New Melody Maker Pics!
- Thread starter okiegibson
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Jim Jones
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Thanks for all the fodder, guys. I'm waiting on a sunburst single PU one now myself. 
Jim
Jim
Shredrrr
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MM is probably the only gibson I'd use a gig bag for
Minneapolis Slim
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Gack!! Why'd you have to go and post these :ganz
Sounds like a sweet little guitar. I'm trying hard to resist!
rootbeersoup
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It's the only one small and light enough to handle it...
Wattage
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j45
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If it is true to the 50's model it's almost an exact standard Les Paul body shape and drops right in any regular Les Paul case. You may have trouble getting it in an SG case.
rootbeersoup
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omboy
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OK, I finally got around to shooting a few mediocre pix. I'd been thinking about changing the knobs, but Singlecut's pix pushed me over the edge and I slapped on some gold reflectors.
Whatta groovy little plank!
Whatta groovy little plank!
singlecut
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OK, I finally got around to shooting a few mediocre pix. I'd been thinking about changing the knobs, but Singlecut's pix pushed me over the edge and I slapped on some gold reflectors.
Whatta groovy little plank!
very nice, i like the way the gold "pops" against the pickguard, they blended too much black on black.yours looks very nice.solid lil suckers ain't they?
omboy
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Hey thanks, yeah I think they should've used gold knobs from the git-go, but it's a quick fix. "Solid lil suckers" is right on, I'm amazed how righteously "authoritative" five pounds can feel.:2cool
I wish I could get the lighting right to accurately represent the color, it's a nice cream color that doesn't seem to come out in any of my pix. This is kind of close, but still not right:
singlecut
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try dropping that pickup down, sounds way better to me
Bluesbubba
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Do you guys know the availability on these Melody Makers. Guitar Center in San Bernardino CA don't have any in stock and they don't know if they are getting any in. I talked with Saul at Centre City Music and he is still waiting on the ones he ordered. Is Musician's Friend the best bet right now:hmm
singlecut
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yes, any of the online superstores,M.F ,SAM ASH,MUSIC 123, just don't pay more than 349.00 shipped.get a white 1, they are the bomb........
rootbeersoup
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How's the sustain on this guitar? Like, compared to a junior...
chuckocaster
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here is mine
i'm gonna cut a new guard for it and drop a gibson mini in it, also going to put in a sidejack and a "stutter" button.
plays really nice, i've fiddled with the pup but really can't get on with it.
i'm gonna cut a new guard for it and drop a gibson mini in it, also going to put in a sidejack and a "stutter" button.
plays really nice, i've fiddled with the pup but really can't get on with it.
wilder
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I got the new 2 pickup Gibson Melody Maker on Saturday. You guys were right about the SG case not fitting, but I found an old Sonex (or something) case in the closet that works well.
My impressions:
Out of the box setup was pretty impressive. The action and relief was perfect for me, but the intonation took some adjustment. The fretboard is nice looking (moreso after I oiled it) but was a little dry and really sucked up the oil. The frets are really smooth and don't have any rough edges. It's nice and light at about 6 lbs. The worn finish is a little cheesy...it looks like the faded series, but it really feels nice and smooth. I like that it's not sticky like a normal new guitar. The neck profile is cool, but not quite as big as a Historic. It sounded pretty good, but I tried singlecuts advice to lower the pups and it really took it over the top. It's much smoother with the pups lowered. On the bridge I lowered the treble side a bit more than the bass and found a nice balance. It's overall a bright guitar, but the tone knob works well to tame it if plugging into a brighter amp.
Mods:
I decided pretty quickly that I liked it enough to keep so I relocated the output jack to the lower bout and wired up separate volume knobs with a master tone ala Hamer guitars. I didn't try to use a standard LP style jack plate as it is about as wide as the body. Instead I used a 2-screw football type jack and it worked well. FWIW, I used my R7 as a template for where to locate the output jack and the body is the exact same size and shape as a Les Paul.
Here's pic of the current config. I didn't have three matched knobs, but I'll order some today.
My impressions:
Out of the box setup was pretty impressive. The action and relief was perfect for me, but the intonation took some adjustment. The fretboard is nice looking (moreso after I oiled it) but was a little dry and really sucked up the oil. The frets are really smooth and don't have any rough edges. It's nice and light at about 6 lbs. The worn finish is a little cheesy...it looks like the faded series, but it really feels nice and smooth. I like that it's not sticky like a normal new guitar. The neck profile is cool, but not quite as big as a Historic. It sounded pretty good, but I tried singlecuts advice to lower the pups and it really took it over the top. It's much smoother with the pups lowered. On the bridge I lowered the treble side a bit more than the bass and found a nice balance. It's overall a bright guitar, but the tone knob works well to tame it if plugging into a brighter amp.
Mods:
I decided pretty quickly that I liked it enough to keep so I relocated the output jack to the lower bout and wired up separate volume knobs with a master tone ala Hamer guitars. I didn't try to use a standard LP style jack plate as it is about as wide as the body. Instead I used a 2-screw football type jack and it worked well. FWIW, I used my R7 as a template for where to locate the output jack and the body is the exact same size and shape as a Les Paul.
Here's pic of the current config. I didn't have three matched knobs, but I'll order some today.
OK, I just got mine a few hours ago, my assessment is:
Surprisingly not bad. It arrived in good shape after rudimentary at best packing by MF, grossly out of tune (no surprise) but the setup on the whole OK, certainly playable, action pretty much where I like it, a bit on the high side but not overly so. The neck is actually quite good, the shape is roughly between the 50s and 60s types, feels very comfortable and there seems to be no issues with high frets, fret buzz or dead spots. It's actually one of the better Gibson necks I've played in a while.
Acoustically the guitar has a nice ring to it, with some natural sustain that is apparent even unplugged. The body is very light but the acoustic tone has some heft to it, which is always a good sign.
Through an amp the tone is quite bright as others have noted, but with a funky Tele-ish edge that I kind of like. It does have a touch of the P90 but doesn't have the midrange punch. With the mahogany body and neck elements of the traditional Gibson warmth are definately there but it leans toward the Fender realm, which is not necessarily a bad thing to me. Overall I'd say the pickup is closest in output and response to the old minihumbuckers, not quite as warm but leaning in that direction. I'm going to experiment with pickup height a bit later, maybe consider a retrofittable replacement, but to my ears this is a decent pickup in its own right and certainly has a tonal vibe all its own and unique in terms of Gibson sonics.
The only real issue is the tone control is DOA, probably the lead needs to be resoldered and if so shouldn't be too much of a problem to deal with. I'd like to see what backing the tone off will do but on the plus side the volume pot is good with a nice usable range, it seems to retain clarity even when backed pretty far down which is good because I generally like to use the volume control to go from clean to dirty, and vice versa, rather than fiddling with stomp boxes and/or amp channel switching.
Overall finishing is quite nice, the sunburst is even a decent approximation of that found on the original Melody Makers of the 60s, its a nice mellow burst that allows the grain of the mahogany to come through. I know alot of people tend not to like the so-called "faded" finsihes but I like it on this guitar, it has a vintage patina to it and the wood on the neck and body feels good to the touch, it doesn't have that sticky or plastic kind of feel which to me gets in the way.
So, my early impressions are very favorable and on the whole I'd say this is a damn good axe for the money and at $350 practically a steal. The tone control issue is a minor bummer but not enough to make me want to return the guitar, I think in terms of what really counts I got a good one.
To me, there is nothing fake, phony or cheap about this guitar. It's not going to be to everybody's taste but it does its own thing and does it well. Certainly worth checking out if you have the chance.
Surprisingly not bad. It arrived in good shape after rudimentary at best packing by MF, grossly out of tune (no surprise) but the setup on the whole OK, certainly playable, action pretty much where I like it, a bit on the high side but not overly so. The neck is actually quite good, the shape is roughly between the 50s and 60s types, feels very comfortable and there seems to be no issues with high frets, fret buzz or dead spots. It's actually one of the better Gibson necks I've played in a while.
Acoustically the guitar has a nice ring to it, with some natural sustain that is apparent even unplugged. The body is very light but the acoustic tone has some heft to it, which is always a good sign.
Through an amp the tone is quite bright as others have noted, but with a funky Tele-ish edge that I kind of like. It does have a touch of the P90 but doesn't have the midrange punch. With the mahogany body and neck elements of the traditional Gibson warmth are definately there but it leans toward the Fender realm, which is not necessarily a bad thing to me. Overall I'd say the pickup is closest in output and response to the old minihumbuckers, not quite as warm but leaning in that direction. I'm going to experiment with pickup height a bit later, maybe consider a retrofittable replacement, but to my ears this is a decent pickup in its own right and certainly has a tonal vibe all its own and unique in terms of Gibson sonics.
The only real issue is the tone control is DOA, probably the lead needs to be resoldered and if so shouldn't be too much of a problem to deal with. I'd like to see what backing the tone off will do but on the plus side the volume pot is good with a nice usable range, it seems to retain clarity even when backed pretty far down which is good because I generally like to use the volume control to go from clean to dirty, and vice versa, rather than fiddling with stomp boxes and/or amp channel switching.
Overall finishing is quite nice, the sunburst is even a decent approximation of that found on the original Melody Makers of the 60s, its a nice mellow burst that allows the grain of the mahogany to come through. I know alot of people tend not to like the so-called "faded" finsihes but I like it on this guitar, it has a vintage patina to it and the wood on the neck and body feels good to the touch, it doesn't have that sticky or plastic kind of feel which to me gets in the way.
So, my early impressions are very favorable and on the whole I'd say this is a damn good axe for the money and at $350 practically a steal. The tone control issue is a minor bummer but not enough to make me want to return the guitar, I think in terms of what really counts I got a good one.
To me, there is nothing fake, phony or cheap about this guitar. It's not going to be to everybody's taste but it does its own thing and does it well. Certainly worth checking out if you have the chance.
singlecut
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- Nov 30, 2004
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I got the new 2 pickup Gibson Melody Maker on Saturday. You guys were right about the SG case not fitting, but I found an old Sonex (or something) case in the closet that works well.
My impressions:
Out of the box setup was pretty impressive. The action and relief was perfect for me, but the intonation took some adjustment. The fretboard is nice looking (moreso after I oiled it) but was a little dry and really sucked up the oil. The frets are really smooth and don't have any rough edges. It's nice and light at about 6 lbs. The worn finish is a little cheesy...it looks like the faded series, but it really feels nice and smooth. I like that it's not sticky like a normal new guitar. The neck profile is cool, but not quite as big as a Historic. It sounded pretty good, but I tried singlecuts advice to lower the pups and it really took it over the top. It's much smoother with the pups lowered. On the bridge I lowered the treble side a bit more than the bass and found a nice balance. It's overall a bright guitar, but the tone knob works well to tame it if plugging into a brighter amp.
Mods:
I decided pretty quickly that I liked it enough to keep so I relocated the output jack to the lower bout and wired up separate volume knobs with a master tone ala Hamer guitars. I didn't try to use a standard LP style jack plate as it is about as wide as the body. Instead I used a 2-screw football type jack and it worked well. FWIW, I used my R7 as a template for where to locate the output jack and the body is the exact same size and shape as a Les Paul.
Here's pic of the current config. I didn't have three matched knobs, but I'll order some today.
bro the mods you did are awesome, i have a 60 2 pickup that someone relocated the jack ,same way you did and i really like it.great job,and adjusted alittle the pups ain't bad:2zone
badform
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- Jul 28, 2006
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The thing about the 2 pup version that bothers me is the location of the selector switch. I'd be hitting that all the time, from the looks of it. It does look MUCH better with three knobs and the jack moved. Good job!