Gibson Melody Maker

Mine is a '65, cherry, double cutaway with the original 2 single-coil pick-ups; volume and tone controls for each. I've replaced the machine heads as the originals weren't very performance-friendly..not fine enough. I replaced the control knobs many years ago, with standard gibson cylinders because I had no access to the top-hats at the time. I've also removed the tremolo arm and replaced the bridge. All the original parts are safely stored...under my pillow.

I'm all over the place with musical styles and it goes just about everywhere. I find it lacking when I want to get really heavy, but the guys in the band look at me funny whenever I put it down for a different guitar.

The action is fantastic, and since I've been playing it for so long, I'm extremely comfortable with it.

I've had it since 1967, and have been gigging with it, with and without backups, for over 30 years. It seems indestructible...but I'm still careful because it's still my baby. The finish still looks great, but shows the unavoidable signs of age: wear on the back of the neck and the fretboard, and the dents from a hundred belt buckles on the back. Looks good, but lived-in. I got it from my uncle, (who still regrets selling it to me) and it's now the guitar of choice of my 15-year-old daughter...the third generation to cherish the MM.

Never dealt with them at all.

Been playing for 36 years, and this is one of 10 guitars, including a couple of Strats, a Les Paul,a couple of Ovations, a K.Yairi 12, a Precision Bass and some "campfire" guitars. It's the only one that I would cry over if I lost it. It is a pleasure to play.
I wish I still had the old Gibson 'gator case, but was happy to find that it's a perfect fit into a Les Paul case if you put about an inch of foam under it.
I was happy to read all the reviews that reflected such high opinions of this guitar.

I already have a Fender Hwy 1 with the flat finish and I think Gibson scores a big 10 for going this way also.I want to play it not worry about how it looks .This is the best second guitar around.If I break a string I can keep the show going on this .I replaced the pickup with a P 100.It screams now.Great hardware and even the pegs are ok.They look cheap but work fine.Very light and good frets...Don't know what woods are used but it sounds fine.The dealer would not give me the gibson bag.He had to hold it back to make more dough.I got a cheap gigbag with it.No big deal because I use a Levis double bag anyway.

You almost have to replace the pickup,Try Seymorsmor a Gibson P 100.Most are better than the stock one.It measues at 7.6.Its a better front pickup.Too bright for a bridge.I like simple volume and tone.Its a wondeful slide guitar too.Wish it had a front pickup but i might put one in anyway.My Rivera sounds wonderful and my Marshall even better.The more dirt the better the tone.Its an all out great solo guitar forget jazz chords...

No frills,Easy to set up and play.Looks old out of the box.All good hardware and pots.Finish is brutal...Looks like you left it outside in the rain for a week.

Take this out as a second guitar.Great slide tone cranked.needs better strap buttons.All Gibsons have terrible ones.I like the schaller replacements.

In Canda Yorkville is the distributor.never had to send a guitar back yet...

been playing over 30 years -TV,Concerts and bars...I traded a 61 Supro amp and a Takemine 00018 for it.I didn't care because a Gibson won't de-value that much.I'm going to take iy on yhe road this summer with my Fender hwy 1.No vintage stuff on the road for me.Great guitars get em.....beats all the jap stuff and costs the same....cheers

My Melodymaker is a '64. It was heavily modified by a 20 ish kid (me) many years ago. The original Cherry finish is chipped and dented from many years or use and abuse, most of which came with the guitar when I got it. Love the Mahogony! The pickups are Mighty Mites, one vintage and one hot, wired switchable to single/humbuck/single each. I had a friend build me a preamp which I installed(cut a hole in the back of the guitar, the only mod I wish I didn't do). The style is that was made just prior to the SG bodied Melodymaker. Double cutaway,dual singlecoil pickups w/plastic covers(replaced with the humbuckers), vibroto tailpiece (removed and replaced w/Badass)three way pickup switch and seperate tone and volume controlls per pickup. Grovers replaced the wornout tuners.

I play mostly Blues, Classic rock and funked up R&B and this guitar is great for the job. I use a '80 Legend Rock&Roll 50 amp and nothing else. The sound of this Guitar and Amp combo is Awsom!!! It can be allout gritty or sweet.Love my Melodymaker!!!

The finish as mentioned before is rough ,but that gives it charactor. The clearcoat seams to be very brittle and the nut is in need of replacement(starting to buzz). Even with this wear is guitar is awsom.

I've played it for about 30 years, and will for years. The finish, though nicked and dented,is not warn, and still is glossy. It is my only electric guitar and is often used at gigs with no backup needed.

Have modified and wired it myself.

Been playing for 40 some odd years. The only thinng I would have asked before I got it is the value of the guitar I traded for it. I got Screwed when I traded a 1966 ES 335 for it. Don't get me wrong I love my Melodymaker and would not part with it for anything, But, some people are assholes and take advantage of people(still hurts after all these years). Trading a $1500 (at that time) guitar for a $200 guitar was not a very good deal!! Live and learn. Needed a change at the time. Anyway, I love the Melodymaker and it does exactly what I ask of it. Balls to wall sound and great value. Would like to get another one closer to original condition!

Everyone knows what a Melody Maker is, but in case youve just got back from a 47 year holiday in the Amazon rainforests,,,,its a small bodied 'student size' mahogany bodied guitar. Mine's a double cutaway model from the early 60's, with a 5 digit serial number.It has 2 single coil pickups, each with its own volume and tone control, and a 3 way selector switch - the bridge is a simple 'wrap over' type.As far as Im aware, everything is original. Ive given it a 10. Not because its MY guitar, but because,although not exactly overburdened with features, what it does, it does perfectly.I dont need complicated controls or flashy trems.This is simple and perfect.

I guess Im primarily a blues type player, although over the past 30 years,Ive played in bands playing everthing from 60's pop , to Santana covers. This guitar suits me perfectly as we are both fairly simple!Amps are not really an issue.My favourite was an old Musicman, but it was getting heavier and heavier to schlap around, and I now only use my Randall 60. A truly underated 70's combo that does a pretty good job of impersonating a small Fender/Musicman tube amp.How to describe the sound? well, the guitar is extremely light, and due to that, it really resonates.You can almost feel the wood moving as you play. This seems to result in producing amazing harmonics, far more so than I got from my Les Paul, which in comparison, sounded dead.Again, this could be due to the greater weight of the Les Paul. The front pickup is a rich moody type of sound, the bridge is a real animal!!! It screams,it resonates,its the best sounding blues guitar sound Ive heard. Seriously.

I couldnt say how well it was set up, it was made in 1961! Look, forget bookmatched tops, tiger stripes, leopard spots, birdseye maple, gold tuners and fabulous 3 tone sunbursts. This is a guitar, not a piece of art that you hang on a wall. It was made by guys who prided themselves on crafting instruments, not products. No, its not got the greatest sunburst known to mankind, but its made properly by people who wanted Gibson guitars to be the best,regardless of their price.This guitar is 45 years old, and for my style of playing,theres nothing better out there.

Well, its 45 years old and working perfectly, so I guess you could say its fairly durable and reliable.

Never needed it, but I dont think that Id have any problems.But who know? For that reason, Ive given 'No Opinion'.

Playing around 30 years. Ive owned all the usual.I wont list them all - too painful, not to mention embarrasing - a 78 Strat, an early 70's Tele, [realised after loads more Strats and Teles,that I couldnt get on with Fenders, I could never get the sound that guys like Rory Gallagher could] a 69 Les Paul[very heavy] Tokai Loverock[overpriced copy, my Aria Les Paul was much better] 2 Beautiful 335 types, an '82 Yamaha 700, absolutely the best made guitar, but too heavy after 20 minutes, and an 81 Ibanez , also nice but if I needed a bad shoulder, the Yam was better. A couple of Gordon-Smiths,a small British company that made Gibson LP Junior type guitars,an old 60's Harmony H75 - vastly underated blues guitar, and a couple of SG's - one of which, a late 80's model,Ive kept, its also a stunning guitar. The list goes on,but for your sake, I wont! If anyone steals it, I would definately get another, theyre just so easy to play and everyone who's heard mine just couldnt get over the sound. This is probably the most underated vintage guitar around. An early 60's Les Paul/Strat or Tele will cost thousands.One of these will be around $1500.An absolute steal !

I have a -64 double cutaway 2 pickup model. The original singlecoil pickups sounds like shit, (too thin) so I put an Allparts dogear P-90 in the bridge position and made a new black pickupguard, similar to a Les Paul JR.

Now the guitar sounds like an SG, like a Telecaster on steroids, like a Les Paul JR with less sustain. It has a fat bite, somewhat midrangehonky, rather short tone. Probably due to the thin body. It's great for Angus Young wannabees like myself.

Hey! It's a Gibson, you can't treat it like a Fender.

Don't know, I live in Sweden.

Been playing guitar for 25 years. I have owned several Gibson & Fenders. The Melodymaker is a bargain, especially if it's been fucked up. Then you can buy it cheap and rebuild it with the pickups you like. But please do NOT put your Black & Decker into a mint original.

Solid mahogany body, set and fast neck, 1 P90 dogear pickup, 1 volume, 1 tone, TOM bridge, locking tuners, satin finish, simple, simple, simple, with Gibson, that means great sound! Bought new at Guitar Center while on vacation...Memorial Day loss leader for $199.99...couldn't pass up the price and it provides exactly what I was looking for in terms of sound and performance. Even though simple means, not "tons of features", it still rates a 10.

I wanted a meatier sound than my son's Strat, and the P90 provides the punch.

Smooth satin finish with no flaws. Factory setup was good...action could be a bit lower, but is fairly fast as it came from the factory.

It's a Gibson, everything is solid! Survived the flight back to Arkansas in checked luggage.

Good response to basic question relative to wrong information provided by retailer salesperson...I was right, he was wrong, and the Gibson support confirmed/

I play on the church Praise Team and to calm myself down from the corporate BS I endure on a daily basis. The Melody Maker provides a bit more choice for me in terms of available instruments...at a price I could afford.

It's a '65 (most likely), two-pickup model. This is my second Melody Maker, my first one, also from '65 only has one pickup.
This guitar was modded when I bought it--Grover tuners, a Badass bridge and a Les Paul-type humbucker in the bridge (the neck pickup is original). I got rid of the humbucker and put a retro-type Gretsch-like mini-humbucker in its place. Also the electronics appeared to have been changed for Dimarzio pots and the cavity has been shielded--the guitar is super quiet.
My original Melody Maker is a lightweight--the neck is super-thin, less than .38 mm at the nut and the body too is really light--but that guitar is a '2'-marked factory second. This guitar is more solid, heavier but not like a Les Paul and the neck is larger and easier to play. It's an addictive guitar and it's hard to put down.

Hard to talk about the sound of this guitar, since it has been modded. The neck pickup is pretty dark...I'll have to see what it's like with a tube amp. In combination with the new mini-humbucker, the guitar really sings, nice and jangly, the way I wanted it. I love to play this guitar unplugged too--it's pretty loud and the sound is excellent. But that's not what you buy an electric for, is it...I like Melody Makers for their feel and the look.

This guitar is almost 40 years old and it shows. Really ages well.

I expect this guitar to outlive me. And I plan on living past 100.

I love both my Melody Makers--but this one is the only guitar that has managed to replace my original Melody Maker (although I play that one every day too). I'll eventually pick up another, I'd like an early '60s sunburst, since both of mine are cherry. It's true the original Melody Maker's sound is quite thin, but it sounds great unplugged. This one has a much beefier tone to it. I'm still in the process of modding it to where I like it--still haven't got the action quite right, probably should have a new nut cut, and I want to replace the grover's with locking tuners, personal preference.
Overall rating is a 'fan' rating, you'd have to play for yourself to judge...but what other 60s-era Gibson sells for $550?

Year:2004
Color: Ebony Satin
Price: Well, Free.
I got it for free when I bought a Les Paul Standard on the net.
It has the same neck (not as fancy as the standard)so the playability is right there. Stripped down little sister of the famous Les Paul.
Beautiful to look at, high quality throughout.

It is great for me. I play just about everything. I am a Bob Dylan fan, Dave Matthews fan, Alice in Chains fan, Zepplin fan......that type of stuff. You can dial it in so as to achieve the right sound, a pretty wide ranger. In my opinion it's gibsons stab at a telecaster, and they hit the bullseye. Sounds very, very close to a standard Paul when using the same pickup. I have this tuned to drop D (standard in basic E) so she can rattle a bit when hammering on it, but you really gotta hit it. Hey it was free.

The finish is great for a satin. No blems at all. Gibson means quality, really it's in the dictionary.

It is what it is. I think it will definitly stand the test of time in any situation. I bet you could use it as a boat oar and it would still look and work great.

This isn't a dell dude. The only support they should offer is emotional, for those who have to part with their gibson.

I have been play for around 18 years. I like this guitar enough, it's nice to take this around for practices instead of my LP standard, I would hate to get that baby nicked.
I own a Les Paul Standard Light Sunburst, an Ibanez RG760 Cranberry, Gibson Melody Maker Ebony Satin, a Martin & Co. DM Natural Finish, an Ensanada 12-stringer, and a Takamine EG540SC for guitars, and rid myself of many others over the years. Still wish I had my old Harmony strat for nostalga. I run a Marshall MG50DFX amp, Yamaha GEP50 effects processor, and a Morley Wah/Distortion/Volume pedal.
Hey it is a good guitar. If someday you want to own a higher end Les Paul but can not afford it right now, buy this baby. It is silky to play and sounds damn good.

I'm not sure of the year but it was my first electric guitar. It was my Christmas present in 1967. It is a double cutaway single bridge pickup, cherry finish model. As basic as they come.

I used to play all types of music on it (it was the only one that I had until 1970). It is very twangy and does not have any bottom to it.

I have been playing this guitar since 1967 and of the 12 guitars that I own it has the best action of all. The neck is superb. Straight as an arrow.

I used to abuse this guitar regularly. I watched it slide across a large stage once during a bar fight. This is a well built guitar.

This melody maker is like a member of the family. I have been playing for 37 years and have taken this one around the world. It has been to Korea and Hawaii. It's still is waiting for a trip to Europe. Other than my Guild Starfire III this is my favorite guitar. I can't believe that I almost sold it in 1973 for $50.00. I have never modified it in any way. It is all original. I even have the brown aligator soft case.

I'm not sure when it was made, it was made in the U.S.A., 22 frets, solid top, 2 volume, and 2 tone control knobs, a 3-way selector. It has 2 pickups, they are single coil. It has the 2 cutaways, they are more rounded than the gibson sg's, and point out from the guitar instead of inwards, like the sg's. It is a stop tail piece, and has a rosewood neck.

I play lead guitar, and this guitar, and my gibson sg suit the gig.
Im using it through a 22watt mesa boogie tube amp. Great sound. Great variety, I love it.

The guitar plays and looks great, the body on the guitar is mint.

Everything is great.

N/A

I've been playing for 3 ys., I am 15 ys. old, the guitar is great, I also own a mesa boogie tube amp, a gibson sg, a jackson kelly, 2 fender strats, an epiphone acoustic, an epiphone chet, an epiphone m3, a yamaha acoustic, an esp f-50, a prs se, 2 home maders, and a greco.


Please e-mail me if you know what year the melody maker it could be!