First Variant Melody Maker with a '59 Les Paul Neck Profile and 'Wide' Pickup

This very early 1960 super light guitar weighs just 6.00 lbs. and has a nice, fat nut width of 1 11/16 inches and a full scale length of 24 3/4 inches. Solid mahogany body, one-piece mahogany neck with a huge '59 style profile. Rosewood fretboard with 22 original jumbo frets and inlaid pearl dot position markers. Gold silk-screen "Gibson" headstock logo. Open-back strip tuners with oval white plastic buttons. Serial number ("0 4287") stamped in yellow on the back of the headstock. Black plastic "all-on-one-plate" pickguard with the words "Melody Maker" in white at the end of the fretboard. Single 'early-style' Melody Maker pickup (black plastic-covered 7/8 inch thick single-coil without adjustable polepieces) with an output of 7.25k. Two controls (one volume, one tone) and jack input, all mounted on pickguard. CentraLab potentiometers stamped "134 5950" (December 1959) and single Sprague "Bumble-Bee" capacitor. Gold plastic bell-shape "Bell" knobs. Combination wrap-over bar bridge/tailpiece. This super little guitar is in excellent plus (8.75) condition, with just a minimal amount of belt-buckle wear on the back and a few small marks on the edges. Housed in a later SKB black hardshell case with black plush lining (9.25).

"The first variant is characterized by a single cutaway shape identical to the original Les Paul Junior save for a thinner body. The instruments made up to mid-1960 also feature a slightly wider pickup cover (7/8") whereas those subsequently released have a narrower unit (5/8"). This evolutionary feature is explained by the change to a nylon coil rather than a modification in the pickup specifications." (A.R. Duchossoir. Gibson Electrics: The Classic Years, p. 215).

"The Melody Maker was originally released [in early 1959] as a single pickup model, available with either a regular (24 3/4") or a short (22 1/2") scale neck. The favourable response to the model led Gibson to list a dual pickup version on November 1, 1959 but the Melody Maker D was not shipped in quantity until 1960. Unlike the single pickup model, the MM-D was exclusively offered with a full-size neck at a price fractionally higher ($135.00) than the single pickup Junior and TV models" (A.R. Duchossoir, Gibson Electrics -- The Classic Years, p. 88). The Melody Maker D is structurally identical to the single pickup Melody Maker except for an enlarged pickguard supporting two pickups, four controls, and a three-way toggle switch.

Between 1959 and 1965, the Melody Maker kept the same basic specifications but went through two successive body redesigns. When introduced in 1959, the Melody Maker had a single rounded cutaway body shape identical to the original Les Paul Junior, but thinner. In early 1961, this was modified to a symmetrical double cutaway with rounded horns and slightly rounded body edges. The last change to the Melody Maker came in 1965, when it adopted the body style of the SG, with pointed horns and with the body edges slightly more rounded. This body design lasted until the Melody Maker was dropped from the Gibson line in 1971.