Gibson Marauder

76/5made in usa its got 2 volume nobs and its got a rythm and a tone nob that looked like it came off of a washing machine

i have absolutely no dislikes for this guitars sound it sounds awesome but it really depends on what kind of music you like if you like punkish skate music its the perfect guitar i really like how it blends the sound together

everything on my guitar was tight and ready to rock and roll nothing was loose everythind was perfect on the guitarthe wood has got one minor flaw but its on the back and its not that noticable and i am getting it painted cause i dont really like the wood finish i think they look good wine red or maroon

very durable and very reliable i wouldnt use it in a concert with out a different guitar for different sound

the company is great one of the guys there was very helpfull to me and helped me find one

i give it a 10 because its a kick ass guitar and the perfect guitar for me and i like it better than my sg and my les paul and my zakk wyled les paul custom its a hard rockin machine

1976 Marauder made in USA. 22 Frets. Solid body, don't know what kind of wood-a soft honey colored wood. I say soft because it has a lot of dings and dents in it. I think the neck is maple, rosewood fingerboard. White pick guard. All original parts! I'm getting ready to have it restored. Solid as a rock, the neck is still perfectly straight! No frills with one humbucker and one weird looking green single coil at the bridge-but it sounds great.

Sounds great but I haven't taken that great of care of it so the pots are scratchy and the pickup loose. When it was new it sounded like a dream and it will again once it is cleaned up. Each pickup gives a really distinct sound so it's great for most all types of music.

Finish is just about worn off and i use a lemon oil to clean and preserve the wood. As i mentioned above the wood is soft so it has a lot of dings and dents. Pickups have come loose but, hey, 26 years! The action is perfect. I think the neck is the best neck i have used on a guitar. It is put together very well-no glue spots or anything.

I've had it for 26 years and admittedly not taken great care of it and it still kicks butt. What more can I say.

Gibson has great customer support but not with the Marauder. They said I couldn't get parts and they didn't even seem to know much about it. What the hell? It is a great guitar- and it will be a classic and I am so glad I have one because soon they will be hard to find. All this reissue of old LesPauls is a sign and soon the Marauder reissue will come.

I can't wait to have it restored and see how it does. I will let you all know how it turns out.

1978 Gibson Maruader, translucent wine red finish. Mahogany body, maple neck, rosewood fretboard with 22 fat frets. Fat bridge with stopbar, gibson deluxe keys with a nut that's been beat to hell. One humbucker, one single with 1 volume and tone.

I hear a lot of people whining about how you can't play metal on this thing. I say, you're not doing it right. If you want a bunch of pointless drop-d chords played by some bozo who doesn't know what he's doing, yeah, it sounds bad. But if you play anything from the first three Metallica albums on this guitar, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. The humbucker has so much power, I think I could play the riff for 'Electric Funeral' for two hours. It's a little dirty, but it's a neck pickup. What do you want?
The bridge pickup is a bright little single coil that reminds me so much of my stratocaster that I have to smile. It doesn't sound weak and tinny, it sounds sad and if you pick lightly, the high E has a great natural reverb. If you play them at the same time, you've gone to blues heaven. I have a rotary blender to switch, and that's great! If I lean towards the bridge I can finally get that Jimmy Page sound.
(Try playing this thing through a marshall AVT or a gibson goldtone)

I got it from a rack in a music store and knew it was old. (Not in a bad way either). The back of the maple neck looks kinda yellow. But, it's got the original pickups, bridge and everything. I wouldn't have it any other way! When I first got it and automatically compared it to my les paul, I thought of getting a new humbucker at the bridge, and an ABR-1 at that matter, but when I learned a) this is Not a Les Paul, and b) that they're not made anymore, I immediately decided to keep my vintage guitar in original shape. I'd give the nut about another five years before it cracks, and I did tweak up the single coil, but I think Gibson made their most original guitar yet, thirty years ago.
There are a few technical problems, like the neck isn't fat enough like I like it (I like a fifties style neck for more guts), and the red finish leaves a little to be imagined, but at least it's not an over-shiny rediculous ibanez guitar selling for the same price.

I've been devoloping the theory that you can play an electric guitar underwater. The current inside is like, 3 volts, so you won't get shocked. But it also promotes corrosion on the pots, so I will not test this theory on my Marauder. However, If I had an extra set of strings in the case I'd be good to go. I can throw this thing out the window, clean it up, and go to a gig (a theory that has been put into practice [accidentally of course])

I don't have any problems with Gibson, but I've also never had any problems with this guitar so...

This guitar is just like me. Awkward, unpredictable, often shunned, but it sounds great. This guitar is completely versatile, yet solid. If my house were on fire, and I only had time to grab two guitars (I hate when they say one, because since we have two hands, you can grab that many just as easily) anyway, I would grab my firebird, and my Marauder.

Bought this one for 350.00 on eBay. It's a 76 with a dark finish (looks like rosewood, but I don't think that they made them in that wood). Neck is rosewood, Schallers replace the old original tuners. Pickups are original. No dial switch- just a 3 way pickup selector.

I have played for about 27 years, and have several guitars- this one has the best sound. The rear single coil pickup has some edge, but is still warm. The front humbucker is smooth as silk. The jack pot is original and a little noisy, but not as bad as my 79 Strat. Mostly I play rock/ blues, and the arauder is perfect.

Unbelievable action. The neck is dead straight for this old of a guitar. Nice wide old neck. Nice frets. I did my own setup on this and it plays great. Finish is original and has checking- not unusual for this age of a guitar.

I don't play out anymore. This one gets picked up before my strat or 2 ibanez guitars.

Who cares?

Sorry that the new guitars don't play as well.

February 14 1975 was stamped on the neck when I disassembled it to restore it, after some one had desocrated it with crylon blue spray paint. 22 Frets ,solid top .
Three knob type Volume , Infinate Pickup selector and tone .I did replace the neck pickup with a select Humbucker to give it a more warm sound . EVERY THING ELSE IS STOCK GIBSON . I dont know much about wood But I stained the body with a light pecan stain and 12 coats of polyurethane (each coat wet sanded before the next).The neck is maple with rose wood ,Original , I laquered The back of the neck. Sweet! Fast!

This Guitar Is not a Les Paul just like others have stated If I wanted a Les Paul I would have baught a Les Paul . The Marauder is a one of a kind Guitar . I play Lead for a Christian Band and when I use it just right . Its warm When I need it ,And its loud when I need it .It is my No 2 Guitar on stage .Not because it is inferior but because it is also not a Strat.
I play through a Peavey Special 150 Amp (scorpion speaker) ART effects Processor . Korg AX1G effects foot pedal. It produces very warm leads and has above average sustane. I dont like where Gibson mounted the neck strap lock if you do not have a good strap or locks
the guitar could wind up on the floor

I restored this Guitar From the ground up so as far as the factory ??
The pickups were ok but I modified the neck pickup . As far as flaws the crylon blue spray paint covered them all up . After restoration this is a new 28 year old guitar that is broke in and brand new.It fits my fingers like it is my fingers . Not bad for $75 huh.

I take this Guitar with me . Along with my 1987 Peavey Falcon . Both guitars are rarely out of tune unles I do it .The hardware is 28 years old and still going strong. I can depend on this guitar

This Guitar Has been A Blessing to me . It is just like one that me and a friend first started pounding on strings on together,the band didnt last but the marauder guitar will
I play many instraments and have a personal recording studio.I have been playing for 30 years and plan to be playing when I leave this place . This guitar is ,like I said before just right for the application I use it for.

USA , 22 frets, 1974-75, no mods whatsoever, natural finish, alder body, rosewood/maple neck, three-way toggle, Lawrence humbucker and s/coil, 1 tone 1 vol, fat frets (very worn) orig suitcase, good condition and complete. I like alder bodies, a very light hardwood, even good for a Fender bass, seems to assist in producing a particularly rich, sweet, resonant tone.

As some of your respondents point out, this so-called 'Edsel' is suitable for (almost) "any kind" of music". Interesting. My M is light and has very poor sustain, but fantastic resonance, one of the loudest solid bodies I've ever heard unplugged. Little guitar with a big -if not loud - sound. I grew up listening to Hendrix, Santana, Traffic, Who, Cream, Bowie, Zeppelin etc and it shows, but I've always played diverse music, including (mostly electric) blues, funk, jazz, 'fusion', reggae, various African fingerpicking and melody styles, Afro-Cuban, pseudo-flamenco. The Marauder is good for many of these, particularly African music (both p/ups on) and anything requiring a clear , resonant acoustic-like sound. Light alder body doesn't help its weak sustain, and for blues-rock you're always going to get much more meat from an LP and way more scream and cut-through from a Fender. But an LP's not nearly as funky and a Fender is always going to sound, er, well, like a Fender. Bought M as consolation prize as starving student (1983) after failing to acquire costly early 70s US Tele Custom, seemed similar in many ways. Fender definitely influenced Gibson with this guitar. One of your respondents mentions Jimmy Page's sound on first two Zep LPs: if my memory serves me correctly, he used a telecaster a lot for the lead passages on the early records.

I have no interest in shredding/metal/thrash, although I'm in no way averse to extreme tone. I just wouldn't dream of trying to use this M to sound like the Stooges or the Pistols. (Or Pearl Jam, etc but then I can't distinguish one of their songs from another, man) Stones, Neil Young maybe, yes. Grateful Dead, definitely! I guess that's not necessarily a compliment.

For a solid-body electric, It has a remarkably good jazz tone. There is a rich, lush, mellow quality to neck p/up, not bright at all, but clear as a bell. With some assistance from good amp it's great for Santana-type honey wail. Bridge p.up is too thin, it?s feeble, but perfect together with the humbucker (It's wired out of phase, I think). Alone, it's great for chickenscratch reggae chop, if little else. No "bottle" at all in either pickup. Thin top end too. No wonder metalheads looking for a Gibson "rock " guitar hate the sound. Also I'm one of those annoying players who always tries to back off the mids if possible, so lack of mid response and brightness doesn't bother me. S/coils are better for most African guitar sounds (fast fingerpicking in particular), Marauder cuts it , but with sweet piano-like resonance in background when combined with humbucker. I once saw pic of Youssou N'dour's lead guitarist playing one. On the other hand if I was Ace Frehley I would have smashed the damn thing too. He must have have needed a dozen tuned up to get through a set. I wouldn't dream of modifying the M. I'm not religious, just doesn't seem right.

No hum/noise, but worn output socket cuts out/crackles

I mostly play straight into amp, my only pedal before appearance of the dubious but gratifyingly affordable POD was a Vox wah. I haven't used effects other than overdrive and reverb with M, use mostly Strat with POD. Past amps include Cube 40, Fender Bandmaster head, Carlsbro 45 solid state, Marshall JTM60 combo (M sounded the best thru' latter, a construction fiasco but a good concept. pity). Now using JMP50 plexi '96 reissue head driving stripped JTM combo open cabs with 1x15 and 3x10 marshall heritage speakers, bluesbreaker pedal for a little extra gain. M has been in its case since JMP arrived, must try it out. I'll finally get to hear this rhythm crunch y'all rave on about

Dislikes: pegs, but they're original! So, no compromise! Like a classic car on bricks, ek se. Ja, iGrand style my broer

Seriously, this (kind of failed rock) guitar is decidedly odd but it's qualities are unique. I understand players who've become fanatically loyal to it, although I'm not one of them. It epito

I use a medium action with 10s to get solid tone (also to compensate a little for poor sustain) and because I haven't bothered to fix the overworn nut. Used to have action lower, there no buzz. Low frets are worn right down to the fretboard. I don't have another humbucking guitar so I leave it set up for for thickest jazz and blues sound. My hands are too big to really get around the slightly short scale/worn frets for vibrato/sustain blues/rock lead stuff. Not comparable to Fenders in this respect, especially around the octave. Guitar came with good intonation, but the pegs are shot, probably unusable in the first place. Actually the pegs are the only really terrible aspect of the Marauder. For some reason I don''t have the heart to replace them, I just retune every 15 minutes. Captain Sensible, that's me. This guitar doesn't HAVE any finish to speak of , not any more. Neck joint work doesn't look like it came out of any guitar factory on Earth, a totally ham-handed mess, but doesn't affect the end result and is clearly not a botched mod since neckplate bolts look untouched. Were Gibson luthiers permanently stoned in the 70s? or maybe somebody's kid brother/sister filled in for him that day. And the pickguard must have been carved out with a blunt lockblade... Overall, it's battered to hell, but it's no Mack truck, and that headstock joint looks pretty fragile... so this g lives in its equally scorched case. I've dropped a few Strats, can't see the M surviving many falls. Cheap, uneven woodwork, laminated body looks homemade, but so what? You don't LOOK at the tone, do you? I've always loved the neck, wide but shallow, with a Fenderish slightly convex fretboard, and those fat frets (what's left of them) are the best. Most comfortable guitar to stand with, period. Can't even feel the weight, Strat is heavier. I have it up fairly high, don't believe anybody hanging a guitar round their knees can actually play (unless they're Johnny Ramone, in which case it don't matter)

No f***ing way. Stays at home. This is not a gig guitar. Good Schaller (orig) bridge/stop, pots getting old, pegs %$@!!!! still haven't fixed front strap button, but otherwise it's aged well

From out here on the perimeter, Gibson might as well be on another planet. A new LP (Studio!) this side is about R25 000, you don't see many around. I've seen two US-made G jazzboxes in my life, and I've lived in all the main cities here. My first guitar was a cheap Ibanez LP Custom (stolen), but it was like a Cadillac compared with the mexican fenders and korean epiphones and worse available now. The few g-stores are full of the sort of junk toys that ruin novice players for life.

Played guitar for 25 years, bass 15 years. Main guitars are early 80s Squier Stratocaster (Japan), Fernandes vintage Precision copy (also Japan - actually better than the few US-made ones I've played). also Washburn dreadnought. These were all bargains. Cost is a big problem for anything imported, and musical instruments are luxuries

Asked what? No, at the price it was a godsend. I've had it for 20 years. Odd in a place (this is THE ORIGINAL lost city) where everything seems to get lost or stolen eventually. When it goes I'll most likely write it off along with the stereos, instruments, guitar amplifiers, two cars, four motorcycles, miscellaneous appliances, documents, CDs, cellphones, shoes, kettles etc etc that have disappeared over the years. Way to go! I'll probably have a drink and visit one of the zillion pawn shops here to buy someone else's stolen guitar. A telecaster, an LP standard or a 335, yeah. Should be able to buy one with my pension, or perhaps an organ transplant

I have seen only one other Marauder-type guitar here, an S-1, totally different, zero appeal to me. Dead plank with brittle, harsh tone, shite

I agree with Dave S: the Marauder is not a likely candidate for thrash, metal etc in its original spec. I think the name is somewhat misleading (even if, as one of your respondents says, it seems to attract a fox or three, and looks good on guitar-playing babes too). Like the Fender bass, it's been used for kinds of music and in ways I don't believe its designers could have imagined.

Aluta continua

YOu all know the details here. Original body was Alder, two Lawrence designed pickups. Early models have selector switch, later ones have a rotary blender, that most people hate. Later Marauder had mahogany bodies I think, and a maple fingerboard. The later models are just plain weird, I've not played one but if they suck as bad as the S-1 I wouldn't buy one. Great necks on these thing, easy to play.

I play blues, kicks ass on that. Bright killer single coil and kick butt humbucker on the neck. This guitar has its own unique sound that just is awesome and can't be beat in my opinion. A simple mod to the pickups doubles their output power...

These weren't top of the line guitars, they are made like a tank, but some of them are a little flawed, but great easy to play guitars

Love it...

The Gibson company are such chicken shits. They have NEVER mentioned this guitar in any official book or document they've been behind. Maybe because Paul Stanley of Kiss did an endorsement deal with Gibson, then smashed his Marauder at the end of every show. My guess is that he smashed the guitar, not because its a bad guitar, but because Gibson has always been run by idiots, and bozos who haven't a clue what they're doing. The bottom line at Gibson, especially these days, is crank out as many guitars as possible and forget quality...

I've been playing guitar for about 30 years or so. I see alot of posts here on the Marauder from metal heads. THE MARAUDER IS NOT A LES PAUL STUPID!! You guys who are butchering these vintage instruments trying to turn them into something they're not eventually will be sorry you did this. Why? The bozo collectors with all their money, and inability to play guitar worth a damn, have run out of old Les Pauls to aim their greed at. Ultimately, its going to be the Marauder's turn to be in the limelight and their prices will jump way up. This may take another ten or fifteen years but it will happen. This guitar is starting to be noticed by name bands and guitar magazines. So when this guitar does become valuable, the Marauders that were butchered will be worthless on the vintage market. This guitar was NEVER designed to be a Les Paul style guitar. It was designed to have a screaming bright single coil sound with a neck dual coil humbucker for versatility. Gibson was trying to make something with almost a Fender sound. It really annoys me all these boring shredders who couldn't play one meaningful note have bashed this guitar. This guitar makes a beautiful big sound unlike any other guitar ever made. I play blues and this thing kicks ass. Eventually some known blues player is going to discover this thing and then watch prices shoot up. There is a simple trick to make that bridge pickup scream and if you'll email me I'll tell you how. If you think that pickup is weak and tinny sounding, this trick will fix that pronto. If you really hate the pickups on this guitar rip them out and send them to me:
Dave Stephens
50 Kerr Parkway #88
Lake Oswego, OR 97035

For that matter if you hate this guitar so much you have to butcher it trying to turn it into a crappy Les Paul send me the guitar, I will take good care of it and it will get played. I have four of them so far and I love them... the first time I ever saw a Marauder was on the internet and it was love at first sight! I bought it without ever hearing it and fell completely in love with it when I first plugged it in. If these guitars supposedly sound so awful, how come its really hard to find one that the frets aren't practically worn down to the wood. Its because these guitars were loved and played alot. It makes me want to puke when I see one butchered on Ebay, supposedly "improved" with a humbucker put in the lead position and the other humbucker replaced with some muddy overwound overpriced piece of junk. If you don't like the sound of this guitar, have a different pickguard made and put in your own pickups and save the orginal parts, and don't rout the wood in the body. Save this piece of history, its a beautiful guitar....

In 1980 I got a used Marauder after trading for a Telecaster Custom which I had bought new. Over the years the Telecaster actually got boring and didn't have the sound I wanted. So my search led me to a guitar store in Kansas. Though I hadn't heard of Marauders before that day, when I tried it out I fell in love right on the spot.
I could tell it was built like a Mack. A bit heavy, but no problem I couldn't overcome.
Without hesitation I gave the store owner my Telecaster (which no doubt he felt he got the better of the deal) and I walked out satisfied with my new baby.

The controls were simple and it had two sounds...real good and great! The neck was easy to play and felt good on my fingers. I thought overall it was a step up from my Fender. I had no complaints for what came from a used guitar shop.

I got my Marauder at a music store used. Either the previous owner took very good care of it or the store did an excellant job of restoring it. It didn't have any flaws and was ready to jam the moment I got it.

The Marauder was very reliable. It stood up to super cold winters in Kansas and smouldering summer heat in Texas. My friends and I would usually play outside and sweat rolling onto it didn't have an impact except to make picks fly a bit farther.

There is much to say about simplicity....but I won't say it. My Marauder was a fine guitar and always met whatever challenge we had together. I regret selling it many years ago. And since then, I have revitalized my interest in playing music, I hope one day to run across another. It would be like finding an old friend again.

My Marauder was born in Memphis USA 1974/5 and I purchased it second hand in '76. In 1980 I replaced the back pickup with two DiMarzio dual sound humbuckers and kept the original humbucker in the front. A custom scratch plate was fitted to hold this set up along with a five position Strat pickup selector. Schaler machineheads were fitted as well as a Gibson fine tune tailpiece and the little beast has rocked ever since.

The sounds great! I put it through an old H/H Electronics IC100 made in England in the 70's and a Boss pedal setup of two overdrives a chorus and a delay. This is a dated combination but it cooks sooo good especially on the back pickup for a screaming solo.

This can be a super fast neck when time is spent to set the action right. The finish is getting a bit nonexistant on the back and where the forearm rubs on the body but it has done a hell of a lot of work. Maybe I should do something about that as it's served me so well!

SOLID AS! The roadies could run over this thing with the truck, then just tune it and give it to me for the gig and I wouldn't know. Since '76 it's done thousands of shows and never let me down!

Why the hell did Gibson in their wisdom use a cheap sticker with their name on the headstock and not an inlay? I now own a Gib#@%^on Marauder! The factory will sell me a new sticker but it comes on a new neck....(I don't need a new F$%#^% neck) and why are they so ashamed of these baby's?

I've been playing guitar since Moses was in puberty and over the years have owned many guitars but none have been as faithfull as this old Gibson. A nice feature is it is so much lighter on your shoulder than your typical Les Paul but it still kicks ass. The worst feature is that damn sticker thing but thats just me being pedantic.

made in the US, 22 frets, 1 volume 1 tone control, with really ugly green tuners that cant keep a string in tune for longer than a few hours that I changed to grovers. Hot Rodded to suit my music style, Seymour Duncan Hot Rail in the bridge and EMG 81 humbucker in the neck, it is a tone machine. wine red finish

I play rock (black sabbath, ozzy, van halen, led zeppelin etc.)when I first got it, it sounded so thin and weak I almost sold it, but once I spent some time with it, its now very good. My first major gripe was the pickups, I HATE single coils, they sound weak and twangy. The neck humbucker sounded like mud. So I hot rodded it. I replaced the bridge with a duncan hot rail and th neck with the emg 81. So now I get nice hot leads with fat grinding rhythms

its pretty good, not great but if you are willing to spend some time with it, you can make it an all out rocker