melody makeover

GBV&C GIBSON MELODY MAKER
MELODY
MAKEOVER
WITH A FEW EASILY REVERSIBLE MODS, THE HUMBLE MELODY MAKER CAN
BECOME A FIRE-BREATHING ROCK ’N’ ROLL MACHINE! PAUL ALCANTARA
PLUGS IN GIBSON’S UNDERRATED ECONOMY SOLIDBODY…
Encouraged by the initial success of its
gold-topped Les Paul model, Gibson added
two new solidbody guitars to its catalogue in
1954. Priced at $325 – exactly $100 more
than the regular Les Paul model – the Les Paul
Custom featured an imposing Super 400-style
headstock inlay, multiple body binding and
gold-plated hardware. By contrast, the $99.50
Les Paul Junior was a no-frills, slab-bodied
electric, equipped with basic hardware and
a single P-90 pickup.
The Les Paul Junior remained Gibson’s least
expensive solidbody until 1959, by which time its
price had risen to $120. Reasoning that a cheaper
solidbody guitar was needed if Gibson was to
remain competitive in the entry-level section of
the market, the company set about designing
a new model that would retail at less than $100.
...
BUILT TO A PRICE
Clearly based on the original Les Paul Junior, the
Melody Maker featured an unbound single-cutaway
slab mahogany body, a one-piece mahogany neck,
a dot-inlaid rosewood fingerboard, a single pickup,
a stud-mounted wraparound bridge/tailpiece and
a dark brown to yellow sunburst finish.
In order to keep the retail price below the magic
$100 figure, the new model’s body was three
eighths of an inch thinner than that of the Junior
(1.375 as opposed to 1.75 inches). Its narrow,
2.25-inch-wide headstock was fitted with
open-back, three-on-a-strip tuners with white oval
plastic buttons and its electronics – including the
jack socket – were mounted Fender-style onto a
single-ply black plastic pickguard.
Rather than design a new pickup, Gibson used
the rather basic single-coil unit that was already
fitted to its Skylark lap steel (for more on the
➔
Melody Maker’s pickup, see box on page 114).
108 guitarbuyer JULY 2009
JUly 2009
guitarbuyer
109
GBV&C GIBSON MELODY MAKER
“The melody
maker was
significantly
cheaper than
the fender
Musicmaster”
GOING FOR A SONG
BUYING A VINTAGE MELODY MAKER
The Melody Maker was available
with a full 24.75-inch scale length,
22 frets and a neck-body junction
at the 16th fret, or alternatively
a short 22.75-inch scale length with
19 frets and a neck-body junction
at the 12th fret.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED
Priced at $99.50 ($89.50 for the
guitar plus $10 for the 114 Durabilt
soft case), the Melody Maker was
significantly cheaper than Fender’s
single-pickup bolt-neck Musicmaster.
Moreover, the full-scale model, at
least, played like a real Gibson, with
a glued-in neck, a 22-fret Brazilian
n Both of this month’s
guitars have been fitted
with replacement tuners
rosewood fingerboard and
a lightweight Honduras mahogany
body. The guitar’s sound may have
left something to be desired, but
this was unlikely to be a major issue
with the entry-level players at which
it was aimed.
It is interesting to note that
Gibson initially intended to market
the Melody Maker as a Les Paul
model. Indeed, the guitar was
described in the Gibson Gazette as
the “all new Les Paul Melody Maker”.
By the time the model made it to
the production stage in the spring
of 1959, however, the Les Paul
➔
connection had been dropped.
Compared with other vintage Gibson electrics, the various
Melody Maker models remain relatively affordable.
If you view your purchase as an investment, however, it is best to
seek out an example that is in clean, all-original condition – and if
necessary pay slightly more for it. If, on the other hand, you intend
to upgrade the hardware, swap out the pickups or change the finish,
it would make more sense to look for what’s referred to as a ‘player’s
guitar’: an instrument that has been damaged, refinished or
otherwise altered. Guitars in this category can often be snapped up
at very affordable prices and, once fitted with the hardware and
electronics of your choice, may actually suit your playing needs
better than an unadulterated stock instrument.
As a rule, Gibsons built before 1965 are considered more desirable
and are priced accordingly. With Melody Makers this doesn’t appear
to be the case and the later SG-style models, perhaps because of their
attractive fire engine red and Pelham blue finishes, often fetch as
much if not more than earlier examples. Three-quarter-size guitars
are generally not sought after and this fact should be reflected by
a lower asking price.
The prices given below are given in US$ for unmolested guitars
in excellent or better condition. Double- and triple-pickup models
tend to be more expensive than their single-pickup counterparts,
but not markedly so.
TYPE ONE MELODY MAKERS
Les Paul Junior-style body (pictured left)
with single cutaway and sunburst finish.
$1,500 to $2,250
TYPE TWO MELODY MAKERS
The first double-cutaway version
(sunburst finish).
$1,000 to $1,500
TYPE THREE MELODY MAKERS
The second double-cutaway version
(cherry finish).
$1,000 to $1,500
TYPE FOUR MELODY MAKERS
SG-style body.
$1,500 to $2,000
110
guitarbuyer JULY 2009
GBV&C GIBSON MELODY MAKER
EPIPHONE
ALTERNATIVE
n The neck on this 1965
Melody Maker meets the
body at the 18th fret
SAVE CASH BY
GRABBING SOME
OLYMPIC GOLD
n The Melody Maker’s small
headstock means it’s less
prone to being neck-heavy
DOUBLING UP
The success of the single-pickup
Melody Maker – 3,073 units of which
were shipped in 1959 – led Gibson to
introduce a double-pickup version,
the Melody Maker D, which was
announced in late 1959 and shipped
in 1960. Priced at $135 (marginally
higher than the company’s
single-pickup Junior and TV models),
the MM-D was only available with a
full 24.75-inch scale length.
In 1958, Gibson revamped the
Les Paul Junior with a cherry red
finish and, more significantly, a brand
new double-cutaway body shape.
For a time, both the regular and
three-quarter-size Melody Makers
continued as single-cutaway models,
but in 1961 these too adopted the
double cutaway format.
However, unlike the Les Paul
Junior, TV and Special models, the
Melody Maker’s twin cutaways were
symmetrical. Since the neck-body
junction remained at the 16th fret,
the change of body style appears to
have been implemented for cosmetic
rather than practical reasons.
In early 1965, the Melody Maker’s
body outline changed again. The
horns were now angled slightly
further away from the neck and
the neck-body junction was moved
to the 18th fret, thus improving
access to the top end of the
fingerboard. At the same time, the
body edges became slightly more
rounded and cherry red replaced
sunburst as the standard finish.
POINTY BODIES
In 1966, the Melody Maker
adopted the thin double-cutaway
112
guitarbuyer JULY 2009
If you can live
without the ‘G’ word
on your guitar’s
headstock, it
might be worth
considering
the Gibson-built
Epiphone Olympic.
Introduced in 1960,
this model is virtually
identical to the early
single-cutaway Melody
Maker, with the same
pickup, stud-mounted
bridge/tailpiece and
narrow headstock. The
Olympic Special,
introduced in 1962, is
equivalent to the ‘type
two’ double-cutaway
Melody Maker model (it
later adopted the body
outline of the ‘type
three’ double-cutaway
Melody Maker). On the
whole, the prices of
vintage Epiphone solids
are lower than their
Gibson counterparts
and, with luck, an
Olympic Special like
this one can be found
for as little as $650!
“the Melody Maker played
like a real Gibson guitar”
body style that the Les Paul solids
– by now known as the SG series –
had assumed earlier in the decade.
Other changes included a large
white pickguard that covered much
of the upper body, matching white
pickup covers and body-mounted
knobs and jack socket. A Gibson
vibrato was now fitted as standard
and the cherry finish was replaced
with a choice of ‘fire engine red’
or ‘Pelham blue’.
In 1967 the range was broadened
to include a 12-string version (the
MM-12) and a three-pickup version
(the MM-III). A ‘walnut’ finish was
offered as an option in 1968,
going on to become the Melody
Maker’s standard finish two
years later. Around the same
time the model was upgraded
➔
with a full-width headstock.
n The glued-in neck
joint provides good
access to the top frets
GBV&C GIBSON MELODY MAKER
By now the Melody Maker had lost
much of its individual character and,
in 1971, it was quietly assimilated
into the SG range as the SG-100
and SG-200 models (with one and
two pickups respectively), which
featured a similar SG body style,
Melody Maker-type pickups and
an oblong metal control plate.
GIBSON’S BEST-KEPT
SECRET
Despite its budget status, the
original Melody Maker was built
to the same high standard as
any other Gibson guitar. Moreover,
its body and one-piece neck were
both constructed from resonant
Honduras mahogany and its unbound
fingerboard from Brazilian rosewood,
timbers that are rarely encountered
on production electrics today.
Melody Makers built in the late
1950s and early 1960s have the
same 1.69-inch nut width as most
other Gibsons of the period and
a neck profile that is a delight to
play. If their 1.375-inch-thick body
is thinner than that of a Les Paul
Junior, then it’s actually a 16th of
an inch thicker than that of an SG!
That said, in retrospect, Gibson
would have been well advised to
spend a little extra on the pickup,
and it is in this area that many
players find the Melody Maker
lacking. What constitutes ‘good
tone’ is of course subjective but
‘thin’, ‘brittle’ and ‘harsh’ are
adjectives that spring to mind when
describing the sound of a stock
Melody Maker through a clean amp.
n This Pelham blue 1968 Melody
Maker has been fitted with a
full-sized Gibson humbucker
OUR GUITARS
Both of this month’s featured
guitars are from the collection
➔
PICKUP COMPARISON
WHAT MAKES ONE PICKUP SOUND DIFFERENT TO ANOTHER?
With the help of US pickup guru Curtis
Novak (www.curtisnovak.com), we
examine the stock Melody Maker pickup
and suggest some replacement options …
sticker is visible on the base of early examples.
The first Gibson model to be fitted with
mini-humbuckers was the Les Paul Deluxe of
1969. The mini-humbuckers are wound a little
less than a full-size humbucker, so their
resistance is slightly lower. Together with its
smaller size and narrow magnetic field, this
lends the pickup a bright, focused tone.
MELODY MAKER
PICKUPS
When the Melody Maker first appeared in
1959, it was equipped with a single-coil
pickup codenamed the PU-380. Already
fitted to Gibson’s Skylark lap steel, the unit
was ideally suited to an entry-level model,
being both cheap and simple to produce.
Externally, the pickup was characterised by
an oblong black plastic cover that was 0.875
inches wide and had no visible polepieces.
Like other Gibson pickups of the period, its
Alnico magnet was wound with number
42-gauge wire. In 1960 the pickup’s grey
fibre bobbin was replaced with a moulded
nylon bobbin and as a result its width was
reduced to 0.625 inches.
“The weakness with the Melody Maker
pickup [see below] is that it uses a single bar
magnet turned on its end as a blade,” says
Curtis Novak. “Most popular Gibson pickups
have the bar magnet turned on its side and
this is a major factor in creating what we
n Gibson’s mini-humbucker
(right) and Firebird pickups
FIREBIRD PICKUPS
think of today as the classic ‘Gibson’ tone.
When the magnet is laid flat on its side,
there is a larger area to sense the strings
and thereby affect the coil. In addition, the
steel screws, slugs or blades are magnetised
and this increases the pickups’ overall
magnetic field. With the Melody Maker
pickup, Gibson wound the coil hotter in an
attempt to compensate for the lack of
metal and the narrow sensing area. In my
opinion, they wound them a little too high.”
Similar in size to the mini-humbucker, the
Firebird ‘Super Deluxe’ pickup can also be
fitted to the Melody Maker. It is characterised
by a metal cover with no visible polepieces.
“Unlike the mini-humbucker, which has
a blade in one bobbin and screw polepieces
in the other, the Firebird pickup has two steel
blades,” says Curtis. “The mini-humbucker
used an Alnico-V magnet and the Firebird used
a slightly weaker Alnico-II. Other than that, the
two pickups are identical.”
MINI-HUMBUCKERS
Early Gibson-built Epiphone electrics were
fitted with left over ‘New York’ pickups.
Once supplies of these were exhausted,
Gibson began using three different pickup
types: P-90s, Melody Maker-style
single-coils and mini-humbuckers.
Designed by Seth Lover (who was
also responsible for the full-sized Gibson
humbucker), the mini-humbucker has two
coils and a metal cover with adjustable
slot-head polepieces. A ‘Patent Applied For’
114 guitarbuyer JULY 2009
n A mini-humbucker (right)
next to a full-sized PAF
GBV&C GIBSON MELODY MAKER
n The pickguard-mounted
pickups and electronics
make it easy to swap out
the entire assembly
n Andy has replaced the
unreliable vibrato with an
adjustable Badass bridge
of Andy Duke, vocalist and bass
player with the band Buck Brothers
(see www.buckbrothers.net).
A self-confessed ‘Melody Maker
anorak’, Andy admits to a long-held
obsession with Joan Jett.
“The first time I saw a Melody
Maker was in the video for ‘I Love
Rock ’N’ Roll’ by Joan Jett,” Andy
recalls. “I had no idea what model
it was at the time – in fact,
I thought it was a Gibson ES-335S
Deluxe for quite a while! Fast
forward to March 2008 and while
touring the States with my band
Buck Brothers I came across a
life-sized poster of Joan Jett holding
the axe that I’d lusted after all
those years ago. On examining the
poster, I could clearly see the words
‘Melody Maker’ on the pickguard just
above the neck pickup.
“The search was on and, being in
the States, it didn’t take long before
I spotted (though didn’t buy) a 1963
116 guitarbuyer JULY 2009
double-cutaway model in
a guitar shop. I was immediately
struck by how good and bad these
entry-level guitars were. Though
Gibson didn’t cut corners in their
build quality, the Melody Maker was
let down by cheap machineheads,
a vibrato that refused to stay in
tune and pickups that, while cool
in a garage band kind of way, were
a little too brittle.
“A few days later, while passing
through Las Vegas, I stumbled on
a 1965 Melody Maker in amazing
condition hanging in the back of
a pawnshop. Finished in cherry
red, it had my name all over it!
Being a player rather than
a collector, I immediately began
considering how best to modify
my new acquisition. Initially,
I contemplated ‘doing a Joan
Jett’ and fitting two ’buckers,
but as I grew more
attached to the
guitar, the idea of
routing its stock
mahogany body
became less
appealing.”
MELODY MODS
“A solution came in
the form of a man
named Kennan
Keating who
I met in New
York City,
where we
ended our
first US
tour,” Andy
continues.
“A soundman
at Club Rehab,
who had spotted
“it sounds like a
cross between a les
paul deluxe and an sg”
my cherry Melody Maker on stage,
said, ‘You’ve got to meet this cat
named Kennan – he’ll talk your ear
off about Melody Makers’. Numbers
were exchanged and, a quick phone
call later, I found out that the
soundman was right.
“Kennan Keating is the Obi-wan
Kenobi of Melody Makers! Not only
does he own a bunch of them but
he also offers retrofit pickup
assemblies that slot right in and
don’t require a single change to the
guitar’s woodwork. Pre-1966 Melody
Maker pickup assemblies are all
one-piece, so all you have to do is
connect the earth wire and screw
the new assembly into place.
“My 1965 Melody Maker now
has a one-piece Badass bridge,
mini-humbuckers and Grover retrofit
machineheads. It sounds like a cross
between a Les Paul Deluxe and an
SG: bright and well-defined but really
big too. It’s incredibly light and holds
its tuning better than any Gibson
I’ve ever played.
“About a year later I found a 1968
SG-shaped Melody Maker in Pelham
blue that had already been fitted
with an early 1970s humbucker with
‘Gibson’ embossed on its cover. Like
the cherry 1965, the guitar needed
new machineheads and it, too, now
sports a one-piece Badass bridge.
Thanks to the reduced weight of its
narrow headstock, it doesn’t ‘floor
dive’ like a regular SG does.” GB
n Special thanks go to Andy Duke for
the loan of his guitars and to Curtis
Novak for sharing his knowledge of
➔
vintage pickups
GBV&C GIBSON MELODY MAKER
MELODY MAKER TIMELINE
1959
Introduced in 1959, the Melody Maker features
a single-cutaway mahogany body (like that of
a Les Paul Junior but 0.375 inches thinner),
mahogany neck, dot-inlaid 22-fret rosewood
fingerboard and narrow headstock. It is fitted
with a wraparound bridge/tailpiece and
a 0.875-inch-wide single-coil pickup with
a black plastic cover and no visible polepieces.
Electronics are mounted to a black plastic
pickguard that has the words ‘Melody Maker’
embossed where it meets the fingerboard.
The finish is sunburst. A three-quarter-size
version is also available. This has 12 frets
clear of the body, a 19-fret fingerboard and
22.75-inch scale length. The price for the
guitar is $99.50 (including a soft case).
1960
A dual-pickup version – the Melody Maker D
(MM-D) – is introduced. Priced at $135,
it is only available with a full 24.75-inch scale
length. It has individual tone and volume
controls for each pickup and a three-way
toggle selector switch. The pickup width
is narrowed to 0.625 inches.
1961
The body shape switches to a symmetrical
double cutaway outline. The neck to body
junction remains at the 16th fret.
Late 1961
The bridge/tailpiece now features preset
compensated ridges for improved intonation.
1962
A Maestro vibrato is now available as an
optional extra.
1965
The body edges are now more rounded, the
horns are angled further away from the neck
and the neck-body junction is moved to the
18th fret. The standard finish is changed from
sunburst to cherry red.
1966
The Melody Maker is redesigned with an
SG-shaped body. A large white pickguard
covers most of the upper body. The pickup
covers are white and the controls are mounted
direct to the body. A Gibson vibrato is now
fitted as standard. The finish options are fire
engine red and Pelham blue.
1967
A 12-string
version (the
MM-12) is
available with
two pickups
and no vibrato.
A three-pickup
version (the
MM-III) is also
introduced. The
MM-D, MM-III and
Melody Maker 3/4
are available with
optional sparkling
burgundy finish.
1968
A walnut finish
is added to the
options.
Late 1969
The MM-D now features a full-size headstock.
The MM-12 is available with optional sparkling
burgundy or Pelham blue finishes.
1970
The single-pickup Melody Maker now has
a walnut finish as standard and a full-size
headstock.
1971
Single- and double-pickup Melody Makers are
replaced by the SG-100 and SG-200 models
respectively.
118 guitarbuyer JULY 2009