« Gibson Marauder »

This was my first electric guitar back in 1980. I paid around $300 for it. I was 16 years old. That was a lot for me, as I was in high school. I had a summer job that got me $200 and my mother gave me the rest. I bought it at Villa Piano in Santurce city, Puerto Rico. I got into the store. There were so many guitars beautiful guitars in there, and suddenly, my eyes catched this beauty. I asked to plug it in and played a few notes. It sounded different than a Les Paul, way different, but I decided to buy it on the spot. I knew what to spect from the other best know guitars, but this one sparked my curiousity.

First, the looks. It is a classy looking guitar. It is made of Mahogany body and a maple neck. At first, it resembles an LP, but closer examination reveal the obvious differences; The Pick ups are plexiglass enclosed, both of them. I like the sound of this guitar. It talks Country, it talks blues, but it also talks hard rock. Even if it only has 3 switch positions, the three cover the range of this guitar. It is easy to set up, stays in tune and easy to work on stage. This guitar likes finger picking. The sound is full and lush. The pick up outputs are relativelly low when compared to other guitars, but it give it more sustain by the lighter magnetic field

This guitar is heavy. When I was younger, the weight always left me a sore neck. But, in a way, it helped me in getting stronger!

This guitar is solid. It can kill a bear with one blow

This guitar has a sound of its own. If you think it is a Les Paul, well, it is not!! Maybe this is why some people don't like it. Once you get to know it, you will love it to death. I do, for more than 20 years, it is still my main guitar.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com