Meet the Gibson S-1 from 1979. Produced from ’75 to ’80 and shared some Fender-esque characteristics like 3 single coils and a pickup selector in form of a 4 position rotary switch. There’s a 2 way switch that takes you straight to the bridge or back to the rotary as well. Yeah it’s different alright, and it was not embraced like other models, but it lives on as a strange departure from Gibson’s status quo. Anomaly or abomination? You decide…
There’s many odd attributes to mention. Bolt-on maple neck with a Flying V style headstock and maple board pocketed into a Mahogany slab body with contours and a single cutaway. The pickups and controls could be wired and mounted to the pickguard and then assembled. A different approach than most other Gibson models. The Marauder, the S-1’s cousin, shared this design style with a little different pickup layout; it being more like a Telecaster in a sense. After the S-1 and the Marauder were discontinued in 1980, Gibson’s next attempt at a similar design concept was the Sonex, but feature a return to the humbucker and a composite body.
Only 3089 S-1s came off the production line and they definitely aren’t what you think of when you think Gibson guitars. But they produce tones that are both familiar and unique. It plays fantastic and is very comfortable. Might not show up on Joe Bonamassa’s Instagram but just remember that guitars are supposed to be a paintbrush in the artist’s toolkit. Different just like you.
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