TRASH OR TREASURE
BLUE BOOK PUBLICATIONS
Gibson Melody Maker
Dear Trash or Treasure,
I’ve had this beautiful little Gibson guitar
for 40 years, and in all that time, I haven’t
been able to find any information about it.
There isn’t even a serial number. I met Les
Paul himself in Frankfurt in 1978 at a music
trade show, and he only said, “Yes, it was
a nice beginning.” What can you tell me
about this guitar?
famous Sunburst finish to the regular Les Paul
model, so maybe the name Melody Maker
had something to do with generating new
interest. If any readers have any insight on this
topic, feel free to contact me about it.
Regardless, your Gibson Melody Maker is a
smaller, 3/4-sized guitar with a 22. 75” scale
that was really aimed at students. It appears
to have been produced between 1959 and
dot inlays; narrow headstock; wraparound
bridge/tailpiece; black pickguard with a single
pickup, two knobs (volume, tone), and the
output jack all mounted to it; and chrome
hardware. The original finish on this guitar was
Golden Sunburst. 1676 of these guitars were
produced in 1959, 42 in 1960, and 225 in
1961 (although 1961 was a transition year to
the new body style).
Helmut Gaffal, Germany
Hi Helmut,
I’m glad to hear that I have readers on
the other side of the world! First, I want
to mention that Les Paul was honored by
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s annual
American Music Masters Series in mid-November. Paul is generally credited
with building the first electric solidbody
guitar in the early 1940s (although innovators were toying with electric guitars
as early as the late 1920s—this is a very
controversial topic amongst electric guitar historians). He also collaborated with
Gibson to develop the Les Paul solidbody guitar that was released in 1952,
which continues to be their most popular
guitar 57 years later.
In 1961 a double rounded cutaway body was
introduced, and in 1965 a sharper double
cutaway was introduced. The single cutaway
Melody Maker did not appear in the Gibson
catalog again until 1986, and by then the
specs had changed considerably. In 2003
Gibson finally recognized the Les Paul design
of the Melody Maker and introduced a single
cutaway, single pickup model called the Les
Paul Melody Maker. Currently, Gibson offers a
single pickup Melody Maker guitar that continues to be their student/budget/entry-level
guitar for $582 (extremely reasonable for a
U.S.-built guitar that plays very well).
However, you won’t find “Les Paul” anywhere on your little guitar, because the
real name is the Melody Maker. Granted,
it looks exactly like a Les Paul and many
novices could easily mistake the Melody
Maker for the Les Paul Junior, but Les
Paul is not attached to the Melody Maker
name in any way. The Les Paul Junior
was introduced in 1954 as a budget model
to the Les Paul, and the Les Paul Special
was introduced in 1955 as an intermediate
model between the two. By the late 1950s,
it was apparent that a budget model below
the Les Paul Junior was necessary to fulfill
the demand created by new guitarists, and
Gibson set out to design it. I can’t find any
concrete proof of why this guitar was not
called a Les Paul, or some variation thereof.
One guess is that Les Paul didn’t want his
name associated with such a low cost, budget
guitar. On the other hand, the single cutaway
Les Paul was selling less—shipping records
prove that. Also in 1958, Gibson redesigned
the Les Paul Junior and Les Paul Special bodies with double cutaways and introduced the
1961 (I can’t confirm the year because there is
no serial number present). It also appears that
the guitar was repainted or refinished at some
point (Walnut or Natural were not standard
finishes on the Melody Maker), and the serial
number on the back of the headstock was
likely covered up then.
Mint condition, single cutaway Melody
Makers from the 1959–1961 era are currently
valued between $1500 and $2000, while their
3/4-sized counterparts are valued between
$900 and $1200. Unfortunately for your guitar, a refinished body reduces the value by
more than half today, and the condition looks
to be about 70 percent (very good). Today,
this guitar is only worth between $300 and
$400, but I know I wouldn’t be the first to
tell you that it is a sweet-playing little guitar.
Many times, the beat-up, ugly guitars play
much better than the mint-condition, pretty
ones. You could probably ask Les Paul himself, who plays his 1970s Les Paul Recording
model every week at the Iridium Jazz Club in
New York City—the treasure lies in how the
guitar plays!
The Melody Maker was built rather uniquely,
as the entire pickguard had the pickup, electronics, and controls all attached to it; they
were simply mounted into the guitar inside
a large routing that allowed it to be built
more quickly and cheaply. It features a slab
mahogany body ( 1.375” thickness—.375”
thinner than a Les Paul Junior); mahogany
neck; 12/19-fret rosewood fingerboard with
Zachary R. Fjestad
is the author of the Blue Book of Acoustic Guitars, Blue
Book of Electric Guitars, and the Blue Book of Guitar
Amplifiers.
Questions can be submitted to:
Blue Book Publications
Attn: Guitar Trash or Treasure
8009 34th Ave. S. Ste #175
Minneapolis, MN 55425
800-877-4867
bluebookinc.com
guitars@bluebookinc.com
