Melody Maker : my first Gibson

[islay]

Hello !

 

I am not a Gibson man, normally I play with a 25"1/2 neck ...

A few days ago, I was visiting a guitar shop and they had a sunburst Melody Maker. Very cheap for a Gibson (399 €). Well, I tried it ... and I loved it ! Just one pickup, but what a great pickup. With the tone knob, it's possible to have several sounds. Besides, the position of the volume knob and of the tone knob is just perfect for volume swells and tone swells. In fact a versatile instrument ! Surprising ...

The shop had also in stock some white Melody Maker and they were even cheaper (349 €) and the white ones are even nicer.

Conclusion : I bought one !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Congratulations for producing such a nice instrument for such a price. Who wants to buy a eastern copy when you can buy the real deal ???

[dem00n]

Grats on the new guitar. I have the same exact model cept mine has two pickups. Dont worry, in no time youll put a few dents into it.

[strat-o-steve]

I own the same guitar! Except mine is vintage sunburst! Congrats! This guitar has just opened a door for you.....as you will soon be lusting after another Gibson LOL. My Melody Maker was my first Gibson.....and now I own 4 :) The Melody Maker is a great little guitar. It is versatile in that it does cover a certain range of tones very well.

[Metalrulez]

The Melody Maker is a great guitar. If people would learn how to use the tone control they would realize how many different sounds you can get with a single pickup.

[icantbuyafender]

I have 3 of the double pickup model!

 

vintage sunburst, white, and black.

 

My favorite guitars!

 

They prompted me to snag a LP studio and SG special faded.

 

But the MMs are the only ones i loved enough to keep.

 

Theyre gonna be buried with me lol

[RUSHian]

Congratulations!!

[Sollophonic]

I too was a Fender/25.5 scale player, and never really entertained Gibsons before. I always associated them with boat anchor Les Pauls, archtops, and pointy stuff. Plus set necks didnt really do it for me. Until I picked up this black Melody Maker very cheap a year or so ago.

 

 

This little guitar stole my heart.

 

Lovely chunky neck, stripped down no-nonsense player, very responsive controls, lightweight, great sound from the pickup. What was there not to like?

 

So I started on a bit of a Gibson kick really.

 

Looking out for a LP Jnr, I then stumbled on this P90 Melody Maker, again at a superb price

 

With the added pickguard I reckon it is about 90% of a Jnr for less than 1/3 the price

 

Two Melody Maker owner here

 

 

I have just less than £400 in these two Gibbys

 

And I love 'em both.

 

My Teles are getting jealous

[marius]

nice guitars!!

[islay]

The hardest part is to choose the color

The sunburst is cool, the back is great but the white is really so nice ... perhaps the Schenker influence !

[JellyWheat]

I may have to buy one of these guys, just to save the wear and tear on my recently- acquired 1961 MM D!

 

These fellers seem more the thickness of a LP Junior than my MM, which is only 1 3/8" thick! My pups are not as powerful as P-90s but they are really SMOOTH, and go from greasy jazz to chikkin pickin' in the twinkling of an eye.

 

I'd like to score one with a rosewood board, if I can find one. (DON'T say a word to Mrs JellyWheat!)

 

J/W

[islay]

After more than two weeks and quite a lot of hours of playing , my two main fears are are gone :

1. the tuners are good enough
   
2. the intonation can be good enough especially if you use heavier strings
   

 

I changed the 10-46 strings with 11-49 strings. With more tension, the tuners work better and the intonation is also better. Next time, I will try some 11-52, but I feel that 11-49 is a good compromise.

Fits, I was thinking of buying an wraparound adjustable bridge, but now I think I will keep the original bridge (besides, the wraparound adjustable bridges are ugly !)

[EvanHeavy]

Hey everyone, This is my first post.

 

I Have a 2007 MM in ebony stain and a Les Paul JR in t-burst. I love these guitar, The best tone.

I put a hip shot baby grand bridge on my MM, and swapped out the pick up for a Dimarzio SDS-1, sounds killer

here is a link to my bands new music video showcasing our awesome MMs.

 

http://www.heavyhandband.com/

[EvanHeavy]

Here are some pics of my guitars

[EvanHeavy]

Here is a pic of my guitars

[Ryan H]

Nice! I love Melody Makers, they're my favorite Gibsons. Them and Jr's. MM's I love because of how light and comfortable they are to play. My '64 MM DC is under 7 pounds.

 

The Juniors I love for their raw simplicity. They are the Esquire of Gibson. Pure rock & roll with no frills.

[islay]

Hello

 

After a few months with my Melody Maker, I can say for sure that's a great guitar.

With 11-52 strings, this guitar sings and rings like a bell.

For slide, it's absolutely perfect.

Some people find the single coil pickup too piercing, but the tone knob is there for taming this vicious bastard !

 

Buy one before it's too late !

[Number29Rick]

I've got a blue 2011 SG Melody Maker. I will make my live performance debut with it at my friends wedding in July. I guess you could say that I will be making melody! I learned Aura Lee (which is basically the same tune as Love Me Tender) in session 3 of Gibson's Learn and Master Guitar with Steve Krenz. Now I'll take it live. Long live Gibson Melody Makers!

 

Rick

[Searcy]

Love my 94 64 Melody Maker. It's what taught me I didn't need a Fender any more.

 

[Ryan H]

Love my 94 Melody Maker. It's what taught me I didn't need a Fender any more.

 

 

I'm guessing that 94 is a typo for 64 =P. Love mine too

 

[Searcy]

Yep... I meant 64. Totally cool guitar. Trying to talk JW into giving me his 61. No luck so far.

[alienstarguest]

I too am a recent owner of a MM. A 2007. The tailpiece is described as a Gotoh wraparound and in some specs says its intonable. How is able to intonate other than raising or lowering. It looks like a typical stopbar to me. Can anyone tell us the difference between the wraparound and the stopbar? After all, many folks use the stopbar in wraparound fashion. Thanks.

 

Also was wondering: for the guy that installed the hip shot baby grand bridge - did it go right into the original body inserts or was there any other modding you had to to. thanks. that bridge looks absolutely freekin perfect. very nice, and I here they do a great job intonating.

I myself have a spare gibson TP-6 on hand and was wondering how the TP-6 might work.

EDIT: Got my info (thanks) on the other post. The TP-6 will not work by itself. Must be used in conjunction with a bridge (generally a tune-o-matic).

[Ryan H]

I too am a recent owner of a MM. A 2007. The tailpiece is described as a Gotoh wraparound and in some specs says its intonable. How is able to intonate other than raising or lowering. It looks like a typical stopbar to me. Can anyone tell us the difference between the wraparound and the stopbar? After all, many folks use the stopbar in wraparound fashion. Thanks.

 

Also was wondering: for the guy that installed the hip shot baby grand bridge - did it go right into the original body inserts or was there any other modding you had to to. thanks. that bridge looks absolutely freekin perfect. very nice, and I here they do a great job intonating.

I myself have a spare gibson TP-6 on hand and was wondering how the TP-6 might work.

 

To intonate the stock wraparound bridge, look at the back of it. There should be two tiny allen screws recessed into the back of the bridge. These are used to angle the bridge, to intonate it.

 

And as i stated in your topic you made, the TP-6 will not work on a stock Melody Maker, as It is not a bridge in itself, but a stopbar tailpiece. It is meant to be used with tune-o-matic bridges. It does not have intonation points such as saddles.

[Ryan H]

Yep... I meant 64. Totally cool guitar. Trying to talk JW into giving me his 61. No luck so far.

 

I'm installing a modified Wolfetone P90 into mine soon enough...just waiting for the new pickguard to come in the mail. Had a custom one cut for the new pickup.

[buliwyf]

well as I was waiting for the sales guy to do a quick one string change on a ESP LTD George Lynch tiger stryped guitar, A Melody maker in an Explorer shape caught my eye.So i plugged it in to waste some time and it sounded and felt so good I bought it on the spot (the Lynch had a huge neck and didnt feel right to me).I really dig the explorer shape and it looked cool in white and being like 1/3 smaller took some of the weight off.The PU is a Seymour Duncan and is a serious screamer and as for the wrap around bridge it stays in tune and the intonation is perfect.Hell a new Gibson for under $500.00 is well worth it.