I blame Curtis for this. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it. ;D
This year's model is a definite departure from the Melody Makers of years past. But then again, that model seems to be very different from year to year anyway. This is a lot more like a Les Paul Junior Special, but with a carved top, maple cap, wrap-around bridge (like most "regular" Juniors), and the oft-maligned "satin" finish that is on most of Gibson's "cheap" guitars the past few years.
The color is "Mahanttan Midnight", which looks like very dark grey until the light hits it just right, and then the dark blue underneath shows through. Sure, I would have preferred a plain top burst with a decent clear coat, but in Gibson-land that means $$$. It's a decent enough finish, but I suspect it will pick up "relic marks" a lot faster than a traditional finish. It's very raw feeling, which some people like and some hate. I'm on the fence, but I definitely don't hate it.
The body is quite thin and has a body sculpt not unlike a Strat (but less pronounced). The weight on this one is about 7.5 pounds. The carved top is nice and very similar to a typical Les Paul. Fans of the older Meolody Maker and Junior flat-slab-o-wood models probably won't like all the curves and cuts. The headstock is standard Gibson rather than the tiny little thing they put on previous models.
Tuners are Klusons with the small white vintage buttons; the quality seems pretty nice on these, and they turn smoothly. I thought I wouldn't like the aesthetics of these, but they kinda work. They will stay for now. The bridge is a wrap-around intonated with set screws to adjust the length (somewhat). I may replace the bridge with something that has individual saddles, but the intonation seemed pretty close to me as is. So we'll see. I'm not crazy about the knobs, but there's nothing wrong with them.
The pickups are interesting, to say the least. They are P90s, but they have a slug pole pieces instead of the typical screw-adjust. These puppies are pretty punchy and sound to me a lot closer to a humbucker than a standard single coil. I might put metal covers on there for the looks, but I'm going to keep the pickups in there a good while and see how I like them.
The neck is medium, in terms of baseball bat-ness. It's noticeably smaller than my R8, but then again so is everything else. ;D Fretboard looks pretty nice (but needs to be oiled), and the 120th logo inlay actually is kinda neat looking. Must have been robots, because there is no wood filler visible around the inlay.
Overall, I'm very pleased with the quality, fit/finish, and tone. The action is too high for my taste, but that's an easy fix and a personal preference. I got it from Sweetwater in their Deal Zone section; it's a demo unit (presumably in their retail store in Ft. Wayne) and there are a few minor marks, but it took me a few minutes to find them. Price was $460 shipped, which I think is amazing for a USA-made set-neck carved-top guitar, regardless of what name is on the headstock.
Here are a few pics:
(http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh218/reverse_engineer/IMG_3910_zps21ee007f.jpg)
I flashed it up good to make the blue show up. It doesn't even really look like this in person.
(http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh218/reverse_engineer/IMG_3916_zps8a0031fc.jpg)
Here it is next to "regular" Les Paul to show the thickness difference and body cut.
(http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh218/reverse_engineer/IMG_3917_zps4dbb6c51.jpg)
Nice score. That's a lot of guitar for the money.
Do you know if Gibson put it through the PLEK machine? I thought I'd read they're doing it with all USA guitars.
Quote from: jubal81 on September 25, 2014, 03:29:15 AM
Do you know if Gibson put it through the PLEK machine? I thought I'd read they're doing it with all USA guitars.
I have no idea about this one specifically, but I think you are right about all USA guitars getting the PLEK treatment. I think ultimately it's cheaper to have the machine do it. It used to be an upgrade, but it turned into process efficiency, as far as I can tell.
Nice grab, digging the overall look of these. For the price it's quite hard to beat that! 8)
Very nice, I've nearly grabbed one of those a couple of times, they are really sharp.
And I accept all the blame.
That is a smoking deal. The slug pole pieces actually look cool. I like that. I dig the tummy cut too. That looks comfy to play. I bet that would be gorgeous with clear coat.
That's a good-looking axe - iwoot!
oh yea, P-90s ?
Here's an up-skirt of the control cavity. I rather like the tidyness of the PCB.
(http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh218/reverse_engineer/MM-03_zps8c435d05.jpg)
The Melody Makers have certainly changed since I stopped working at the music store. They re-released them in...2007 ish and they looked like this.
(http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/shop_image/uploads/Image/melody_sun.jpg)
Yours looks more like a "The Paul" than a Melody Maker, which is cool in my book. I liked the "The Pauls" for a bolt on they were really nice.
The Paul
(https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR-y_1Q9N3KMO56f0pbUFIRZkfy47HVHpGsOA2GlGHIW7op6DAD)
That purchase is pure victory, I am friends with a local guy and a killer guitarist who happens to work at a local guitar store and has tried all of it, repeatedly. Of all the giitars in the store he always praised 2012,2013,2014 melody makers and that store has some sick guitars.
Congrats mate
Quote from: flanagan0718 on September 26, 2014, 03:58:41 PM
The Melody Makers have certainly changed since I stopped working at the music store.
Yours looks more like a "The Paul" than a Melody Maker, which is cool in my book. I liked the "The Pauls" for a bolt on they were really nice.
Yeah, this one is a mashup of features from other models: It's thin like an SG, has the "belly cut" of some of the Juniors, it's carved top / maple cap like a Standard, and it has the wraparound bridge like a lot of the other MM and Jr models. Strange bird, but I dig it.
Quote from: culturejam on September 26, 2014, 07:49:04 PM
Quote from: flanagan0718 on September 26, 2014, 03:58:41 PM
The Melody Makers have certainly changed since I stopped working at the music store.
Yours looks more like a "The Paul" than a Melody Maker, which is cool in my book. I liked the "The Pauls" for a bolt on they were really nice.
In some ways that reminds me of my Pawn Shop Jaguar with P90s and a stop tail. Odd guitar, but it works for me on a lot of levels. Really glad I grabbed it.
Yeah, this one is a mashup of features from other models: It's thin like an SG, has the "belly cut" of some of the Juniors, it's carved top / maple cap like a Standard, and it has the wraparound bridge like a lot of the other MM and Jr models. Strange bird, but I dig it.
if it has a maple top then that is even sweeter. P-90's have so much going on with each note.
So there was one here for sale for $250 over the weekend, but dude was only available to sell it for two hours on a Saturday.
Can someone say Stolen Merchandise (he had a bunch of other stuff listed that seemed like random grab and go stuff, and has mysteriously disappeared)? One of those too good to be true moments.
Bummer.
It's like that craigslist ad for a R9 priced at $900...but it's listed in 10 of the biggest markets (and regularly). Definitely a scam.
Would have liked to have grabbed it, and truthfully, if I hadn't seen his other ads and the micro window he had for selling it, I would have jumped on it, but too much of it sounded like "I just broke into someone's car and have to unload it before he figures out it's gone.", especially since every picture was an internet stock shot.
Quote from: culturejam on September 26, 2014, 02:06:24 PM
Here's an up-skirt of the control cavity. I rather like the tidyness of the PCB.
(http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh218/reverse_engineer/MM-03_zps8c435d05.jpg)
I like the PCB on my SG too. I did have to pull the whole thing when I had the actives in there, but now that I put the stock pickups back, reinstalling the PCB was nice and simple.
Did you change out the tone caps or did it come with the film caps? Mine was stock with some really crap ceramic caps, but they were easy enough to change out.
Actually, the only thing I don't like about the PCB mounts is the quick connects on the pickup leads when I swap them out (I realize that it does Gibson no favours if they include a couple of spares with the guitar, but if you scrap the pickups and keep the harness, you're doing a clip transplant anyway). I totally get why they do it (same reason they're going to the zero fret - makes it an unskilled labour job).
Quote from: RobA on October 06, 2014, 04:57:36 PM
Did you change out the tone caps or did it come with the film caps?
Film caps are stock.
Quote from: GermanCdn on October 06, 2014, 05:37:57 PMI totally get why they do it (same reason they're going to the zero fret - makes it an unskilled labour job).
Even if you have highly skilled labor, it's just faster to use the connectors. But the electronics is one part where I think being a master luthier doesn't really help. It's very much paint by numbers.
I didn't realize Gibson employed any luthiers. Probably the same two guys from PRS who grade tops between bong hits (see, now I can't be accused of being a Gibson hater).
Quote from: GermanCdn on October 06, 2014, 09:13:17 PM
I didn't realize Gibson employed any luthiers. Probably the same two guys from PRS who grade tops between bong hits (see, now I can't be accused of being a Gibson hater).
Agreed. PRS makes nice guitars but I've never understood their grading. If I ever figure it out, I'm switching my career over to cyptography.
I had a long discussion with one of their former reps about how they grade tops, because I have some non 10 tops that are much better than some of my 10 tops.
Long version - tightness and symmetry of grain, minimal washout (all grading is done pre-staining)
Short version - two guys with rags and a bottle of rubbing alcohol. And I wasn't kidding about the bong hits, those were his words, not mine.
Quote from: GermanCdn on October 06, 2014, 09:34:34 PM
Short version - two guys with rags and a bottle of rubbing alcohol. And I wasn't kidding about the bong hits, those were his words, not mine.
That explains all the Cheetos stains under the finish. ;-P
Cheetos stains under the finish. Good call. I really have nothing to add to this except that I'll never be able to afford anything that PRS or Gibson makes (short of the Epiphone and off-shore stuff) which is kind of depressing. All said though, I have a fleet of po-folk stuff that I've spent a ton of time tweaking and rebuilding to be some stellar stock.
Upside - really cool stuff at a fraction of the price. From a distance appear to be a stallion.
Downside - virtually no resale value (at least yet) so assume that even breaking even is a long shot. Total love of the game. No bragging rights.
Even a pig with a diamond necklace is a pig with a diamond necklace. Sometimes you need a pig with a diamond necklace.
It's lots of fun watching you guys buy and sell though and am STILL envious...
Rock on....
Resale value (as much as I flog it sometimes, and is the reason I almost never buy new) is only applicable to poseurs like me whose collection is in constant flux because we can't seem to settle on a stable of instruments for more than a seaon, and truthfully are more likely not to burn through a set of strings before selling it to go on to the next one. If you're happy with what you've got, you are set.
Only advice I have in that regard is if you do upgrade, don't sell the old parts, reinstall if/when you ever decide to sell the guitar.
My experience - $70 tuner upgrade, $80 bridge upgrade, and $180 pickup upgrade = $40 increase in value of an Epi LP at the time you decide to part ways with it. Better to take it back to stock and sell the upgrade parts separately if you want to.
Quote from: GermanCdn on October 06, 2014, 10:46:33 PM
Resale value (as much as I flog it sometimes, and is the reason I almost never buy new) is only applicable to poseurs like me whose collection is in constant flux because we can't seem to settle on a stable of instruments for more than a seaon, and truthfully are more likely not to burn through a set of strings before selling it to go on to the next one. If you're happy with what you've got, you are set.
Only advice I have in that regard is if you do upgrade, don't sell the old parts, reinstall if/when you ever decide to sell the guitar.
My experience - $70 tuner upgrade, $80 bridge upgrade, and $180 pickup upgrade = $40 increase in value of an Epi LP at the time you decide to part ways with it. Better to take it back to stock and sell the upgrade parts separately if you want to.
Good advice.
The other thing is that you can sometimes sell off multiple inexpensive guitars and consolidate that into a fancier used guitar if that is something you dream of. Most of us accumulate gear over a number of years and there is somewhat of a cumulative value to them.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with rocking inexpensive guitars if they do what you need them to. I have expensive and cheap guitars and some of the cheap ones are actually quite nice.
Decided to put some new knobs on it. I think reflectors look a lot better.
The direct sunlight shows off the blue color and wood grain a bit better.
(http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh218/reverse_engineer/IMG_4028_zps86ace143.jpg)
More alterations!
I put in one of the new GFS "goldfoil" P90s in the bridge. I have never played an actual goldfoil pickup, so I can't comment on the tonal similarities or differences. I mainly bought this because it looks cool. ;D
It definitely does not sound like the stock pickup. This one is more punchy and trebly. The stock pickup is more humbuckery. I'll leave this in for a while and see what I think, but my initial impression is very positive. Sure, the gold coloring doesn't really match the rest of the guitar, but I don't think it looks all that gawdy. The stock pickups have wiring headers to go to the control PCB (see previous pics), and rather than pull the header socket, I simply mantually wired/soldered the new leads to the volume pot. Forgot to take a pic of that, but I can grab one if anybody cares.
The GFS pickup is, as far as I can tell, just a P90 with more holes drilled in the cover and some kind of foil sicker applied to the top of the bobbin. Still, it looks cool.
The other change is that I put in some Gotoh locking tuners. The stock tuners are actually quite nice, but I loves me some locking action. The bushing that came with the Gotohs were way too small, as the peg holes are 10mm. But I ordered a set of the larger bushings with the pickup from GFS, and with minimal rasping, they fit exceptionally snug. The Gotohs are exactly the same size as standard Kluson/Gibson Deluxe tuners, which means they have to get tricky with how the locking works. I find this sort of odd to use, but they definitely work and you can't easily tell by looking they aren't totally standard tuners (which is a good thing, for me). The tuner buttons are quite different looking, and I sort of miss the cool old-fashioned look of the originals, but I also dig the look of the typical Les Paul-style tuners.
Overall, I still really like this guitar and feel like it is an excellent value.
(http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh218/reverse_engineer/MM-08_zpsd01c67c4.jpg)
I like the look of the new tuners.
I don't have a lot of experience with "goldfoil" style P90s. I'm a bit curious.