Current Gibson Melody Makers: Crap or Not?

[blakejcan]

Specifically this guy on closeout at Sam Ash?

thanks!

http://www.samash.com/p/Gibson_Melody Maker Special Electric Guitar_1759059

 

[darnright]

Re: Current Gibson Melody Makers: Crap or Not?

Those actually are pretty decent, IMO. The last ones with the weird headstock, not so much.

-dave

 

[BloodRose]

Re: Current Gibson Melody Makers: Crap or Not?

I like the blue one! Pretty good straight up rock axes!

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Current Gibson Melody Makers: Crap or Not?

Not bad. Kind of tempting. But I think I'd rather get a used Les Paul Melody Maker, and add a neck P90 (and possibly a guard). They were $380 when new, and IME they were better quality and have a "cooler" finish than the '07 and up MM models. No, they weren't perfect, but the nut, fret, and fingerboard work on their lower end guitars back then was pretty much equal to that on their fancy models. Now, Gibson really breeze over the final detail work on their low-end models – sharp fingerboard edges, rough frets that need better crowning, end dressing, and polishing, and really bad nuts.

LPMMs are about $250 to $300 used. With a little effort and patience, you'd likely end up with a less expensive guitar that was built better in the first place. Plus they have a stop tailpiece and a rosewood fretboard.

 

[RavenMadd]

Re: Current Gibson Melody Makers: Crap or Not?

Not bad. Kind of tempting. But I think I'd rather get a used Les Paul Melody Maker, and add a neck P90 (and possibly a guard). They were $380 when new, and IME they were better quality and have a "cooler" finish than the '07 and up MM models. No, they weren't perfect, but the nut, fret, and fingerboard work on their lower end guitars back then was pretty much equal to that on their fancy models. Now, Gibson really breeze over the final detail work on their low-end models – sharp fingerboard edges, rough frets that need better crowning, end dressing, and polishing, and really bad nuts.

LPMMs are about $250 to $300 used. With a little effort and patience, you'd likely end up with a less expensive guitar that was built better in the first place. Plus they have a stop tailpiece and a rosewood fretboard.

E-bay has deals also ......they look good

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Current Gibson Melody Makers: Crap or Not?

For that price, I would buy one.

For me, the only things that might be off-putting are the baked fingerboard and the need to do something about one or other of the pickups. I love P90s but I would want there to be a difference in output between the two positions. Either a hotter than vintage bridge/Treble pickup or a reduced output neck/Rhythm pickup. A change of magnet(s) might be enough.

I actually like the vintage "wingless" headstock. The nut slot angles are no more problematic than for the "open book" headstock design.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Current Gibson Melody Makers: Crap or Not?

In short...not!

 

[Johnny the Kid]

Re: Current Gibson Melody Makers: Crap or Not?

I've played them before. They sound pretty good, but I felt that the tuners weren't of great quality, even for a budget model. I know that it has an SD 103 (the Duncan Designed Distortion), and that's not a bad pickup. If you get one, an upgrade wouldn't be horrible, but not necessarily needed.