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portugalwillie wrote: what happened to it? and why was that a first guitar?

MM's were the ultimate "first guitar". They also still don't cost that much when you consider the rollercoaster the '90s was to the vintage guitar market, they aren't standards or juniors, they go for under $1000 all day long right now.

Then consider hotrod probably started playing sometime in the '90s (my assumption) and they were even cheaper... BUT you could also consider that it was a relative's and was passed on for free (free stuff was really cheap in the '90s, before Bush found a way to tax it).

They didn't make Melody Makers in '58 though, must've been a '59 or early '60, if it was double cutaway it was later.

right. I figured it was a family members . . . but if that was the case I would assume he would have it because he's not like me who sells their guitars every other month.

just wondering what the story is. I would love to get my hands on an old melody maker. I had one of the newer ones last summer and loved it.

The new Gibson stuff that's rumored is more exciting than all that new Fender pawnshops people are fighting about in the other thread.

portugalwillie wrote:right. I figured it was a family members . . . but if that was the case I would assume he would have it because he's not like me who sells their guitars every other month.

just wondering what the story is. I would love to get my hands on an old melody maker. I had one of the newer ones last summer and loved it.

i've mentioned it before, and as a complete story goes, it's not one i'm fond of re-telling, but i'll give it a go...

that guitar was played by my dad's cousin's wife's dad, and her mom played the harmonica (or something similar, shit, maybe it was a jaw-harp), anyhow... they gave it to me when i was about 14, and i never played it. it was all original, and looked like an 'old man guitar,' as i defined it then.

i finally came around, and got some light restoration done. basically just had it cleaned up, set up and new strangs. i still didn't play it much, and it just sat. i had no idea what it was, or if it was worth anything. all i knew is that it was really fun to just fake play, and sounded cool even though i didn't know how to play.

i ended up buying an ac15 to play it through (used from an old music shop in raytown) for like $150 in probably 98 or 99. i didn't really like the amp, so i quit playing, and after a while sold the amp for peanuts to fix a truck i had.

having nothing to play the guitar through, a friend of mine who was really into guitars realized i had it, and said it was probably worth a shit ton. so i sold it on a very early version of ebay, and put a down payment on a brand new 2001 Audi S4.

and now i wish i hadn't sold it. i sold the car about two years ago, and then put a down payment on my house. so i guess you could say in the end i got about $25k out of the guitar.

@paul_: you're right, i actually meant to type '59. i don't know for certain that's the year of it, but when i sold it, that's how i advertised it because that's what the guy at the music store who fixed it up said it was. i have some pics of it somewhere. supposedly, he had a les paul with p90's, but that one has never surfaced. i've seen pics of them both. the p90'd one was a gold top!

i've got to track the original pics down. i go to the family reunion every year like clock work, so that'll be my number one mission.

i dig these other than the satin finish. i even like the blue color.

Why does it have to have a humbucker? Why no p-90 or gibson single coil?

Dannymec wrote:Why does it have to have a humbucker? Why no p-90 or gibson single coil?

They have done a re-issue with a single coil. They also had another guitar called "melody maker" with a p-90 that was more LP junior like.

Why can't it be this:

cus it won't handle the heavy music that most people want to play these days

it will with a fucking hot rail in it!

hotrodperlmutter wrote:my first guitar was a 58 melody maker. if it's anything like that, i'll love it.

I'm just going to go ahead and guarantee that these are not going to feel anywhere near as good as your 59 melody maker. Go find any example of the low end gibson fadeds and you'll have an idea of what these will feel like... that is if the fret ends don't chop your fingers off before you are able to feel the neck.

man fuck all you guys shitting on my deramz

hotrodperlmutter wrote:man fuck all you guys shitting on my deramz

Sorry, just trying to help you not get your hopes up. I mean these are melody makers by name only. Just like those Starcaster by Fender guitars you see at best buy... nobody should have any misconception that they're quality because they're named after a sought-after vintage model fender.

to be fair, i don't think that's an accurate analogy.

aren't these made in the US? starcasters are made in a third-world country and to shit standards of quality.

maybe these guitars won't be my cup of tea neckwise, but your saying the fit and finish is total crap?

i played one of those RI melody makers, and i thought they were super nice.

Billy3000 wrote:I'm just going to go ahead and guarantee that these are not going to feel anywhere near as good as your 59 melody maker. Go find any example of the low end gibson fadeds and you'll have an idea of what these will feel like...

more than likely this ^

hotrodperlmutter wrote:man fuck all you guys shitting on my deramz

I do not shit on dreams, I piss on parades

Lucamo wrote:Would much rather buy this for the money:



and save $200+ for the eventual mods you will do anyways. CHEAPASS MELODYMAKER

Just got one two days ago, actually:

[youtube][/youtube]
Might be the easiest guitar to work on, ever:


The bridge:


This has adjustments and is quite good in terms of intonation, though I'm replacing it with a fully intonatable bridge. That tummy cut really makes a huge difference when you're playing, it makes it truly stick to your body like glue.

I think I love this guitar already. I'm replacing a Jaguar with it (har har). I like it better than any Epiphone I've played, and I'd rate the quality as at least as good as most lower-end Gibsons I've played. I've never played any Gibson above an LP Studio.

If you buy a Melody Maker instead of at least thinking about a Douglas Classic or an Agile AD201, you are a sucker. Period.

Dud, so amazing you bought one. I have been considering for some time. Other the pee yellow of the classic wood finish. It looks so nice.
Glad to finally hear it.

I wish they made a red one. But I still like the banana yellow. It's pretty slick.

Definitely buying the douglas now. I borrowed a friend's les paul and I liked the shape, but not the buckers. Always liked p-90s better. And I can't go wrong for 150 bucks.

Here they are: http://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/musikmesse-2011-gibson-melody-maker-series-in-pictures-420173

Key specifications across the board include maple bodies, mahogany slim-taper necks with torrefied maple fingerboards and wrap-around tailpieces. All four shapes are available in satin blue, satin ebony and satin white, and they come stripped-down and ready to rock with just a single 491T humbucker at the bridge and a master volume control.

I think the explorer one looks pretty cool, I like the pickguard. The V pickguard sucks...
The blue is horrible.