Gibson MIII

[hooglebug]

iv been offered a mint condition gibson mIII as part payment for a guitar. anyone know what kind of value we're talking about? iv looked around but found very little on them. iv seen the guitar in person a couple of years ago and it was in mint condition and a rather interesting beast shall we say.

i was just wondering if it was worth it or not. any help?

[Philly Q]

If no-one replies, try PM-ing forum member Blue - he has at least one M-III and knows all about them!  :)

[hooglebug]

ah k thanks will do

[WezV]

good for people that want them and slowly increasing in value but i think i am right in saying they may do well in the current 80's fad but it will be a long time before they are valuable gibsons

[hooglebug]

yeah they are a bit odd. i guess they're a marmite guitar huh. i must say i rather liked the versatility of it when i played it but i cant be doing with floyd roses and the neck was a bit skinny for me. but who knows. i shall try find out a bit more and see if its worth it

[sgmypod]

the MIII are odd but one of the better gibson oddities

[hooglebug]

heres some pics




i dont know why i seem to remember it being red. but it isnt. obviously.

[Philly Q]

So many weird features, like the arrowhead inlays and the silly little scratchplate, but I do like it!  The body shape and the reverse Explorer headstock really work.

So did you get the guitar, or are those photos from the current owner?

[hooglebug]

well, i thought sod it and agreed. i hardly ever play anymore so it'll mostly just sit in its case and grow older (and hopefully might get a tiny bit more valuable). i dont think i'll be taking early retirement on it but its a start hehe. its the first gibson iv ever owned. in fact apart from a couple of squier strats, a squier tele for a few months and an ovation acoustic its the only brand guitar iv owned. all the others iv made.

[dragonfire709]

That is really cool-it would make a great hair metal guitar  :D

[Lew]

I remember seeing one when I bought my first guitar at 13 and remember wishing I could afford that one, rather than the encore strat that I could afford  :lol:

[gwEm]

i do like the MIII, cool axe :)

[blue]

well, mr bug did pm me, and i replied to that before i saw this thread, so now i know he went ahead and got it!  as Philly says, i do have several of these, three standards and a deluxe.  Hooglebug's is a deluxe.  the standard had a poplar body while the deluxe had a walnut/poplar/maple laminate, and they do sound different. both have a thin, wide all maple neck with a 25 1/2" scale.  the standard has a warmer sound while the deluxe has more highs and upper mids.  i think the standard suits the gibson pickups better as their inherent harshness is tamed by the poplar.  i do love the look of the deluxe though!

for those who don't know, the guitar has a novel switching system, where it has a two way switch to go between "humbucking mode"  and "single-coil mode".  in humbucker mode, the middle pickup is turned off and the first three positions on the five way switch are the same as a Les Paul, bridge 'bucker, both 'buckers, neck 'bucker.  position 4 is the neck pickup with a capacitor for a tone turned down, c--ked wah kinda sound, and position 5 is "off", no sound.
in single coil mode, both 'buckers are split to the screw coils and the middle pickup is turned on, and the switch is then the same as on a strat.