Gibson Melody Maker

My melody make is a 65 double cut away,thinks les paul jr.1 vol,1 tone pot.Serial #556557.Mahogany set neck and body,with a rosewood fretboard.When I bought it the god awful bridge had been replaced by a wrap around type ala pre 56. other then that it was stock.It has that awsome fat like the butcher's dog gibson neck,which is the # 1 reason I bought it.That and it has the most incredible accoustic tones in any soild body guitar I have ever owned, my freinds vintage 52 tele is the only solid body I have ever heard beat out mine,I jam unpluged in my apartment because it is so bright,loud,and clean also it sustains so well you can bend and do vibrato.

I play rhythem in a bar band.classic rock,blues.etc. I play chords and sing not much else.The only time I take a lead is when if the night's slow and there are 4 people in the bar then I do the lead on chuck berry and duane eddie tunes.Hey it not my job to take leads.I use a 67 fender bass man with the original 2 -12 cab.Also the stock fender speakers the cab came with.The only thing beside a 67 fender reverb is a marshall blues braker 2 pedal.The original pickup was not for me but I understand there is so strong a cult following that you can buy a replacement from Seymour Duncan.Anyway I didn't want to cut any wood from my guitar for fear that it would lose it's tone and gain weight,it is also the lightest guitar I have ever owned.So in the bridge and neck.I put Duncan little 59's,replace the jack with a 3 way gibson toggle switch and put the jack on the bottom of it.I am very,very happy with the result.It sounds better then a sg standard and a 1/4 of the price.It is everything a good gibson with paf's is.

The finish is heritage/now aged cherry.it is old and beat,the neck was cracked at 1 time and the finsh is cracked like a river bedi the desert.Hell it's older then me.

this guitar will be around after I am dead and gone.Not bad for gibsons bottom of the barrel beginners guitar.

After 37 years not bloody likely.

I have been a bassist for years.But I got this gig to be a singer/rhtythem guitarist.My brothers and sisters you are not going to get a vintage gibson for $300.00 any way else, it needed some work but it about kicked a $3500.00 65 reissue SG,in the ass.It will stomp any stock SG standard with 490/498's out there; I double dead damn dog dare you to prove me wrong! Buy them before they are gone.

i think mine's a 64. its a nice deep red double cutaway, with one tone knob, and a single humbucker. the only thing i dont like about this mofo is that the one humbucker is a single coid, but that could be fixed up fairly easily. other than that, its fabulous. 22 thin frets, with an extremely small and light body, and a crystal clear tone and an amazing rosewood fingerboard. its 30+ years old, and i lost the original whammy bar a looong time ago, but that was easily replaced. I'm not all to crazy about the tuners. maybe its the age of the thing finally taking its toll, but it seems to go out of tune fairly quickly. but, thats not all to important. its a beautiful intrument.

very quiet... i rarely get buzzing or feedback (unless im tryin for it). It has a rich tone, unlike some modern electrics, so that the tune of the song shines through beautifully even on heavy distortion. i play nearly everything, hard rock to bluegrass on occasion, and it does the job. what i like most is the way it responds to your fingerwork. bends are especially fantastic on this thing, compared to others.

great action! nice finish! 37 years, its barely scuffed!

as i said... 37 years, its barely scuffed!

i had it repaired once, earlier this year. after so long, you'd expect so much. the only problem was one of the screws holding the bridge in was bent after i dropped it onto hard conrete. funny, though.... the finish was fine. i didnt check the warranty, and i doubt that after so long it'd still be covered. so, ive never really dealt with gibson.

if find one, buy it!

i have a 65 melody maker D double cutaway with 2 stacked humbuckers. its mint

the sound is extremely bluesy

the action is incredible, i almost dont have to touch it!

its all original, and its been played a lot, and still maintains its sound after over 30 years. the hardware is original. it is very reliable.

100% in every way, for me.

This guitar is supposedly a '64, but based on photos and specs I've seen in various books, it could be either a '63 or '64. It is a double cutaway with the 'tobacco sunburst' finish, which was already cracked all over the body and the back of the neck when I bought the guitar back around 1978. The cracks in the finish just give it more character, though. I believe the body and neck are both mahogany. It has one single-coil pickup near the bridge, a volume knob and a tone knob, and was obviously one of Gibson's bottom of the line/beginner's electric guitars at the time it was made. Nevertheless, it has a lovely 22-fret rosewood fretboard and one of the most delightful I have ever played on. (This feature has been mentioned by several other reviewers as well.) The fretboard is presumably Brazilian rosewood, and the grain is a bit more porous than the rosewood I see on most newer guitars. It doesn't feel coarse or anything; it just doesn't look as dense.

When I bought the guitar, it was all-original, with a one-piece cast saddle and crummy tuners. I soon replaced these with much nicer Schaller tuners and a wrap-around Badass bridge, which made it possible to set the guitar up properly and keep it in tune a lot longer. I still have the original parts. Unfortunately, installation of the new tuners required drilling some new screw holes, which probably reduced the value of the guitar from a collector's viewpoint.
Nevertheless, guitars are meant to be played, and the gear swaps definitely improved the overall playability, even if the larger tuning keys initially reminded me of mouse ears on that narrow headstock! I seriously considered replacing the pickup also, since I was unable to find a tone that I really liked with it, but decided not to after being told that installation of a Strat-type pickup would require some extra routing. Another comment about this guitar is that considering the location of the strap knobs, it hangs in a much more balanced way than an Epiphone G-400 (SG-style guitar) that I have, whose neck drops to about 4:30 as soon as you let go of it. The Melody Maker doesn't budge much when you take your hand off the neck.

It is difficult to rate this guitar's features with a number. It was never intended to be fancy, just basic and reliable. The original features combined rather miserable hardware with with a fabulous neck and fretboard. I have to dock it some points for the hardware and pickup, but it was never meant to compete with contemporary Les Pauls and SGs. It definitely gets some points for sturdiness. Also, the single bridge pickup means that there is a lot more string area to pick on than on a guitar with multiple pickups.

As mentioned above, the tone possibilities available from the one single-coil pickup are limited. More specifically, with the tone knob wide open, it sounds overly bright and tinny and to me, but when you turn the knob down too far, the tone gets too muddy. There is a narrow range in between the two where it is alright. I really think that a lot of the problem has to do with the position of the pickup so close to the bridge (I rarely play a Strat with only the bridge pickup selected, for the same reason). Also, pairing it with the right amp can do a lot for the tone. My guitar sounds a lot nicer through my Fender tube amps (a Concert and a Blues Junior) than it did through the Peavey solid state amp that I had when I first bought the guitar over 20 years ago.

I believe one other reviewer commented on how loud this guitar sounds unplugged, and I agree. For a solidbody guitar, it is remarkable.

This guitar has a very nice action, which I have set relatively low and with GHS lights. As mentioned earlier, the neck is truly a pleasure to play on.

This old girl left the factory nearly four decades ago, and already had a lot of "character" when I got her. As I mentioned before, the finish is cracked all over, like the glaze on an old teapot, but that doesn't seem to have an adverse effect on the sound of the quitar. The sunburst finish is handsome, but certainly not the prettiest I have ever seen.

With the original hardware, I think that keeping it in tune for extended periods of time when jamming or playing live could be a problem, but with the replaced gear it seldom goes out of tune. It has plenty of dings in the finish, and I've contributed a few over the years. In a couple of places, a little piece of finish is gone entirely, so you can see the wood. The finish there is at least 2-3 mm thick. In my biggest accident, the peghead smacked into the floor after I had put the neck strap on a bit too carelessly. This split a small chunk of wood off a back corner of the peghead, but luckily the damage did not split the wood up far enough to interfere with the nearest tuning peg. Based on that experience, I'd say this guitar is pretty solid!

Because of its tonal limitations, this is not my favorite guitar, but it is very special and always a pleasure to play. I am sure it would be hard to put down if I ever had the opportunity to plug it into a Fender amp of the same vintage. The overall feel of the neck and fretboard is great. I have to confess to a certain sentimental attachment to this particular guitar. If it were lost or stolen, I would certainly keep an eye out for another, but I would have to pay pretty dearly for it compared to what I paid for this one >20 years ago. Nevertheless, if you want a vintage guitar for less than $1000, a Melody Maker is not a bad choice, and I don't think the value of one these guitars in original or near-original condition is likely to drop.

I bought this '61 Melody Maker off of some guy on the 'net. It has 22 frets, solid top, etc, etc. It has two humbuckers (on DiMarzio in the bridge, and the original stacked humbucker at the neck). It has a three way switcher-oo, two tones, two volumes, just like a Les Paul. The original bridge was replaced with a newer one for better sustain. The tuners are Schallers, which were replacements.

All the good stuff that you need, none of that fancy crap you don't

I play heavy freak-metal. You think Korn and Limp Bizkit are heavy? I could take 'em on any day (dang posers!!!!) I play old-school metal, and this beast does it all, from heavy grinding distortion to smooth, jazzy clean stuff. The wood has dried out and gives it a real nice woody sound that kicks the crap out of my Ibanez.

This guitar was used, so it was set up extremely well.

I don't know about live, I would definitely have a backup. The bridge style makes me kind of nervous (I'm used to Floyd Roses). The finish is 39 years old and its still there, so its been around the block more than a few times.

????

I have been playing for a couple of years now, and I have an '87 Ibanez RG550 w/Seymour Duncans, and a Marshal Vs65r that kicks some booty. If this was lost, I would definitely look for another classic Gibson ax (not an LP or an SG, they cost too much).
I wish it had a case, I don't know what size of case I'm gonna need for it.

Its a sixty five bought over the internet to replace one stolen from my house.

I am in England and bought it from a dealer in philly I paid for it monday evening and paid a special UPS rate it arrived in London Wednesay afternoon! Thats Neals Guitars and UPS.

Double cutaway two pickup and original bridge which has a early trem system on it but no arm!!
Tobacco sunburst and I love it. There is a way of setting the volume and pick up selectors to give you that treble rythym sound and fat lead without the use of pedals. It seems to suit being played through the newish Dano Nifty Fifty amp.

Made in 1961 with a poorly designed 1 piece bridge that I replaced with a better designed drop-in a few years ago. this is a double cut, two pickup one made from really nice mahogany with cheesy single coils. Incredibly smooth pots (original with nary a crackle.)

Really nice tone since I replaced the bridge. Sort of like a mellow tele clean, but screams through a rotovibe and real tube amplification.

Mostly original. Tuners suck (that's my next project) Some big belt buckle scratches in back from too many 15 minute Down by the River jams back in the day. Action is wide but great. Sunburst is really sweet.

This thing is pretty rugged. Have to replace the jack every couple of years, though.

Would like to get the original cheesy cardboard snakeskin case repaired some time.

This is a great vintage cheezy guitar. To me it is irreplaceable. I wish they still made these scrappy rockers.

In typical Gibson fashion, the serial number does not lock down to a specific year, but I am guessing it is a '63. I got it used in a small shop in LA in '72 as a replacement for my recently stolen LP junior (a '59, double cutaway...still miss that axe)...paid $145 with a generic case. This is the 2 single, separate tone/volume/toggle config, which I fell in love with the 'center' sound. I made numerous mods to this axe, the first being to roue the cavity lip so the faceplate sits flush (why? because I thought it would look cool...and it did.) This had the really ugly black to yellow sunburst finish on the front, so I painted the face in a black satin finish (it blended beautifully with the face plate!). I put Schaller tuners on it shortly thereafter, and over the years have replaced those with Gotohs. I removed the formed steel tremolo, thinking that would solve the tuning issues. I finally had to put a Badass on it to hold the intonation.

This was my stage axe for several years, and sounded great through both my Fender Vibrolux ('64) and my Marshall SL100 half stack. It was superceded by a Strat in the mid 70's, but I kept it as my backup.
It is noisy (single coils after all), but tonally it matched everything I heard from SGs of the era, just less output, much lighter and far more prone to feeding back with the SL100. I've used it for everything from rock to country to 30's swing, and it always managed to have the right sound somewhere between thos little pickups!

the action was bad when I got it, but with the modifications over the years, it has been fine. See above regarding finish etc.

I play predominantly Blues now, and with the latest addition of a hand made brass nut, this has become my slide axe, and it gets used every gig. Still looks good on stage under the lights.

yeah, right!

I have been playing about 30 years on and off, and I tend to keep my guitars...I learned alot messing around with this one! I love the weight and the balance, the look is just so vintage rock'n'roll, yet it sounds so good cranked out... I recently found an early 70's SG for $150, and although I use it, the MM seems to have been far more versatile... I doubt anyone in their right mind would steal this one since it has no resale value except for parts...I would probably replace it with a Blueshawk if it were gone.

I believe this is a '67 Melody Maker. One humbucker at the bridge. One volume and one tone knob. This one has 2 switches on it, but the other one had been added for more tonal variety. 22 frets. New chrome tuners. I have no idea what the orignal had so...... Natural brown wood finish with a black pickguard. I give the features a 7 because u sorta expect more from Gibson but oh well, it was found under the stage at Woodstock '69 with the headstock broken. And I have the original hardshell (sorta) case.

Except for some internal damage due to the pots not working right and the switches not connected all the way. This baby sounds great. It's old and I don't expect it to be perfect. I could work on it and fix it but this really isn't my main guitar of choice. I play metal and this does the job perfect. :) P.S. A GOOD CLEAN SOUND AS WELL!!!!

Hmmm....considering this was found under the stage at Woodstock with the headstock broken and everything's basically beat up. The finish is practically gone and there are tons of blemishes. The little finish on the back of it looks great and the whole guitar looking like that would be beautiful. But dreamers dream. The action is a little high and I would mess with it but it's not my guitar and my girlfriend would kill me. I rate it as a 1 as it is right now. But if this thing would have been taken care of, it would have gotten a 9.

Let's see 32 years later and this still works? I'd have to say it's durable all right. Even with the head glued back on, there is still nothing wrong with it. I'd have to admire Gibson for building such a strong piece of guitar. I'd use this as a gig most definitely. Cuz my "reliable" Squier is all messed up and that needs to die. I can't wait til i get a new Ibanez or something. And on another note, these strap buttons ain't falling off at all.

Never called Gibson. But the repairs done to it were homemade and we didn't need Gibson at all. If there ever was a warranty I bet it's long gone by now.

I've been playing for 3 years now and this already has outlasted my Squier Strat. If this thing were stolen, I'd probably be murdered but I would be pretty pissed about it.