An All Original 'Sparkling Burgundy' Melody Maker lll.

1968 Gibson Melody Maker III.

This super rare little 'Sparkling Burgundy' Melody Maker lll weighs just 6.40 lbs. and has a nut width of just over 1 9/16 inches and a standard Gibson scale length of 24 3/4 inches. Solid mahogany body, one-piece mahogany neck with a medium profile. Rosewood fretboard with 22 jumbo frets and inlaid pearl dot position markers. Headstock with gold silk-screened "Gibson" logo. Closed-back dual-line Kluson Deluxe strip tuners with white plastic oval buttons. Serial number "940025" stamped on the back of the headstock. Three hot Melody Maker pickups (white plastic-covered single-coil pickups without adjustable poles) with outputs of 7.01k, 7.11k and 7.04k. Single-layer white plastic pickguard with Gibson logo engraved in black and ten screws. Four controls (two volume, two tone) on lower treble bout plus three-way sliding pickup selector switch mounted on pickguard. Black plastic ribbed-side conical-shape "Witch Hat" control knobs with metal tops. The potentiometers are stamped: "137 6737" (CTS, September 1967). Stud wrap-around bridge/tailpiece with pre-set intonation and Maestro vibrato tailpiece with 'Walrus-tooth' plastic tip. The Sparkling Burgundy finish on the top has slightly faded to a 'Golden Burgundy' and there is some light finish checking. There is a tiny crack in the plastic pickguard near the bass horn and there is a tiny 'sliver' of wood chipped away from the top of the back of the headstock. With all that said this Melody Maker lll is in exceptionally fine (9.00) condition - and certainly the best example of this rare color on a MM lll that we have ever seen. Housed in the original three-latch, shaped black softshell case with red felt lining (9.25).

The pickup selector switch has three positions: 1. Neck pickup only; 2. Middle and bridge pickups; 3. Bridge pickup only.

The single pickup Melody Maker was introduced in early 1959, both in regular and 3/4 size versions, as the newer budget model in the solid body line. A dual pickup version was subsequently listed in late 1959. Between 1959 and 1965, the Melody Maker trio kept the same basic specifications but went through two successive body redesigns. The first variant is characterized by a single cutaway shape identical to the original Les Paul Junior except 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"). In early 1961 both the regular and the 3/4 size versions were modified with a double cutaway shape produced by creating an upper horn symmetrical to the lower one (the Melody Maker was about the only solid body in the early 60s not to be fitted with the highly contoured SG design with pointed horns). A further redesign took place in early 1965 when the model took on a double cutaway body with more pointed sculptured horns positioned farther away from the neck. At the same time the body edges became slightly more rounded and the standard finish was changed from sunburst to cherry red. Eventually, the new body shape did not prove very pleasing and in February 1966 the Melody Maker was fitted with the SG body style. The SG-styled Melody Makers were phased out in 1971. See A.R. Duchossoir, Gibson Electrics -- The Classic Years, pp. 215-216.