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tjon901 « Is this really a Gibson? »
Published on 05/17/11 at 18:14In 2007 Gibson started putting out a new version of the Melody Maker. The 2007 version has 2 single coil pickups on a thin slab of supposedly mahogany wood. It has a 22 fret mahogany neck with a rosewood fretboard. Dont expect any binding whatsoever. It has an unusually small headstock that looks like it would be more suited on a banjo. It has a large single ply pickguard where all the electronics are mounted. The output jack is mounted perpendicular to the body on the single ply pickguard which is a problem because any lateral force on a cable plugged into the jack may cause the pickguard to crack. This is why most Gibsons have the jack mounted into the body wood itself even if it is perpendicular to the body. The guitar has a single tone and volume control and a 3-way toggle switch pickup selector. The guitar has a simple wrap around bridge probably made from aluminum. There is no adjustment on the bridge for strings so good luck if you are having a hard time getting your guitar intonated. The guitar has one of Gibsons faded finishes. Gibson started doing faded finishes to save money. They are pretty much a painted guitar without the final clearcoat on it. This means the finish is unprotected and will easily come off the wood. Some people who like the relic look will like this others will not.
UTILIZATION
These guitars come with Gibsons 50s style neck profile. The Gibson 50s style neck profile is commonly referred to as the baseball bat neck profile. It almost feels like you are holding to Ibanez necks in your hand. This may make it hard for people with smaller hands to play the guitar. The fretwork on this example was not very good. Gibson has been hit or miss on the fretwork of their lower end models lately. I would wager to bet most Epiphones have better fretwork that this guitar. Due to the body being so thin the guitar is very light which may be good for some people. It does not feel like a quality or solid guitar in your hands.
SOUNDS
Gibsons are known for their big fat tones but apparently they forgot that when they designed this guitar. Due to the thin body and low quality wood the tone is likewise as thin. The single coils are thin and tinny with an almost painful high end sound to them. They are also very noisy. The guitar is very jangly sounding. This is not what you would associate or typically expect from a Gibson guitar. The sound may be usable for some types of country music or maybe punk rock.
OVERALL OPINION
There are an infinite number of foreign made guitars that are better than this Gibson. This guitar frankly feels like a toy and sounds like something you would buy for a 5 year old at Wal-Mart. I really do not know why Gibson would put their name on something like this. The street price on these guitars is around 500 dollars and frankly that is asking too much. Gibson is hurting their brand image by selling something like this. This is clearly for the people who just want to say they own a Gibson and dont care or know what a Gibson is supposed to sound like.
UTILIZATION
These guitars come with Gibsons 50s style neck profile. The Gibson 50s style neck profile is commonly referred to as the baseball bat neck profile. It almost feels like you are holding to Ibanez necks in your hand. This may make it hard for people with smaller hands to play the guitar. The fretwork on this example was not very good. Gibson has been hit or miss on the fretwork of their lower end models lately. I would wager to bet most Epiphones have better fretwork that this guitar. Due to the body being so thin the guitar is very light which may be good for some people. It does not feel like a quality or solid guitar in your hands.
SOUNDS
Gibsons are known for their big fat tones but apparently they forgot that when they designed this guitar. Due to the thin body and low quality wood the tone is likewise as thin. The single coils are thin and tinny with an almost painful high end sound to them. They are also very noisy. The guitar is very jangly sounding. This is not what you would associate or typically expect from a Gibson guitar. The sound may be usable for some types of country music or maybe punk rock.
OVERALL OPINION
There are an infinite number of foreign made guitars that are better than this Gibson. This guitar frankly feels like a toy and sounds like something you would buy for a 5 year old at Wal-Mart. I really do not know why Gibson would put their name on something like this. The street price on these guitars is around 500 dollars and frankly that is asking too much. Gibson is hurting their brand image by selling something like this. This is clearly for the people who just want to say they own a Gibson and dont care or know what a Gibson is supposed to sound like.