NGD: 2014 Gibson Melody Maker
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culturejam
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Re: NGD: 2014 Gibson Melody Maker
A few of the online dealers are blowing them out now for about $450 (new). At that price, it's a fantastic value.
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Ancient Astronaught
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Re: NGD: 2014 Gibson Melody Maker
Sweet score man!!!!!
Has anyone tried the MM flying V or explorer's I've kinda been jonesing for one of the V's as the headstock doesn't look ridiculous and they look the be fullsize, and it domes with a duncan designed distortion which is a bit better than nothing haha. I'm curious though to see if anyone has played both say a faded V and the MM V.
Has anyone tried the MM flying V or explorer's I've kinda been jonesing for one of the V's as the headstock doesn't look ridiculous and they look the be fullsize, and it domes with a duncan designed distortion which is a bit better than nothing haha. I'm curious though to see if anyone has played both say a faded V and the MM V.
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culturejam
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Re: NGD: 2014 Gibson Melody Maker
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.
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.
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.
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.
Disclaimer #1: Co-Founder, Product Developer at Function f(x).