The Melody Maker has always been a sort of little brother to Gibson Guitar’s most famous models. It’s thinner than the Les Paul, slimmer than the SG and lighter than just about any other Gibson instrument – from its uncapped body to its straight-laced headstock.
And yet, the Melody Maker endures as an all-out classic more than 50 years after it was first introduced. It’s a stripped-down gem beloved by novices and pros alike, and favored by some of music’s biggest stars. Its list of fans includes everyone from Joan Jett to Robby Krieger, The Clash’s Mick Jones to The Raspberries’ Eric Carmen, and Billie Joe Armstrong to the Jonas Brothers.
In the case of the Melody Maker, one classic guitar helped inspire another. After Gibson introduced the original Les Paul model in 1952, the guitar manufacturer began pursuing a version of this special instrument that might appeal to the more budget-conscious player. Getting rid of the carved maple top helped Gibson bring about the Les Paul Junior, a model that sold for less than half of the Les Paul Gold Top’s price, but retained the sound and feel of the elite version. Plus, with a sunburst finish, it still looked great.
By the late ’50s, the Junior was outselling every other Les Paul model… combined! Seeking to build on that success and offer fans another inexpensive option, the folks at Gibson set to work on creating a brand-new solidbody electric – the Melody Maker. Essentially, this new guitar would be a Les Paul Junior, Junior. To deliver the most affordable model possible, the maple body was made thinner and Gibson’s trademark headstock was slimmed down (some might say it had its wings clipped). There was a change in the pickup department, too. A thinner single-coil pickup was placed under an oblong plastic cover. All the electronics (including knobs, wiring and the output jack) were housed under the scratchplate.
So, in 1959, Gibson Guitar introduced the Melody Maker, which carried a sunburst finish on its thin mahogany body. That first year, both the full-sized and ?-scale models looked like thinner, single-pickup Les Paul Juniors. A double-pickup version was unveiled in 1960, but an even bigger change was in the works for the following year. In 1961, Gibson did away with the single-cutaway version in favor of a double-cutaway body. A cherry finish would replace the sunburst look in ’62.
Every move must have been right. By the mid-’60s, the Melody Maker was Gibson’s best-selling solidbody guitar. Although it was the preference of many beginner guitarists, professionals didn’t shy away from the instrument. The Doors’ Robby Krieger will be forever associated with the SG, but he actually started out with a 1964 Melody Maker. In fact, that’s the guitar he used on The Doors’ debut single, “Break on Through (To the Other Side).”
Around that same time, the guitar was re-styled yet again; its cutaway “horns” were given a more pointed shape, similar to the iconic profile of another Gibson runaway success – the SG. Meanwhile, the pickguard and pickup covers changed from black to white, and finishes ranged from pelham blue and fire engine red to sparkling burgundy and walnut. There were even versions of the Melody Maker that sported three pickups or 12 strings.
Although it had come into the ’60s as a Les Paul doppelganger, the Melody Maker finished the decade in the image of the SG. It makes sense, then, that the Melody Maker was discontinued in 1970, and replaced by the similarly inexpensive SG 100, 200 and 250.
After a seven-year “retirement,” the Melody Maker came back in 1977 – perfectly timed to the rise of punk rock. “I got my Melody Maker in 1977,” Joan Jett says about the guitar she helped make an icon. “It was light and it sounded great. It was the guitar I had in The Runaways and then played on all my hits, like ‘I Love Rock ’n’ Roll’ and ‘Bad Reputation’ and ‘Do You Wanna Touch Me.’ It’s my baby.”
While players like Jett and The Clash’s Mick Jones were chugging away on the instrument, Gibson re-introduced the double-cutaway, two-pickup version of the guitar, which also featured a Tune-o-matic bridge. But the renaissance lasted just a bit longer than punk’s first wave and it was discontinued in 1983.
Soon, Gibson USA brought the Melody Maker back to basics, creating a 1986 model in the mold of the original, ’59 issue (with some modern appointments). As such, the guitar reverted back to a single cutaway and a single pickup (a P-94 humbucker), but also included Grover tuners and a Tune-o-matic bridge. The variations kept on coming after that. Although inspired by the original Melody Maker, the 1987 Melody Maker Flyer/Pro II sported an Explorer neck and a pair of humbuckers, while the double-cutaway All American II of the mid-’90s lacked a scratchplate and featured rear-mounted controls.
Following the brief stint of the Les Paul Melody Maker (which combined the hallmarks of the Les Paul Junior and the Melody Maker) in 2003, Gibson USA introduced a new, full-fledged Melody Maker in 2007. With the announcement that the new model could “almost be considered a reissue” of the ’59 model, the single-cutaway guitar featured all of the featured you’d expect – jack on top, single coil pickup, and mahogany neck and body.
That standard model (which remains in production), was quickly followed by an artist’s model from the most famous Melody Maker player: Joan Jett. The Joan Jett Signature Melody Maker replicated the former Runaway’s cherished model (white finish, black pickguard and kill switch in place of a pickup selector) and sported a Burstbucker 3 Zebra Humbucker. A similarly styled Joan Jett Blackheart was introduced two years later and featured the same specs with a black finish and heart inlays. 2010 also saw the release of The Jonas Brothers Melody Maker – a limited-edition single-cutaway model crafted in the mold of the Les Paul Junior with two P-90 pickups and Gibson’s traditionally shaped headstock.
Into 2011, the resurgence of the Melody Maker is still going strong. Just this week, Gibson USA unveiled no less than four new Melody Maker models as part of a line of raw, rockin’ and modestly priced guitars. Each of the four completes a marriage between the traditional characteristics of the classic instrument (thin body and neck, one pickup, sweet tone) with one of Gibson’s legendary body shapes. Carved out of solid maple and sporting mahogany necks, the guitars include the Melody Maker Les Paul, the Melody Maker SG, the Melody Maker Explorer and the Melody Maker Flying V.
These models ensure that, more than five decades after it was first strummed, the Melody Maker remains a brilliantly straight forward instrument beloved by guitarists from novice to expert.
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