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1964 Gibson Melody Maker - a classic vintage guitar

A closer look at a Gibson Melody maker from 1964. The Melody Maker is one of Gibson's best ever selling guitars - despite it's comparatively low price it didn't skimp on Gibson tradition: well-built instruments, constructed from the finest materials. The body and set neck are both of South American mahogany whilst the fingerboard is South American rosewood. With a sunburst nitrocellulose finish the Melody Maker certainly looked the part. In fact the Melody Maker had more in common with many higher end Gibson instruments than guitars of a similar price bracket made by other manufacturers. The circuitry was simple; just a volume and tone control for one single coil pickup. See also Gibson Melody Maker shipping figures

1966 Kalamazoo KG2a electric guitar

Details and information on the Kalamazoo KG2a electric guitar. The beat boom of the mid 1960s heralded a huge demand for electric guitars; youngsters up and down America were looking for affordable, well-built solid-bodies, with modern looks and a great sound. Gibson, better known for it's high-end jazz guitars, responded by producing the KG guitar and KB bass lines, under the Kalamazoo brand. They were initially modelled on the Fender Mustang, though soon took the shape of the Gibson SG, which was rapidly rising in popularity. The resulting instruments used modern composite wood technology, Fender style construction and actual Gibson hardware. They looked good, played well, and sold in large quantities. See also Kalamazoo KG shipping figures, a 1966 Kalamazoo KG1 (single pickup) and listen to the Kalamazoo KG soundclips.

Gibson / Monzino (Italy) guitar catalogue, 1971

Gibson / Monzino guitar catalogue, 1971. America saw numerous promotional publications from Gibson in the first years of the 1970s, but new models were coming and going at such a rate, that some never made it into print. Just one US catalogue was printed in 1971: the Low Impedance for High Performance mini-catalogue, which contained just the Gibson Les Paul Recording guitar, and the Gibson Les Paul Triumph bass. However other countries were producing their own literature, capturing a snapshot of the Gibson range not seen in print in the US. This brochure was printed by the new Italian distributors, Monzino, and shows several instruments yet to be seen in US catalogues (the SG range in particular) and one that would never make it: the Gibson SB400 bass.

Gibson Victory MV series

The Gibson Victory MV (multi-voice) guitars were launched towards the end of 1981, with a production period lasting just over two years. There were two models, the Gibson Victory MV2 and the Gibson Victory MVX. Both were very fine passive guitars with maple bodies and set maple necks. They had coil-tapped pickups for either humbucking or single coil sounds, but neither managed to give Gibson the Victory they required in terms of sales.

1969 Gibson SG Special

The Gibson SG came in several varieties; and the Special is a typical 60s Gibson in many ways. Naturally, it has a mahogany body with a set mahogany neck, in true Gibson style. The pickups are typical Gibson single coil P90s, and the control layout, too, is classic Gibson. Have a closer look, or check out the SG Special soundclips of this guitar, through various vintage amps.

1979 Gibson ES-175D

A closer look at a 1979 Gibson ES-175D. By the late 1970s, the ES-175D had followed the path of most Gibson guitars and changed it's mahogany neck, in favour of a maple neck with volute. It didn't last long, and the neck was again mahogany by 1983. Details of the changes in the ES-175D over time are detailed in the ES-175 timeline.

Older updates here

Gibson Firebird
Solid-body electric guitar

Gibson Firebird III - Some Guitarists Have All the Fun 1968 Guitar Player add featuring the Gibson B25-12 flattop, GSS-100 amplifier, and two electrics, the Firebird III and the ES-330TD

Gibson Firebirds - as advertised in the 1964 Gibson catalog

The Gibson Firebird was launched in 1963 as a descendent of the commercially unpopular Explorer. Once again it took a few years before this futuristic design found popularity, despite being adopted by big stars of the day like Brian Jones and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones. It was initially launched in four variants, with two similar bass models (the Thunderbirds). All were mahogany bodied with a neck-through construction. Necks were initially mahogany, fingerboards Brazilian rosewood (ebony for the Firebird VII). All models sported the same humbucking pickups

Detailed specifications for each model can be found here

The first version of the firebird was manufactured from 1963 to 1965, but sales, although not that small, but were low compared to other models.

Gibson Firebirds - as advertised in the 1966 Gibson catalogue

In 1966 the instrument was relaunched with a new body shape and set neck (rather than through neck from older models) construction. This was known as the non-reverse Firebird. In addition to the existing Firebird models, a 12-string was also produced. The Firebird I and II were now equipped with P90 single coil soapbars - the humbuckers only on the V, VII and V-12.

Gibson custom colours available on the Firebird and Thunderbird models were as follows: cardinal red, heather poly, inverness green poly, ember red, polaris white, pelham blue poly, frost blue, kerry green, silver mist poly, gold mist poly

Gibson Firebird custom colour chart

In 1972, a few more Firebirds were produced. These were medallion models, made to celebrate the 1972 olympic games. A Medallion Flying V was also reissued at the same time. These were limited edition instruments, made in very small numbers, and have a numbered medallion attached to the body.

The Firebird (along with the Thunderbird) was brought out once again during the 1970s, again as a celebration/commemoration - this time the bicentennial anniversay of the creation of America. The Firebird logo on the scratchplate was in red white and blue. This issue never outsold the 1960s versions.

As is shown below, the Firebird decreased in popularity (as determined by sales) throughout the period 1963-79. The production figures show the most abundant firebirds are:
early 60s reverse-body models (63-65) - 5151
mid 60s non-reverse models (66-69) - 3868
late 70s bicentennial firebird (76-79) - 2847
early 70s medallion firebird (72-73) - 366

In fact the change from reverse to non-reverse body happened in mid 1965, so some of the 5151 instruments shipped that year may have actually been no-reverse bodies.

The separate shipping figures for all firebird models, 1963-1979 are as follows

1960s Firebird shipping figures

1970s Firebird shipping figures

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If you are looking for specific vintage guitars for sale, you may have to keep an eye on numerous vintage guitar stores, classifieds websites and ebay listings. Below are just the auctions - Vintage guitar stores tend to advertise theirs in their ebay online vintage guitar stores - have a look because there are some different listings.