX7 preamp tubes and KT66 power tubes, with a large 212 cab. Medium-high gain with extra bite supplied by earlier breakup, and a warm, clear, balanced tone.

Why I chose the All American II:

My research showed that the difference between Gibson- and Fender-style guitars mainly lies in the dimensions of the guitar's "waist", the indentation between the upper and lower bouts. If a guitar is "offset" like a stratocaster, with the left side upper bout overhanging the right because the indentation is wider on that side, the guitar will have a it's primary voice in the treble. It will be "twangy", or if distortion is used, "thrashy" (an Ibanez is just a strat with a humbucker and gets its fat mids from its electronics). If the waist is symmetrical, the guitar will speak from the midrange with a vocal "aw" sound, like a Les Paul. The bass and mids resonate in the lower bout while the treble resonates in the upper, so the more freely-vibrating wood there is in the upper bout, the brighter the tone will be. Therefore, a double cutaway guitar will be brighter than a single-cutaway (assuming that more wood is added to the "horns" than if they just made it a cutaway by removing wood). This explains why Les Pauls tend to be bottom-heavy. The left-side upper bout is "complete", locking the wood in place and preventing it from vibrating as freely as it would if it were scooped out. NOTE: Any guitar can be made to have fat mids with a combination of pickups, EQ and FX. That doesn't mean the guitar's *voice* is in the midrange.

The All American II essentially behaves like a double-cutaway Les Paul, sonically speaking. It's a double cutaway guitar with a symmetrical waist. Therefore, it has the midrange voice of Paul balanced by a more clear, bright treble. The AA2 is the cheapest such guitar I could find with routing for a trem. The next cheapest was the Washburn Idol WI66V at $1000 US list, followed by the PSR Santana III at three grand.

Result:

With my modifications, the AA2 does indeed sound like a bright, baby Paul with a trem. The Pro Track pups have a touch of those "tubular" PAF mids while the dual-blade design expands both the bass and treble, making the guitar sound "bigger" and enhancing its inherent clear treble. Dual-blades are also the most powerful single-coil replacements, so the guitar drives my distortion tones nicely.

The set neck and mahogany body provide ample sustain. The result is a singing, sustaining tone with good definition. I hit the bullseye: it sounds like a cross between Boston and Brian May and looks cosmic. The double-cutaway Paul-with-a-trem is the wave of the future.

My rating is with the mods.

My All American II played okay with the factory setup but I always get my new guitars set up immediately by my friendly guitar tech. I needed the action adjusted lower. The feel of the neck is good, especially considering my smallish hands. The fretboard isn't very wide and it's quite flat - both of which are pluses.

I laughed at the pickups. I don't know if they were at their optimum height or not since it looked like they only had one height. They sounded entirely unremarkable and, as I said, weren't even the standard size, requiring me to have the body routed for my replacements. HA... gone.

Oh, and don't even try to keep this guitar in tune. Gibsons and trems have a fundamental incompatability: the strings don't pull straight through the nut and hang up there. Even using a graphite nut does not correct this problem, though it does help. The solution may be (though I haven't gotten around to trying it yet) to screw four wood screws with short threads and long shafts, one each for the A,D,G, and B strings, into the front of the headstock in a rectangle. Put them in precise locations between the machine heads and the nut for them to act as string guides, then cut the shafts off flush with the tops of the machine heads with a Dremel tool. The middle four strings now go around the shafts of these guides before going through the nut. Kind of revolutionary if you think about it, but too simple a modification to patent.

The guitar seems well-constructed and hasn't given me any real problems in the 7 years I've had it. Contoured neck joints are nice but what do you want for this price? My only complaint is the finish, which is thin and lacks clearcoats. My sweat is eating through it, especially on the back of the neck but also where my upper-right arm touches it. I am *not* an alien and this is not happening to any of my other guitars. It's a cheap finish; that's all there is to it.

Rating is for basic construction and worksmanship. Penalty for crappy pickups that required routing to replace.

As stated above, the finish isn't going to hold up well, though I've had it for 7 years and the actual wood isn't showing through it yet. The durability of the hardware is irrelevent since it was all replaced at the get-go.

Nonetheless the guitar seems solidly-constructed and reliable now that I've replaced everything. I wouldn't gig without a backup since strings do break.

Rating takes into account the fact that, like everyone else, I don't know if the body's solid or laminated and it's an inexpensive guitar to begin with, and also because I haven't subjected it to any abuse so I don't know if it'll break when dropped or not. Can't give a cheapy guitar better than an "8" in this catagory.

It's never developed any repair issues so I don't know. But this *is* Gibson we're talking about, not "Bob's Guitar Factory".

Overall? This guitar performed the function I bought it for: as a project guitar that was destined to be torn apart and put back together. The features are what sold it to me and the finish is the only exception I have with it.

It was an experiment so no, I wouldn't buy another one. I'd might go with the PRS Santana III if I had $3000. In the meantime, I'll use my '95 Fender American Deluxe Strat Plus as my main guitar and break this one out for weird, cosmic, electronic-sounding tunes. Up close, the WD "Nebula" graphic is too busy and full of glitter, but at 6 feet or more it becomes 3-dimensional and looks like a Dali-esque window into outer space.

I actually like this cheapy. Maybe someday I'll have it refinished - in black still but with much better execution.

I had a hard time finding info on this guitar considering it doesn't actually say "All American" on it, it just has the flag logo on the back and the number "II" on the head. But I finally discovered that this was a remake of the 60's Gibson Melody Makers, anyway... Previous reviews already cover the features, which I think are nice and simple, but when I bought this I was also looking at Fender Telecasters, and this was the only rival I found, the double cutaway is what sold me over the Tele.

I play either super clean or with distortion, and this guitar suits both just fine. I also strung it with flatwounds which gives a nice (almost archtop) deep sound, not to mention awesome action on the neck. The flatwounds also allow more tension so I can drop tune into the depths of C-sharp etc, without it getting all loosey goosey and out of tune.

Action is great; frets, bridge, etc are at ideal height for flying up and down the neck without any intonation problems. I bought this new back in 1994 and I've since dinged it up, but otherwise the finish has held up. I have the burgundy wineburst, which looks deceivingly less "bursty" than in photos where the light really picks up the darker almost black tones.

I've had it for ten years, and have changed strings very few times, and it has been thrown around (regretfully), but the damn thing still sounds beautiful!

Never had to deal with anyone for this guitar, never even had to have it re-set-up.

I just recorded an album with this through one of those Epiphone tube amp reissues, and it sounds great! I bought it with a Park practice amp, which also sounds great.

24 fret, black, made in the USA
Nice solid top with a 3-way selector
1 humbucker bridge pickup and 2 stacked single-coil (humbucker sound) on the neck
Passive electronics, beautiful neck, easy to slide on

The sound is nice, i play on a Peavey StudioPro 112, not the best amp but it's good. the guitar is not incredible versatile and it hums when using only bridge or only neck pickup(s)
has either rich or bright sound.

frets and wood done well, but my neck pickup is loose, still plays, but i have to tape it down

you definately need a backup, fairly dependable, would not use for a gig i don't think.

who calls guitar customer support??

i got a great deal on it, it's an intermediate level guitar, i would recommend buying it for as much as $300

Simple guitar. Nice neck shape. Great fretboard. Great feel. Easy to play (I am just beginning). I think the Gibson web site has the specs on this guitar, so I won't duplicate them here. Bought it used, a bit beat up, but I like that. Like a good baseball mitt, its broken in for me. No teethmarks, but some nice little dings and dents. Looks good in the flat black finish.

Great sound. This thing jumped right past the other guitars I tried out in the showroom. I was there to buy an American Telecaster I had on hold, but then I decided on this guitar. Has a bright treble... probably too bright for most Gibson players, but I wass shopping for a Tele and got this... that'll tell you something. Warm, rich tone out of the single pickups. I am not a Gibson humbucker fan (don't shoot me!) -- I like brightness. Some reviews call this a good blues guitar. I think it might work for old honky tonk country and even surf. I like it, like it, like it!

Looks like someone rode this pony hard at times... but respected it. Seems to be sold as a rock. Not, new, but used, so I cannot give it a 10.

Too new to tell, but see above comments. I think that it will hold up very well.

Bought from Elderly Instruments (www.elderly.com). They are great to deal with, and we are lucky to have them in our area. They found a tremelo bar for me (was missing one); talked to me about the pros and cons of buying this guitar; and let me spend time in their amp room plucking away. No "guitar store snobs" attitude with these guys... they all play and all know their stuff. Class act. They have mail order. Do not hesistate to buy from them by phone or via the web. They are that great. Never dealt with Gibson, but this guitar is a few years out of warranty, so I won't need too. The "10" rating here is for Elderly.

Playing just a year. Have a Danelectro Mod 6, Fender Nashville Deluxe Tele, Gretsch Syncromatic, and Dearmond X155. Would love to find another one to buy... heard they are discontinued? If you have one for sale, email me! (patrick@voyager.net) Love the simplicity. Guitar ready to go... sounds great through my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe Amp. Bought this over the American Telecaster I went to the store to buy! If you find it, buy it... or email me and tell me where it is so I can buy it!!

1997 All-American II. Mahogany set-in neck and body, black finish. Two single coils pickups, 3-way switch, Fender-style whammy, Gotoh tuners, 24 frets. Pretty much a newer version of the old Melody Maker. A guy loaned me a '67 Melody Maker for a few weeks 20 years ago. My fond memories of that axe led me to pull the AA off the wall at my local music store. It wasn't in my hands five minutes before I had to have it! Not much in the way of bells and whistles, just a well-made, basic guitar.

The single coils remind me of P-90s. They definitely have more bite than Fender single coils. The pickup are reverse-wound/reverse polarity, and selecting both gives you a quasi-humbucker sound. I'm putting the guitar through a Zoom 505II into a Hot Rod Deluxe, which gives me all the sounds I need. I use all three switch settings; the amp Drive and More Drive; and the Zoom OD and Led Zep patches for my distortion settings. The AA II sounds great clean or crunchy. I've noticed some noise in certain settings, but no more than I've experienced with single coils in the past.

I bought the guitar used. Judging by the looks of it, the previous owner didn't take the greatest care of it--little dents here and there, and I doubt he ever put a polishing cloth to it. But the axe is rock-solid, the electronics switch cleanly, and the neck is straight as can be. When I got the guitar, it had light strings and really low action. I figured I'd put on my customary .11-.50 Boomers and raise the action a bit. After putting my strings on and trying out the feel, I decided to leave the string height where it was. No buzzing, no dead spots, and ultra-fast! Pickup height seemed fine, I didn't touch that at all. The black finish doesn't let you know whether or not the body is laminate, but judging from the lightness, I don't think so. My guess is 2 or 3-piece mahagony. I tinkered with the whammy, tightening up the claw and putting an additional spring on (now there are four). I can lean on the thing and snap right back in tune, with the exception of the G-string, which goes a hair sharp. A little graphite will fix that up.

This guitar seems light as a feather, but that's deceiving. It's a tank! I have, and will, play this without a backup. The finish isn't the prettiest, and being black, shows every smudge in sharp relief. When my wife pointed out the appearance of the guitar to me, I said, "Honey, this isn't a showpiece....this is a working musician's guitar!"

Used, never dealt with Gibson.

I've been playing for 22 years. This is the second Gibson I've bought...the last one was a 1961 Les Paul in 1981 (I still have it). Gibson guitars inspire wide debate on this site, but I've been fortunate with ones I have It's a long stretch from 1961 to 1997, but my two Gibsons share many qualities. They both are well-made guitars built to last.

1996, solid mahogany neck and slab body, ebony finish, fender style tremelo, two single coil pickups, three-way toggle switch, 24 fret 24 3/4 scale Les Paul feeling set neck, rosewood fingerboard with pearl dots, double melody-maker style cutaway. I give it a 7 only because there's not much to it.

I play through a modified Blues Jr. and play mostly bluesy-jazzy mellow lounge mixed with Tex-Mex. The pickups have a somewhat high output, more than my Strat, but they sem somewhat quieter. I like the middle position with both pickups, besides being quieter I find it's a cool rockabilly type tone. The bridge alone I use for country, tele-like tones. The neck pikup alone is good for leads but I dont find it warm enough for jazzy tones, probably due to the 24 frets causing it to be set further towards the bridge

I picked this up used. After a good polishing the nitro finish is shiny but there are alot of small scratches. The fret work is very good and I love the feel of the neck, nice and substantial. The elctronics could use a reworking though, as the switch works intermittently and the neck pickup cuts out if you adjust it too low. Minor easily fixed stuff.

I've owned Gibsons in the past and I imagine this would hold up and would be reliable after I fix the switching.

Don't know. I never dealt with any guitar company

I've been playing over 20 years and have owned Gibsons, Fenders, PRS, Kramer, Robin (my favorite, sadly I sold it, oh well), Heritage, you name it. I usually lean towards Fender style guitars. If this was lost or stolen I probably wouldn't replace it only because my tastes change daily. I like the simplicity of this guitar as well as it's unique tone. It's a nice alternative to a Les Paul while still having a similar feel. Overall I'm very satisfied with it.

Nicely appointed, 3 piece mahogany body, two single coil pups, fender style 5 spring vibrato bridge, glued in set mahogany neck with 24 fret 2 octave rosewood fretboard, medium jumbo frets & dot inlays. double cutaway, wine red /black sunburst, small Melody Maker type horns, extremely light (7 lbs), Gotoh sealed Tuners

It has a Gibson sound but much thinner due to the pickups and the Vibrato cavity. But not a bad sound, a nice cross between the typical Gibson meatiness and the airy Strat sound. Just do not expect to go back & forth with a Les Paul or SG without experiencing major tonal shock (much like switching between a Gibson and a strat). Acoustically it's very nice, loud and resonant, evenly responsive with no dead spots. I prefer the neck pickup and both sound best through my smaller, Jensen equipped vintage amp rather than modern Marshally scereamers.

I bought it used, but the set up (action, intonation) was fine. The neck has a nice medium fat feel, standard Gibson 1 11/16th nut width, 12 degree radius and generous string spacing.
when it stays in tune (see below) it sounds and feels great.

It looks just a hair cheaper than my Les Paul Junior but far more acceptable overall than a cheesy import. My one complaint - and it's a BIGGIE: the damn thing won't stay in tune 50% of the time. I am still experimenting with Nut lubrication, removing Vibrato springs, etc. The problem does not always occur; when the guitar is behaving it is a gas to play. When it is not, though, I want to do a Townshend and turn it into kindling. It does not matter if you lay off the whammy or not, there are simply days it will NOT stay in tune no matter what! Other days I beat the hell out of it for hours and it's steady like a rock. Go figure.....

N/A

Been playing over 25 years and LOVE Jrs, so this neck with it's identical feel and 24.75 scale is great to use with Fender style pickups and Vibrato. I much prefer this to other attempts I've made to bridge the dreaded Fender/Gibson gap (eg, playing a Mahogany bodied fender style, putting Humbuckers on a strat etc) as my primary preference is the Neck width and scale of the Gibson. I would definitely recommend one if you have the paitience to stabilize the tuning problems. I do not think I'd buy one again, though as I had heard of its tuning woes before buying mine; with a new HSC I have laid out about $550.00 so I will probably keep it as I would lose money at this point. It gets a thumb's up but proceed with caution!

I have had my black AA2 for about 3 years, and I've had it since new.
Very simple, all mahogany, with an OK finish. I've seen better and I've seen worse. 2 single coil pickups , which I love. They are hot. Not so much like a strat, but a P90. Even though its features are simple, I love its very simplicity. It works in a live situation.

The pickups, scream and pur. I use it as my slide guitar for about 4 songs in our set. In sound quality, it sits very comfortable among my Strat, ES-335, PRS Custom 24 and Les Paul. If it didn't sound great it wouldn't make the cut.

It goes throgh my Mesa V-Twin and onto the Fender Bassman. The 3 settings all work very well. It's a very gutsy, bluesy sound. It rips through "Bad to the Bone" material.

There is nothing I dislike about the sound. Even when I was given orders to "sell one" by my wife, this one stayed.

I really like the neck. It is very easy to play and not disimilar to an SG feel. As I play it for slide, I have the action elevated and have strung it with 13 to 56's. The access to all 24 frets is very good. Comparable to my PRS.

It's well out together, and lasting very well.

The finish is not Les Paul/PRS standard, but for a cheap working guitar, I won't mark it down too badly.

A great live guitar. I have been playing for 30 years since I was 13 and have gone through a few guitars. The AA2 is not a rugged as a Strat, but pretty close.

The hardware and pickup look like they will go the distance. I wouldn't be surprised (nor worried) if the paint fell off in a few decades.

I take it to every gig, not only s my 4-song slider, but as a great sounding backup if one on my main guitars stops.

I have only inquired of Gibson in realtion to my Les Paul, ad the response was accurate and relatively fast. I would hope not to need calling them with a problem, unless it is a spare part.

As a veteran of 30 years who still loves playing, I seem to collect more guitars than I sell. The AA2 will never hang on the wall next to my other beauties, but I will never sell it either. It's got a great sound, it's as tough as a Gibson can get, and I love it.

If it were stolen, I probably wouldn't get it again, because I would have a tough time finding one. It has been discontinued by Gibson. I guess it didn't sell. Shame as it's a great guitar for the money.

I love it's simplicity and tone (OK, I like its looks too). There is nothing I would add to it. I had toyed with the idea of replacing the p/u's with P-90's, but that was only a whim.

Very simple guitar...mahogany body and neck, based on the old Melody Maker design, but with 24 frets and a much smoother joint to the body. The pickups and electronics consist of one volume, one tone, and two single-coils with exposed (but fixed) polepieces, the neck being reverse wound-reverse polarity for hum-cancelling in the middle position (standard three-way toggle pickup selector). Has a vintage Fender Stratocaster-style tremolo bridge. I bought this one used in a pawn shop, and I got only the guitar itself...no case, or whammy bar (a Fender replacement bar screws right in, however). Nice, clean, and simple...very similar to a Telecaster in that respect.

The tone and sound of these pickups is remarkable. I'm a professional player, and live I need to cover everything from country to hard rock, usually in the same set, and this guitar had no problems doing that. The pickups were much meatier than the usual stock Fender single-coil pups, and must have been very well wax-potted...I had no problem whatsoever with microphonics in high-gain applications. The hum-cancelling feature in the middle position is nice, but for single-coils, these are surprisingly quiet pups. I'm surprised Gibson hasn't used them on more models. It's not an overly-bright guitar (due in some part, I suspect, to the mahogany body), but it's certainly not muddy like some of its humbucker-equipped brethren. It lacks the spank of a Tele, but it can get punchy if you pick it right. At the time I owned mine, I ran it through a Fender Blues Deluxe amp, with an overdrive pedal between the guitar and the amp's input (everything else ran through an effects loop, so that's not really an issue). Through long cables, the guitar retained its tone and output pretty well. The Blues Deluxe was a very bright amp, and seemed to compliment this guitar very, very well.

Here's where I encountered the guitars only real problems. Starting with the trem, which may not be fair, as all of these types of trems have tuning problems...it's essentially useless UNLESS...and here's a cool trick you'll thank me for...you get this Teflon-based lubricant from Radio Shack and apply it liberally to the nut (it comes in what looks like an ink-pen). No more tuning problems! The biggest problem (and the one that ultimately led to me selling off the guitar) is the cheapish fretboard. The neck was nice and straight (a bit chunky, like an Explorer), the frets were fine, but the fingerboard's edges started to spread out with time and sweat, making the fretboard edges very uncomfortable. This guitar would have been perfect if Gibson had payed more attention to the fretboard's edges...they started out way to squared-off for me, and when they began to expand, it was a nightmare...I loved everything else about this guitar. The only other thing that was a bit annoying was the balance when it was strapped on...it tended to be a bit neck-heavy. No big deal, really. As far as the finish and hardware, all were excellent (mine was solid black...not too thick of a finish, which is good in my opinion...lets the guitar resonate a bit more). This guitar had a nice ringing tone unplugged, and sustained very nicely. In spite of the fretboard edges, the action was very nice...tight with no buzz-out when bending.

I used to use this guitar without a backup. Everything about it stood up just fine to live playing, with the exception of the fretboard. Keep in mind, this was with heavy gigging, but it only took two months before the fretboard edges started going. For a semi-pro player or used as a backup, I believe it'd be fine...that, or maybe have a professional hand-roll the fretboard edges and apply some kind of sealant. The finish took a lot of abuse in great stride, never rubbing off or dulling, and the trem springs never started to sag.

The last time I dealt with Gibson's customer support was back in the Norlin Industries days (early '80s), and they were always very helpful. I honestly can't say what they're like now, I haven't even heard from others.

I've been playing for 20+ years, and have owned several Gibsons. This one overall seemed to live up to the name, with (you guessed it!) the exception of the fretboard edges. I've always been impressed with Gibson's practical use of technology (RWRP neck pup, useful tone/volume knob configuration/wiring, set-necks, tilt headstocks, comfortable shape), and in most respects, this guitar lives up to that. Bottom line, these WERE cheapos to begin with, and go for even less used. Overall, well worth the money, especially as a beginner's axe or a standby/second for a pro. A US-made guitar with these features and the Gibson name for $200 is a pretty good deal. These seem like a Fender-y guitar for a Gibson-enthusiast, which is fine.

This has been covered here in other submissions. I don't know if the mahogany body is laminated or not: mine is black. Not sure how much this would affect the sound of the guitar anyways. Mine is a '96, which makes it NOS. The point of this guitar is too keep things simple, so features are light, and that is ok.

As a Les Paul player, the clean and punchy bass response on the neck pickup is a revelation. However the bridge pickup is very tinny and I'm not sure how useful it will be. There is some noise, but it is not bad. The middle pickup selection is very nice. Basically, this is a great sounding guitar to play clean. It lacks punch in dirty mode, and really you would want to be playing something else if you're hard driving.
The whammy bar is a bit gimmicky as it tends to send it out of tune too easily and only bends one way. I took mine off to remove the temptation... ;)

Action was good except the middle strings were set too high, producing uneven volume from the pickups. I have yet to fix this as I can't work out how to adjust the saddles on the "vibrola" bridge. The neck was the main reason I bought this. It feels like a good quality guitar, not an el-cheapo Korean job.
The tuners are awesome, even better than my Les Paul Std.

Not really an issue. It's not so beautiful that one would cry if it got a bit beat up, and that's the best part. Dunno how well it will stay in tune if thrashed, or if whammy is used (at all?)

Not dealt with Gibson.

The guitar fulfills my need for a cheaper, lighter (although not by much), and different sounding guitar to compliment the Les Paul. I am contemplating changing the pickup(s). The main key for me was the fact that it feels like a solid performer, that plays well, for a minimal cost. Plus, it's a Gibson.

This is an all American made Gibson made in their Nashville factory. It has 24 frets. 24 3/4 " scale length. All mahogony body and neck. Rosewood fingerboard with dot inlays. Grover chrome tuners. Chrome vibrola tailpiece with whamy bar. Two single coil pickups. volume,tone, three way selector. It is designed after the Melody Maker of the 1960's. It has a beatuiful wine colored finish. This guitar is part of Gibson's All American series. The goal of this series by Gibson is to provide a quality All USA guitar for under $1000. In my opinion, Gibson did not market this guitar very well and because it is single coil equipt rather than humbuckers, this guitar did not sell well and for 1998 it is being discontinued. The way they saved money on manufacturing this model is by reducing the number of expensive components in the pickups, without reducing the quality of sound. In my opinion they succeeded. The single coils on this guitar are hotter than on my vintage Fender. If you run both pickups at the same time ( the middle position), they act just like a single humbucker, because of the hum cancelling effect of running two single coils in this manner.

I am primarily a blues and classic rock player, with some interest in alternative styles. I have been playing for 33 years. I am currently in a studio band, creating original music. My amps are a pair of Fender Pro Juniors run in stereo. I use a Zoom 1010, a ts-5 Tubescreamer, a Boss digital delay pitch shifter and sometimes a Big Muff. This guitar is remarkable for blues. It also has that fat Gibson sound, even with the single coils. I can cover Led Zep very nicely with it. It is unlike other Gibson solid bodies in that it is truly versitile. You can go from Sparkling clean to slightly distorted to grunge all with a little tweaking. This is not a one trick pony like the Les Paul, in this respect it is more like a Fender, but it still retains the classic Gibson sound. It does have a slight bit of that single coil noise, but it is less noticeable than the hum on my Fender (1981 bullet S3).

The store where I bought the guitar does the final setup, therefore I cannot comment on Gibson's settup. There are some small blemishes in the finish where the fingerboard meets the body. There are no problems in playability or sound.

I also have an Epiphone Les Paul Junior. Allthough that guitar sounds great with it's P-90 pickup. A quick comparsion of build quality and material content to the All American II makes it obvious that the Gibson is going to last a lifetime. It is very solid!

I like the Gibson website but have not dealt with them.

Folks, this guitar is an incredible value. It has all of the quality and sound of a Gibson plus the versatility of a Fender. On top of that because they are being discontinued, you can buy them cheap. If you can find one buy it!! I plan on holding on to mine for a lifetime and for me that is unusual because I trade often to get the sound I want. I waited patiently for 2 months to save the cash to buy this guitar I would buy it again indeed!

This Guitar is All U.S.A. Its got 24 jumbo frets. 1 volume 1 tone knobs and 3 way pick up selector. It gots 2 single-coil pickups. The guitar is solid Mahogany witha rosewood fingerboard. This guitar is black also available in wine red. Its a double cutaway and resembles a little bit like an SG. Its wammybar eqiuped so its got a vibrola tail piece. Its got Grover chrome tuners. The neck is on the Phat side like a Les Paul.

I like to play rock, Metal yada yada. At home i just use a fender champ110. It has a bright bluesy sound but it ain made for bangin on. Whatch your treble though it can get high soundin if gain is on high. it gives a nice clea sparklein sound. Its decent souning

Factory set up the guitar is ok. The finish has some flaws and it scratches real easy.The knobs are nice and smooth and the selector doesnt make noises while switchin.

The hardwear will last definitlly come on its a gibson! The finish is ok. The strap buttons are real solid. I depened on it but if ever get on stage i would really consiter a back up!

Ive been playin it for 2 years and if it got stolen or messed up bad i wouldnt buy it again. Id buy somthing more for my needs.