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Author Topic: Anyone seen how damn CHEAP these are?  (Read 5235 times)

indysmith

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Anyone seen how damn CHEAP these are?
« on: August 01, 2008, 11:50:45 AM »
I don't know if they've always been this way, but lately I've noticed that Gibbo Melody Makers are going for damn good prices.
http://www.andertons.co.uk/acatalog/info_MMP1VSCH1.html

Has anybody tried one? I expect they'll be very poorly built but they're amazingly good looking and I'm going to try and hunt some down to try anyway.

(If only that pickup was a p90!)
« Last Edit: August 01, 2008, 12:00:52 PM by indysmith »
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MrBump

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Re: Anyone seen how damn CHEAP these are?
« Reply #1 on: August 01, 2008, 11:52:40 AM »
I was asking the forum about them a few months back - I was of the opinion that they were dead cheap, what's the worst that can happen?!?!

Never managed to play one though - let me know how that goes.

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Roobubba

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Re: Anyone seen how damn CHEAP these are?
« Reply #2 on: August 01, 2008, 11:55:10 AM »
Well, it's impossible to tell from the pics, but my gut says they're going to be shockingly badly built. I can't say it looks good, either, though, but I think we might have quite dissimilar taste in guitar appearance, indy ;)

I'm sure there are better deals for cheap guitars out there, and probably better built ones!

Of course, they need to be actually tried to be sure that they're cr@p, they might turn out pretty decent...

Roo

indysmith

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Re: Anyone seen how damn CHEAP these are?
« Reply #3 on: August 01, 2008, 12:02:52 PM »
http://www.gibson.com/en%2Dus/Divisions/Gibson%20USA/Guitars/Melody%20Maker/Melody%20Maker%20%2D%20LP/
There's a video of them on here - I really like what I see. I hate finding things to GAS over that I actually might be able to afford! :lol: There's all my money gone... :roll:
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WezV

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Re: Anyone seen how damn CHEAP these are?
« Reply #4 on: August 01, 2008, 12:29:45 PM »
thats a crazy price... obviously gibson must be cutting corners somewhere, but if you can get a nice example it would be a great guitar for modding.

it would be pretty easy to swap that pickup for a black P-90 and maintain the look of the guitar

PhilKing

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Re: Anyone seen how damn CHEAP these are?
« Reply #5 on: August 01, 2008, 12:33:54 PM »
There is a 2 pickup version too.  I have been considering getting one, since I have an origianal Melody Maker pickup and I have a lipstick tube pickup for the neck position.  They are very cheap over here, but I haven't tried one.  I have to go to a Guitar Center and see if they have them in stock.
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kellar

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Re: Anyone seen how damn CHEAP these are?
« Reply #6 on: August 01, 2008, 01:24:42 PM »
Very funny that this was posted. I just returned from Thomann and jammed out on a couple of Melody Makers. The price was very tempting, but the guitars didn't do a very good job of convincing me. I tried out 4 or 5 different ones and the setups were all horrendous. That was partially expected. Still, lots of string buzzing and intonation problems. On a couple of them, the tuners had too much play. You had to turn it nearly a half turn before the string tightened. The pickups didn't do much for me. I thought they lacked, uhhh, character I guess would be the word. Dark, definitely a pickup upgrade on the horizon. I certainly wouldn't order one and expect it to be perfectly playable out of the box.

Other than that, fairly light but decent build. I didn't notice any structural problems. To me, the guitar is not exactly visually stimulating. But, for the price it's not bad. Although, by the time you upgrade the pickups, tuning machines, and all the other things that might be unnecessary (I am a sucker for upgrades :oops:) I think you will wind up spending quite a bit more.

Strangely, it seemed that the lower level of a very expensive guitar brand(i.e. Gibson Melody Maker) did not stand up very well to the mid-upper level of cheaper guitar brands (i.e. Epiphone LP). I tried out several Epi LP's that actually played very well in comparison.
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Crazy_Joe

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Re: Anyone seen how damn CHEAP these are?
« Reply #7 on: August 01, 2008, 02:14:55 PM »
There's going to be a reason for it being that cheap.
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Re: Anyone seen how damn CHEAP these are?
« Reply #8 on: August 01, 2008, 02:22:36 PM »
of course there is and i think kellar nailed it.  Cheaper hardware and pickups, they obviously havnt gone to town on the finish either but i quite like that.  I bet they are more likely to use multipiece bodies as well, again not really a problem for the price

if they are nice and solid with an alright acoustic sound and a straight neck the rest can be sorted relatively easily ( but yeah, it might end up not being such a bargain!!)

Philly Q

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Re: Anyone seen how damn CHEAP these are?
« Reply #9 on: August 01, 2008, 02:24:33 PM »
I'd say if you play one and the basic construction and acoustic tone seem OK, you can't really go wrong.  You can always upgrade the tuners and pickup(s), or even replace the bridge with an adjustable one if you want.

If I didn't already have a '60s Melody Maker, I'd be in for one.  :)
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sambo

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Re: Anyone seen how damn CHEAP these are?
« Reply #10 on: August 01, 2008, 02:24:40 PM »
I think they retailed at about £400-ish (?) when they first came out.

noodleplugerine

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Re: Anyone seen how damn CHEAP these are?
« Reply #11 on: August 01, 2008, 02:46:06 PM »
I think they retailed at about £400-ish (?) when they first came out.

Yep.

So under that reasoning, even if they're bad for a £400/500 guitar, they're probably good for a £250 guitar, and as such that might be a good deal.
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HTH AMPS

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Re: Anyone seen how damn CHEAP these are?
« Reply #12 on: August 01, 2008, 03:08:34 PM »
I don't know why, but Epi Japan guitars seem like some well-kept secret.  I've got an Epi Japan Les Paul junior and it's a fantastic guitar.  I paid £330 for mine which is a little under the going rate for a sunburst one, but check out this one on ebay at the minute in cherry red for £250 bin...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-OUTLET-2006-Epiphone-Japan-Les-Paul-Jr-SC-P-90-CHR_W0QQitemZ120289140158QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item120289140158&_trksid=p3286.m63.l1177

Buy this one before I do, these LP jr's are great.

headtheball

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Re: Anyone seen how damn CHEAP these are?
« Reply #13 on: August 01, 2008, 03:28:52 PM »
I don't know, now. The last melody Maker I played was a horrible beast of a thing. the neck profile was a Trapezium (there was, literally, no curvature on the neck, at all, it was like playing a very large crowbar) and it was covered in this thick finish I can only describe as Hammerite-like, right up the back of the neck.

It didn't sound awful, and had a usefully low action, and intonated fine, but by the Goddess, it had the single worst neck I've ever laid a hand on.
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kellar

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Re: Anyone seen how damn CHEAP these are?
« Reply #14 on: August 01, 2008, 03:32:54 PM »
I don't know why, but Epi Japan guitars seem like some well-kept secret.  I've got an Epi Japan Les Paul junior and it's a fantastic guitar.  I paid £330 for mine which is a little under the going rate for a sunburst one, but check out this one on ebay at the minute in cherry red for £250 bin...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-OUTLET-2006-Epiphone-Japan-Les-Paul-Jr-SC-P-90-CHR_W0QQitemZ120289140158QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item120289140158&_trksid=p3286.m63.l1177

Buy this one before I do, these LP jr's are great.

It seems that almost any guitar made in Japan is of excellent quality, no matter what name is on the headstock.
I must say, that one is a beauty, much better than any Melody Maker I have seen lately.
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