JellyWheat Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 It has 2 pickups, the original frets in good condition, is extremely clean with minimal checking / crazing, all original electronics, and is bought from a very reputable vintage/pro shop that I have been doing business with since 1982. I did a fair bit of listening to clips in the internet featuring similar guitars, and I'm pretty convinced the MM will work for my style of fingerstyle playing (examples on SoundCloud, for those interested...). Any comments, suggestions, or cautions? Regards, JellyWheat B) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Searcy Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 I have a 64 MM D with one pickup. Not exactly what you have but close. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JellyWheat Posted December 4, 2011 Author Share Posted December 4, 2011 Hi , Searcy! I'm glad you're in this thread. I was gonna PM you. The lips I have watched on U-Tube (especially the ones by Greg's Guitars) sounded yummy. How good/poor are the pups? As you may have gathered from my other posts, I'm partial to P-90s and Texas Specials. Will the MM pups be any thinner or noisier than Fndr single coils?. What's your take... I'm very interested! Best regards, J/W B) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Searcy Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 They don't sound as big as a P-90. They are more fosuced in tone. Like a Tele bridge pickup in a lot of ways. I think the 61 has the old 50's neck profile that the 59 Les Paul had which is nice and a bit more sought after than other MMs. If it's all original and you can get it for $1000 or less I'd jump on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JellyWheat Posted December 4, 2011 Author Share Posted December 4, 2011 Searcy, I sent you a PM with the particulars of the instrument... I would have thought the interweb would be maggoty with 2-pickup MMs, but they don't seem to be that common. Original specimens in great shape appear to be quite rare, actually. Do we have any idea of how many MMs were produced between 1960 and 1963? J/W Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Searcy Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 The price of them around here has gone up since Mr. Kidman decided to start playing them. I don't have any idea how many were made but I think the other issue was that so many of them were butchered. It's had to find one with the original pickups let alone the original tuners. After seeing the picture you sent I might go as high as $1400 in the original case but I'm a cheep ***. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JellyWheat Posted December 5, 2011 Author Share Posted December 5, 2011 That's what I figured, Searcy. I got it for a good price BUT I'm dying to play some of my elevator music on it! Thanks for your input. I appreciate it. Regards, J/W Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrorod Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 I am doing some setup work to a very-cherry...'65 MM double. So light and nice... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Searcy Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 Where are those SoundCloud links JW? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JellyWheat Posted December 5, 2011 Author Share Posted December 5, 2011 Where are those SoundCloud links JW? http://soundcloud.com/search?q[fulltext]=JellyWheat Enjoy (?) J/W Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JellyWheat Posted December 8, 2011 Author Share Posted December 8, 2011 My '61 MM arrived today. It plays as well as any of my other guitars, and is one of the best sounding. It is definitely the most FUN! It weighs a scant 5.5 pounds, and the thing vibrates against your rib cage like crazy when you play it. It has more of the characteristics of a "Slim Taper" profile than the '59ish neck Searcy suggested, but it has some girth, like a 30/60 (another winning call by the folks of today's Gibson Corp!) It still has enough room at the wrap around bridge posts to lower the action, if required. The bridge and tuners, as well as the nut are all stock, and the pickup covers are not all pick-worn on the edges. The frets have been dressed at least once, and crowned in the old-fashioned Gibson way (larger radius than usual), so it feels like a "Fretless Wonder". Fingerboard is straight, uniform Brazilian rosewood, the color of semi-sweet chocolate. BELIEVE IT OR NOT, BUT THE TRUSS ROD NUT STILL HAS NOT BEEN TOUCHED! The adjusting nut is still coated with the original black headstock lacquer... (and no, it has not been re-sprayed. How can you tell? Old nitro actually "squeaks" like clean glass when you wax it with carnauba and buff it out. There is no tackiness to it at all. It takes a decade for nitro to achieve that degree of hardness... I'm not so sure modern nitros ever do harden up this much. Besides, The back of the headstock is not opaque, so I can see there have been no repairs that would have necessitated a respray.) There are only a couple of small dings and there are no dents or scratches. The "crazing" of the finish is very fine and the crazing lines are quite far apart. It looks like a 50-year-old guitar! The neck volume pot is a bit raspy, but that is cleanable, I figger. The pickups sound smooth and dark in the neck and middle positions, but the bridge pup barks and snarls, like a Tele, as Searcy (once again) suggested it would. This guitar has been well-played, but well-loved at the same time. It was kept in the same manner as I am used to keeping my instruments. And it has once again found a loving home. I'll post a pic or two in my signature space soon (once I figger out how!)... Santa arrived early this year! J/W Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slim Chance Posted December 11, 2011 Share Posted December 11, 2011 That's a cool early MM. How does it compare; soundwise, to same year Gibson Juniors, Specials, or even Epi Olympics? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JellyWheat Posted December 11, 2011 Author Share Posted December 11, 2011 That's a cool early MM. Hoe does it compare, soundwise, to same year Juniors, Specials, or even Olympics? I can't rightly answer your question, since it has been years since I have played any of the vintage guitars you mention. And I have never come across an Olympus. Sorry. J/W Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Searcy Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 I think this is your guitar JW I just now noticed that you got it. They really are monster players. I'd love to have a two pickupmodle like you have to go with m one pickup. The bridge pickup is really bright and Tele like to my ear. That's about the only guitar I have that I usually need to crank the tone knob down a little for. I use it for all my single coil stuff these days. I would guess that the neck would be more like a strat neck pickup but with a little more growl from the bigger magnet. I'm jelous Sir! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JellyWheat Posted December 19, 2011 Author Share Posted December 19, 2011 Thanks for posting the pic of my actual guitar, Searcy. I got back late last night from an out-of-towner. I'll post you a detailed description of the sound of the pups later tonight. I'll A/B the MM against one of my favorite Strats though a ' 72 Traynor... J/W Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JellyWheat Posted December 20, 2011 Author Share Posted December 20, 2011 OK... I just played more or less the same stuff on one of my American Special Stratocasters and on my '61 Gibson Melody Maker. Both were played through a stock 1972 Traynor Bass Mate YBA-2B. I used only the neck pickup so that I could provide an intelligent answer to Searcy's statement: "I would guess that the neck would be more like a strat neck pickup but with a little more growl from the bigger magnet." The Melody Maker neck pickup is a thing of beauty... it is, as Searcy suggests, more powerful than a Strat neck pickup. It is "meatier", but very, very s-m-o-o-t-h. It will be a great blues pup, when I open up the rig and let it breath a little, but "growl" is not an adjective I would use to describe this sound. Its character is different from any other pickup I have owned over the years in my many other guitars. The bridge pickup is nice and snarly when you want it to be, but it is easy to tame down to play more mellow, smoother stuff. It is not nearly as loud as the neck pickup as the tone control slips below 6 or so. Actually, I could probably live with a single-pickup MM, but that is NOT to say I am going to be giving up my D any time soon! Playing a bridge pickup track that doubles a dual-pickup take adds that extra bit of clarity and sparkle that makes an arrangement sound special. Back to the neck pickup... it sounds a lot like the "B.B. King trademark sound", but it is, of course, not as quiet. I'm not sure how much worse than Strat pickups the more powerful MM pickups will be to work with at some of the older venues I play... I suspect those big blade AlNiCo magnets will translate into more 60-cycle hum. I have NO idea if the pups are wound reverse polarity, but I suspect not. [in a problem venue, I just give up and break out a 490/498-equipped guitar.] So my preliminary verdict is that the Melody Maker neck pickup sounds a lot like a vintage P-90 with less octane. It has the same characteristic clarity and definition, but minus the "bite" of a P-90. I would say it sings good and loud, but it does not "growl". It has a lot of natural resonance that enhances the richness of the sound it produces. The 2-pickup combination is extremely versatile, and will cover every genre I play. I have no idea if it would cut the mustard for metal, but I think it has enough power to drive a cascaded preamp nicely. The bridge pickup, on its own, is highly useable, and gives all kinds of different tones, from Tele-esque (Searcy is right on the money about that sound) to jazzy. It holds up pretty well under finger picking, although you do lose some volume in the highs if you roll the tone control off below 2 1/2. My bottom line is that I feel rather sheepish that I was such a snob for al these years, overlooking the charms of the Melody Maker because it was an inexpensive "student model". It's a true Gibson, nonetheless, and it has weathered the past 50 years with grace and style. I feel lucky and privileged to have been able to acquire this instrument, of which as few as 225 were produced in 1961, according to one source. I will play it on gigs and in the studio with the same pride and affection I have for my other Gibson "keepers", regardless of price. My $0.02/FWIW J/W Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Searcy Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 Thanks for the side by side. I have a 1991 Fender Tele that I never use any more. To me the Melody Maker is a real Fender Killer because the sound is comperable and the short scale makes crazy bending a dream. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JellyWheat Posted December 20, 2011 Author Share Posted December 20, 2011 Thanks for the side by side. I have a 1991 Fender Tele that I never use any more. To me the Melody Maker is a real Fender Killer because the sound is comperable and the short scale makes crazy bending a dream. Yeah, I know what you mean... I have a great Tele that doesn't see much use, but it is a drop-dead gorgeous light swamp ash job with a factory Bigsby. It's good for a lotta stuff, but I tend to baby it to save wear on those itsy-bitsy frets. For chikkin pikkin, however, it has no equal! Gotta run/TTYL J/W B) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Searcy Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 My 1991 is beat to hell with scratches and chunks missing out of it. It was stolen by crack heads once and smashed through a window. Plus it's blue....so you know it sucks. I hate that guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JellyWheat Posted December 21, 2011 Author Share Posted December 21, 2011 My 1991 is beat to hell with scratches and chunks missing out of it. It was stolen by crack heads once and smashed through a window. Plus it's blue....so you know it sucks. I hate that guitar. ..."crack head"??? To ME, a "crack head" is what the ambulance guys call somebody who tried to steal one of MY guitars, but whom I caught in the act! 'Zat whutcha mean, Searcy? J/W Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JellyWheat Posted December 27, 2011 Author Share Posted December 27, 2011 I DID it, and took the plunge! It was a tempting option to just leave the virgin truss rod nut and not to touch the neck adjustment on my MM, seeing as the nut was still had the lacquer over-spray from the factory paint shop... I decided, however, to proceed with the adjustment since the guitar 's neck had way too much relief to be healthy for it, and the wrap-around bridge/tailpiece had to be set too low to provide adequate string distance from the pickups [whose height adjustment is very rudimentary and limited in its travel up and down]. As a result of the neck adjustment, I was able to raise the bridge and intonate it quite well. I like 9-42 gauge on this guitar, and it plays much better when the strings' angle of incidence relative to the fretboard is a bit steeper. I had the pickguard off so I could clean the pots properly. Everything is original, although I forgot to note the date stampings on the potentiometers. I cleaned the pickup selector switch, too, so everything is working like new. The tone is amazing, and this little student instrument is definitely the one I would keep if I were were forced to keep just one guitar. My 2009 ES 137 would, however, give the '61 Melody Maker a good run for the money. I can do everything I will ever need to do with these two instruments. The old single coils in the Melody Maker get me close enough to both Tele and Gretsch Territory that I could let those guitars go and not be caught short, tone-wise. I realized it sounds hackneyed and overused, but these guitars are definitely under-rated tone monsters, and the new models I feel are quite faithful to the original, simple design. I am VERY happy and proud to own this venerable old(er) guitar! My $0.02/FWIW J/W Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JellyWheat Posted December 27, 2011 Author Share Posted December 27, 2011 I am doing some setup work to a very-cherry...'65 MM double. So light and nice... retrorod. Sorry for ignoring your post before. I just got caught up in the excitement of the new guitar. How would you describe the neck shape of your '65? HappyNew Year. J/W Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrorod Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 No worries. I would describe the neck as a nice medium neck with very hefty frets. It is not as large as my '65 SG but thicker than a '60 LP jr that I once owned. After restringing it and playing, the bridge P'up sounds weak and thin compared to the neck. I will have to pull the p'guard and dtermine how to adjust the bridge p'up a little closer to the strings. It would not come up closer with the screws. The neck p'up sounds full and awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JellyWheat Posted December 28, 2011 Author Share Posted December 28, 2011 No worries. I would describe the neck as a nice medium neck with very hefty frets. It is not as large as my '65 SG but thicker than a '60 LP jr that I once owned. After restringing it and playing, the bridge P'up sounds weak and thin compared to the neck. I will have to pull the p'guard and dtermine how to adjust the bridge p'up a little closer to the strings. It would not come up closer with the screws. The neck p'up sounds full and awesome. My bridge pickup loses a lot of volume with the tone set to 4 or below, but it still blends nicely with the neck pup , giving me a Gretsch-like sound. If your MM pickup mounts are like mine, they are very rudimentary. The screws protrude down through the pickguard, and then are fitted with two washers that act as "spacers" that limit the upward travel of the pickup. The neck spacers are thicker than the bridge spacers, which on my guitar consist of two pinkish fibre washers. The screws then go through the holes in the pickup covers themselves and thence down through a plastic plate made of the same material as the pickguard. When you tighten the screws, you sandwich the pickup between the backplate and the pickguard at a more or less fixed height, which is determined by the thickness of the washers. If you attempt to tighten the screws too much, you will strip the threads in the plastic backplate. if you back the screws off to much, they will come out of the backplate and the pickup will wobble around in the pickup cavity, unsupported. The strings need to be pretty close to the pickup covers to sound good, but not so close that the strings fret out on the covers when you depress the string at the last fret. You need to make sure the neck is straight and raise the bridge, if necessary, to obtain the required string clearance at the neck pickup. Once that is done, you can raise the bridge pickup as required. Hope this helps. J/W Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrorod Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 Yep, what you say is correct. I have been under the hood already to 'fix' the washers that had deteriorated on the bridge p'up. It was flopping in the cavity. The rubber grommets that I used are apparently too thick to allow a closer adjustment. The cover of this pickup has string scrapes on it from where someone had it too close to the strings for a period of time. I strung this one with 11-49 with a wound G, mainly because the bridge/saddle is intonated for a wound G. I will get to it soon. Thanks, Rod Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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