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1964 Gibson Melody Maker - a classic vintage guitar
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 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
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1966 Kalamazoo KG2a electric guitar
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 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.
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Gibson / Monzino (Italy) guitar catalogue, 1971
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 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.
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Gibson Victory MV series
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 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.
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1969 Gibson SG Special
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 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.
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1979 Gibson ES-175D
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 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.
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1970 Gibson Bass Catalogue
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Catalogue Index
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1970 was a key year for Gibson. Parent company CMI had been bought out, and was now run by Norlin. America was in recession, and guitar sales were continually dropping from their peak just five years earlier. Gibson offered several new bass models and sales were pretty good. The slotted headstock EB series now included long scale versions, which proved popular, despite never outselling the shortscales. One interesting bass shown here is the Gibson EB. This model was never manufactured in large numbers, and was more likely included to gauge public opinion to a cheap non-mahogany bass. This could perhaps be considered as a precursor to the Gibson SB bass range. This is also the last US catalogue appearance of the EB2 bass.
One other bass appears in this series, although it is in the 1970 Les Paul brochure, rather than the Bass brochure - the Gibson Les Paul bass
The 1970 Gibson bass guitar catalogue featured the following guitars. Click on the images for full size versions, or click on the model names below to go directly to that page
Basses:
Gibson EB1
Gibson EB3L
Gibson EB3
Gibson EB0
Gibson EB
Gibson EB2D
 1970 Gibson bass catalogue |
 1970 Gibson Electric Acoustics catalogue |
 1970 Gibson Les Paul catalogue |
 1970 Gibson electric solid bodies catalogue |
 1970 Gibson thinline catalogue |
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The 1970 Gibson catalogue consisted of 12 separate brochures, each concentrating on a specific area. This was the first time the Gibson catalogue had been split into so many sections
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There are 1 comments on this article so far. Add your comment
| Riklef de Parada Comment left 20th February 2012 17:05:48
I own a Gibson EB Bass Slot Head! 970th
From 1970 to 1976 about 40 times played so good as new with box and original certificates.
How much would I get for it in €?
Greetings from Germany Rick. |
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