Gibson
Melody
Maker
Gibson didn’t attack the
student guitar market
with quite as much
fervor and ambition as
Fender, but its Melody
Maker line has become
legendary in its own
right, and was the first
proper guitar for many
young future heroes,
including Billy Gibbons
and Joan Jett among
others. It changed
body styles many times
since its 1959 release,
starting as a single-
cutaway LP Jr.-style
body with a single
pickup, and ending up
with an SG-style body
with two pickups
and a vibrato by
1966. Many other
variations have existed
as well, but the ‘59-
style single-cutaway
seems to be the
favorite.
Like other student
models, the Melody
Maker sought to uphold
the basic quality of its
forebears and give off
some of the same vibe,
while being smaller and
much cheaper. As such,
the original Melody
Maker had a Les Paul-
like shape, but with a
slimmer mahogany slab
body and set mahogany
neck. It was available in
either 18.56-inch scale
(only until 1970) or a
standard Gibson 24.75-
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