NGD: 2014 Gibson Les Paul Melody Maker

[culturejam]

I blame Curtis for this. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it. 

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.    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:




I flashed it up good to make the blue show up. It doesn't even really look like this in person.





Here it is next to "regular" Les Paul to show the thickness difference and body cut.

[jubal81]

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.

[culturejam]

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.

[GrindCustoms]

Nice grab, digging the overall look of these. For the price it's quite hard to beat that!

[GermanCdn]

Very nice, I've nearly grabbed one of those a couple of times, they are really sharp.

And I accept all the blame.

[Leevibe]

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.

[catfud]

That's a good-looking axe - iwoot!

[blearyeyes]

oh yea, P-90s ?

[culturejam]

Here's an up-skirt of the control cavity. I rather like the tidyness of the PCB.

[flanagan0718]

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.



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

[Cortexturizer]

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

[culturejam]

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.

[pickdropper]

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.

[atreidesheir]

if it has a maple top then that is even sweeter.  P-90's have so much going on with each note.

[GermanCdn]

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.