2007 '07 Gibson USA Melody Maker. New School with Vintage Vibe.
The most central of all the Melody Maker’s features is its slim, solid mahogany body. The mahogany goes through the same rigorous selection process as all of Gibson’s woods, and is personally inspected and qualified by Gibson’s team of skilled wood experts before it enters the factories. Inside the Gibson factories, humidity is maintained at 45 percent, and the temperature at 70 degrees. This ensures all woods are dried to a level of “equilibrium,” where the moisture content does not change during the manufacturing process. This guarantees tight-fitting joints and no expansion, and controls the shrinkage and warping of the woods, in addition to reducing the weight. It also improves the woods’ machinability and finishing properties. Consistent moisture content means that a Melody Maker will respond evenly to temperature and humidity changes long after it leaves the factory.
Gibson’s Special Design Singlecoil Pickup
The legendary Melody Makers of the late 1950s and early 1960s were the best-selling models of Gibson’s famed “Golden Era,” and with good reason—they were lightweight, equipped with a comfortable neck, and capable of exceptional tone courtesy of Gibson’s own singlecoil pickup. Today’s Melody Maker sports a special-design singlecoil pickup that delivers that same vintage tone and performance. A stellar combination of high output and sweet treble response, this multi-ceramic magnet pickup provides plenty of punchy bite when needed, as well as incredible sustain and cutting power.
A classic piece of hardware first used on the Les Paul Junior, the compensated wraparound bridge/tailpiece on the Melody Maker offers a simplicity and functionality that is hard to match. It provides a firm seating for the strings, and allows the player to adjust intonation and string height as needed. It also yields a great union between the strings and body, which results in excellent tone and sustain.
No guitar neck profiles are more distinguishable than the neck profiles employed on the Gibson models of today. The more traditional ’50s neck profile is the thicker, rounder profile, emulating the neck shapes of the iconic 1958 and 1959 Les Paul Standards. The neck is machined in Gibson’s rough mill using wood shapers to make the initial cuts. But once the fingerboard gets glued on, the rest—including the final sanding—is done by hand. That means there are no two necks with the exact same dimensions. So while it still has the basic characteristics of its respective profile, each neck will be slightly different, with a distinct but traditional feel.