Gibson Les Paul Melody Maker

P-90 is great. wood on mine is toneful. helps looks to put on a LPJ pick guard. Should have a one piece bridge like my 56 LPJ but in my old age gotta say the schaeler tuneo matic makes life simpler[my car is still not an automatic but maybe next time....]

It really does sound great. ends the hunt for ridiculously priced vintage single p-90 guitars;period. tube amps of all styles/sizes//tone and volume contols give huge flexability. I always come back to one of my good vintage teles but u know this is way more versatile and it does have lots of character...like a GOOD 50's Junior...friendly guitar//loveable

Action, Fit,fabulous....finish is the cheap unfilled grain style 2 keep price point. who gives a shit! fair deal.reminds me of all the stripped juniors i owned...

solid[the new mahogany gibson uses benifits sgs and other thin guitars and kills the thick ones....its heavier and the MM is as heavy as a 50's junior and u can't whip the neck around with a sideways glance like on an early 60's sg...strong..

who cares,i'm not an accountant...why would i ask a big corporation to help me....if it breaks u fix it or take it to the cool repair guy. is this news???

i'm about 60 and i learned my 3 chords when i was 10.if i had kept all the gear i have owned bill gates would be trying to have lunch with me. this guitar is a steal. the deal has come full circle.after the beatles hit america they cut down all the trees to make guitars and it wasn't until the last 10 years or so that u could get away with a new guitar.makes me laugh to see 70's gibsons and fenders being fought over on the vintage market[martins too] all u young guys should beware:"old" is not necesarily good and u can't afford pre beatles[1964] pieces. and watch out for all the fender/gibson hype stuff in the show rooms...overwhelmingly dead junk.talk to old guys; show an interest and have them let u play some "good" guitars...get the feel of how the majic works and u will be able to avoid the expensive junk. good luck.

Mine is a 59 re-issue made in 2007. Basic satin white with one single coil pickup at the neck, a volume knob, and tone knob. Les Paul body shape with a weight less than my AM STD Strat. Simple Gibson Kluson style tuners and a tailpiece which doubles as a bridge. Neck is somewhat on that fat side, but by no means uncomfortable to play. I give a 9 only because sometimes less is more.

I am very impressed with the sound of the single coil pickup. It sounds nothing like my Strat, but rather has a definite Gibson sound to it. Imagine a humbucker sound without the humbucking capability. Of course any single coil is a great noise antenna under certain conditions, and this is no exception. But again not so bad, and very usable.

OK, its basically a higher end starter electric. No frills, just meat. I personally had to perform a proper fret level, dress and setup. After doing this, it pays as easily as any of my other guitars which also include higher end Gibsons and Fenders and...
The body and neck are constructed of multi-piece mahogany and the fret board is rosewood. Again, your basic Gibson makeup.
The finish is very basic also with no wood filler and no high gloss lacquer. Simply white paint and a few shots of mat lacquer for the final layers. I give it a 9 here simply because it plays great after the proper fret-leveling and dressing. The frets are the same height and width as my other higher end Les Pauls as well.

The unit is built to last. Everything is solid and with proper care and normal maintenance, should last most people a lifetime.

I have never had used Gibson customer support in my 38 years playing.

I have been playing for 38 years, non-professional. I have or own many Gibson, Fender, Electra, Guild, and bla-bla-bla over the years. This guitar is just one of more than I can remember now.
It's a great guitar to simply pickup and start playing when you get an idea, or just need that five minute stress vent. Stays in tune and doesn't let you down.
There is really nothing I don't like about it. It forces you to play well as there is really not any bells and whistles to dick around with.
And finally, the price is right!

Features??!! We don't need no stinking features! A mahogany slab,one p-90, one volume pot, one tone pot. Done. I do have to say that I was looking for a JR with the wraparound tailpiece but I'm very glad I ended up with the tune-o-matic-stopbar combo. Very stable and allows me to thrash with confidence.

Barks like a junkyard dog. Sings like an angel

Solid simple git. The dude I bought it from put on a LP JR type pickguard and he did a nice job so it looks really gear. It was also perfectly set up. I like the satin red finish. It looks old skool and inspires me to play the **** out of it without worry.

It's a Gibby. I could beat you with it and not miss a lick. Oh yeah, put on strap locks! DUH!

Umm.. I bought it used off the net?

Suits me well. Very sensitive to pick attack and the p-90 gives me wood.
I play mostly angry white guy stuff and this git gives an excellent voice to my words. If you can find one of these, buy one.

Just the right amount. Mahogany body, P-90 in bridge, tone and volume, cedar neck, IMO awesome headstock. I sold it a while ago but I'm in the market looking for another. Hit me up on the harmony central forums if you want to sell yours! My username is Occupied By Tim

Perfect for punk. You can easily dial in the famous Green Day sound on the Warning record, also some sounds from The Briefs. Great stuff. I sold it a while ago but I'm in the market looking for another. Hit me up on the harmony central forums if you want to sell yours! My username is Occupied By Tim

Terrible out of the factory but easily fixed. I sold it a while ago but I'm in the market looking for another. Hit me up on the harmony central forums if you want to sell yours! My username is Occupied By Tim

I'd get some straplocks, and watch out for the headstock. I sold it a while ago but I'm in the market looking for another. Hit me up on the harmony central forums if you want to sell yours! My username is Occupied By Tim

Great for Surf, Punk, Classic Rock, and even blues. I sold it a while ago but I'm in the market looking for another. Hit me up on the harmony central forums if you want to sell yours! My username is Occupied By Tim

Everythings been listed before.
Slim 60's neck
Padded Gibson Gigbag with Tool for trussrod adjustment.
Mine was made in Nashville Oct 5th in 2006 s/n 027860507 and was the 7th guitar built that day if all Gibsons info is to be believed.
This guitar is very limited in it's features.

Ok now to the good bit...This guitar unplugged sounds very good.
Stick a wire into it and away we go...straight to punk rock city. yeah it's noisy in a room full of electric gear..remember it's using a 50's designed pickup, and wow what a pickup..bloody love that P90.
Yeah you can squeeze out some differing tones, but for me it's vol on 10 and tone gets rolled from 7-10.
I like the sound alot.

This guitar was bought new and came via mailorder.
I was expecting some setup work and all i had to do were a few minor bridge saddle adjustments and now she's perfect.
For a budget Gibbo i was really surprised, everything has been put together very well and neatly (well there ain't even a pickguard)
The finish is one of the many price savers on this guitar...so what!

As far as i can see this will be around for a very long time, the finish will wear to bare wood, the strap buttons need changing cos they're far too small.
Yeah gig with this..no real need for a backup...what yer expecting? the neck to fall off!!
I don't just depend on this guitar..i need it.

Limited lifetime warranty.

I've been playing for 25+ yrs
I own lots of guitars.
If i could buy this guitar again i would but it's been discontinued as of this year.
I Love the sound, it also plays very well..not brilliant but very well indeed. It is gonna look like a a beaten bag of crap in 20yrs, but it'll still be sounding great and playing well. It's kinda like a cross between a Melody Maker and a Junior.
It's the Punk in Rock it's the Guts in Blood n Guts.
It's raw and i love my little 'yeller peril'

One P 90, one volume, 1 tone. Mahogany body, set cedar neck, 22 frets, skinny headstock, Gibson deluxe tuners. Simple, simple, simple. For me, this is bliss. For others it may be too limiting, so no rating in this category.

Biting, vintage blues tone for days. Cleans up well, darkens up nicely with the tone knob, and doesn't get muddy as long as you use the volume knob at the same time. Someone below said that the wiring makes the tone and volume knobs work differently than on most guitars - it's true. The tone knob is almost like another volume knob. When both are full-on, it really screams. With the volume on 8 and the tone on 7, it rings like a bell. If you like P 90s, this one is a shining example of that sound (and the noise that comes along with it, by the way).

Pretty stripped-down. I'm guessing it's a nitro finish, no gloss to speak of. I think it's awesome, and it gets kind of shiny where you touch it most often - the lower bass-side bout and the back of the neck. It's not for everyone, that's for sure, but it never needs polishing and it should start to look older than it is in a couple of years.

As simple as it is, it should be very reliable. Oh, and it weighs MAYBE six pounds - lightest solidbody I've ever played. Good tune-o-matic bridge and stop tail, unlike the wraparound of the Juniors. I like the ability to fine tune the intonation.

n/a

I'm an old hand at this stuff, but I'm not virtuoso or anything. I chose this because I like simplicity and wanted a lighter guitar. I love P90s, so this was an easy purchase. (US-made Gibson for $400? Are you kidding?) Besides, I wanted to sort of challenge myself to get good tone from as simple a set-up as possible. This guitar with a tube amp can be all you really need, if you're playing blues or classic rock. From Leslie West to Green Day, this will cover all your bases, and I'm finsing out that it'd quite capable of Telecaster-type clean tones as well. Spend some time with it and it will become a favorite in your arsenal.

Features? Sure, just not the conventional "features," like four knobs, two switches, three pickups, coil-splitters, "no-load" tone control, fancy inlays, multi-radius fretboard and a finicky high-gloss finish. Instead, it has these features: an amazing-sounding P-90 pickup, a tune-o-matic bridge and a stop tailpiece, a bone nut, and vintage Gibson deluxe tuners. Made in USA.

For those who believe that an unplugged electric will reveal its potential for tone, this will amaze you. "Resonant" just doesn't do it justice; the thing just rings. Plugged in, you've got all the tonal possibilities you could ask for, as long as you're willing to use the volume and tone knobs in conjunction with each other. The easy part is getting the famous blues grit tone. Just dime both knobs and turn up your tube amp and you're there. But lower the volume knob and finesse the tone and you can get all the clean shimmer you'll ever need. Drop the tone even further and you're in jazz territory, especially with an amp that has some clean headroom. Do you need two pickups? Well, they can certainly make life easier, but the short answer is "no." You only NEED one P-90, some good ears and a little sensitivity to pick attack.

I like the look, personally. For all the complaints I've made about Gibson (don't get me started about the downright shoddy construction of the faded double-cut), this one came in great shape. Finished frets, great action, a neck with proper relief, and solid intonation. I screwed the stop tailpiece down a little. strung it with D'Addarios, and the rest was right. Either the shop did a nice set-up, or Gibson is hiring better QC people. I like the satin finish - it's nice to not worry about fingerprints - but it's a real plain Jane guitar whose appearance probably isn't for everybody. Makes me want to smack it around a little.

Seems pretty darn solid. Not much to it, with no switches and only two knobs. Thin body and a thin finish. Me likes.

Who knows?

I've jettisoned every other guitar in my collection. This one is the keeper, although it wasn't intended to be. I can't explain it; maybe it's the LP Junior vibe, maybe it's that I'm just too stupid for all the other guitars' bells and whistles. After playing for 30+ years, I've finally gotten to the point where I just don't give a damn about what a guitar looks like, how it's marketed, or which pro plays it. Give me reliability and a solid tone foundation, and let me figure out the rest. The guitar isn't going to make up for my deficiencies as a player anyway, so I might as well just get the sound I like. I like the P-90 sound the best, whether for classic rock, blues, or just clean through a Twin Reverb. The only other guitar that comes close is a Tele, but the bidge pickup is too bright, I don't like bolt-on necks, and after spending some time with this MM, I've come to view dual pickups with disdain. I could probably buy something that costs three times as much as this little plank, and not like it nearly as much as I love this one. Who knew? Gibson's best kept secret, period.

I picked up one of these so-called "entry level" Gibson Melody Makers and I absolutely love it. Mine is an '03 model in the faded yellow finish. Love the paint job on this thing. Makes me think of a house in need of a new paint job after a good twenty years of weathering. And I mean that in a good way. The previous owner (I bought this one "used") took the liberty of attaching a Les Paul Junior pickguard to it and it looks fabulous. I have never been particularly fond of how this guitar looks in pictures in catalogs or online, but when I saw this baby at the store I felt an instant attraction. Had to come home with her. No regrets either. Gibson's site says the neck is cedar, which is an interesting choice. Works well judging from the tone this thing produces. One volume and one tone. No frills, but again what a good tone it has, and what a beautiful vibe.

I have dubbed this guitar as my "P-90 Solution". I have been on the search for the perfect P-90 guitar and even considered retrofitting one of my other guitars with P-90's, but now my search is over. This thing sounds awesome. I'm usually a humbucker sort of guy, and I generally prefer a medium output pup. I usually hate single-coils (although I have a nice American Roadhouse Strat just in case). But I really dig P-90's for that happy middle ground between the two extremes. The P-90 on this is spot on for what a P-90 should sound like. Not too bright, not too dark. Just right. Just a tad bit of coil hum on high gain settings but it is well worth it. And it only has the one P-90 in the bridge position. No neck P.U. but I don't miss it with all of the tone I am getting from the one P.U. it does have. And the volume and tone knobs on this guitar are very nicely voiced and taper very well. Better than my nice Gibson Les Paul Classic actually. Go figure. Overall this guitar has excellent tone for dirt and overdrive tones as well as lead tones. For clean sounds I just use an overdrive tone and roll the volume knob back. It cleans up darn near perfectly. Love it!

This thing plays very well actually. I usually don't like paint finishes on my necks, but the worn out feel of the paint on this neck feels almost like raw wood and I feel right at home with it. Mine has the 60's slim taper cut and it is a very fast playing neck. I have .010-.046's on it and the intonation is easy to set. Action is low and I only have a minor amount of buzzing on the D-string on a couple of frets when I really pound on the strings. Playing speed stuff seems easy enough and so do string bends. It sings and has excellent sustain and depth of tone, way more than it would appear.

Not much to wear out on this thing since it is so simplistic. Less is more sometimes.

You have to love a company that actually has a 24-7-365 customer service hotline that is toll free. I've talked to a couple of different guys in customer service and they were both very helpful, informed, and kind.

This is perhaps Gibson's best kept secret of a guitar. It has its own vibe and definitely has a retro feel and look to it, but it is very well crafted and easy to love. I am so glad I bought it. It is one of the funnest guitars to play in my collection. Wow!

They've all been listed before. P-90 pick-up is the reall stand-out feature. Totally no frills. Would I use a second pickup? Probably not! Great neck action also.

What power! For my blues and rock, I can't think of a better sound. Better for lead than rhythm, in my opinion. Not what I would call versatile, but what it does, it does brilliantly.

Action was great out of the box - don't know if guy I bought it from set it up, but it was just the way I like it. Wood looks like it would dent easily and finish is spartan and designed to age, I believe. If you want to sit and polish a guitar, I suggest you look elsewhere. IF you want to play, choose this one

I play it live no problem. There is nothing to go wrong. It looks and feels fragile, but withstands me playing at being a a Hendrixesque guitar hero! I always have a backup, because I have a guitar open tuned for slide work. If I did it for a living, I would probably take along more guitars!!

Got it via Ebay, so no warranty. Haven't a clue, basically

My only gripe is that the pickup is a bit noisy and prone to squealing when I am forced right on top of my amp in a confined space. I wonder if it is hot waxed and whether I should start melting candles. I am a bit of a tart and tend to change guitars like some people change their underpants - several times a year, but I have come back to this one after putting it down for a strat and I think I will hang on to it - might even get another one if the price was right.

you can check it at www.gibson.com or read the other reviews...

i bought this guitar because i needed a simple and lightweighted axe. i have an ibanez rg320 but it was a little bit heavy to me.
i had an epi Lp100 as well but it went always out of tune so i thought i give a try with the melody maker.
the other reason was, that a lots of people wrote really good reviews on it.

when i bought it i knew that i have to change the pick up... with the original p90 it sounds like shit for me. it's okay for some blues and other light distorted styles but i need gain and this pick up is very weak and noisy for it.
i cannot understand those folks who wrote that this guitar can be used by death metal bands...
i'm gonna upgrade the pick up to a seymour distortion. i think it will rock.
so i don't recommend this guitar to metalheads. really not!

the action was high and the strings too heavy for me (.010). i'm gonna change them to elixir.

i didn't played live on it but i think it will stay in tune well.

gibson wrote me back several times so they are okay.