Gibson Marauder
Encyclopedia
The Gibson Marauder is an electric guitar
model. This short-lived series of solid body
guitars was produced in the USA from 1974 to 1979. Only one Gibson Marauder was shipped in 1974. These guitars were an attempt by Gibson
to break into the single coil
pickup, bolt-on neck
guitar market dominated by Fender. The Marauder originally sold for under $400 USD.
The Marauder sports a contoured single cutaway Les Paul
-shaped body, and a bolt on maple
neck with a headstock
similar to the Flying V
's. Marauders were made with alder
, maple, or mahogany
bodies. The fretboard was produced both in the traditional Gibson rosewood
, or the more Fender-like maple, with twenty-two frets. All maple Marauder fretboards had dot markers. Many of the Marauders with rosewood fretboards had trapezoidal markers.
The Marauder features custom-designed Bill Lawrence
pickups sealed in clear epoxy, a feature which was considered ahead of its time, and this was and still is considered to be one of the best qualities of this guitar. The guitar has a humbucker
pickup in the neck position and a single-coil, solid-blade style pickup mounted at an angle by the bridge. This arrangement resembles the Fender Telecaster Custom
. The resulting sound was closer to the Fender sound than that of most Gibson guitars.
Early Marauders have a three-way toggle switch in the lower bout of the body, to turn on either one or both pickups. Later examples were fitted with a rotary potentiometer
instead, which allows a range of blends between the two pickups. In still later Marauders, the potentiometer was positioned between the volume and tone knobs.
Marauders all have Gibson's tune-o-matic
bridge and a stop tailpiece
. They have enclosed tuners
, and typical Gibson strap buttons.
Published reviews characterize the guitar as heavy and durable, but with weak pickups.
Due to the bolt-on neck construction and unusual Fender characteristics of the guitar, the Marauder was not a success. It was too much like a Fender for Gibson buyers to like, and too much like the Gibson for those who liked Fender qualities to enjoy. After its slow reaction, the Marauder was discontinued by 1982. It is, however, considered a solid-quality, if unusual, vintage guitar.
In 1976–77, Gibson produced the Marauder Custom, with a premium finish and construction details. Also starting in 1976, Gibson started producing the Gibson S-1
, similar to the Marauder in appearance, but with three single-coil pickups. It, too, was unpopular and was discontinued at around the same time as the Marauder.
in the 1970s. Gibson ads featuring them even went so far as to call the Marauder "the Kiss axe". There was a Paul Stanley
signature model known as "the midnight special" with Paul's signature on the pickguard. He and Ace Frehley
were pictured with them during photo-shoots and Stanley with them onstage, but they generally did not play them live. Paul Stanley is seen playing the Marauder on the 1975 airing of "Deuce" on "The Midnight Special"(Upon reviewing the Kiss
"Midnight Special" videos on "YouTube", Paul Stanley
can clearly be seen playing his Gibson L6S in all three clips, not the similar looking Marauder.) . Stanley also used them at the end of concerts for his guitar smashing finale.
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
model. This short-lived series of solid body
Solid body
A solid-body instrument is a string instrument such as a guitar, bass or violin built without its normal sound box and relying on an electric pickup system to directly receive the vibrations of the strings....
guitars was produced in the USA from 1974 to 1979. Only one Gibson Marauder was shipped in 1974. These guitars were an attempt by Gibson
Gibson Guitar Corporation
The Gibson Guitar Corporation, formerly of Kalamazoo, Michigan and currently of Nashville, Tennessee, manufactures guitars and other instruments which sell under a variety of brand names...
to break into the single coil
Single coil
A single coil pickup is a type of magnetic transducer, or pickup, for the electric guitar and the electric bass. It electromagnetically converts the vibration of the strings to an electric signal...
pickup, bolt-on neck
Bolt-on neck
Bolt-on neck is a method of guitar construction that involves joining a guitar neck and body using screws as opposed to glue as with set-in neck joints. The term is a misnomer, introduced mostly by Fender whose guitars traditionally had "bolt-on necks". Real bolted joints are uncommon in guitar...
guitar market dominated by Fender. The Marauder originally sold for under $400 USD.
The Marauder sports a contoured single cutaway Les Paul
Gibson Les Paul
The Gibson Les Paul was the result of a design collaboration between Gibson Guitar Corporation and the late jazz guitarist and electronics inventor Les Paul. In 1950, with the introduction of the Fender Telecaster to the musical market, electric guitars became a public craze. In reaction, Gibson...
-shaped body, and a bolt on maple
Maple
Acer is a genus of trees or shrubs commonly known as maple.Maples are variously classified in a family of their own, the Aceraceae, or together with the Hippocastanaceae included in the family Sapindaceae. Modern classifications, including the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system, favour inclusion in...
neck with a headstock
Headstock
Headstock or peghead is a part of guitar or similar stringed instrument. The main function of a headstock is holding the instrument's strings. Strings go from the bridge past the nut and are usually fixed on machine heads on headstock...
similar to the Flying V
Gibson Flying V
-External links:*, , , , and , from the Gibson website*, a June 2001 article from Guitar Collector magazine*, a tribute site that lists all models and re-issues and most notable players**...
's. Marauders were made with alder
Alder
Alder is the common name of a genus of flowering plants belonging to the birch family . The genus comprises about 30 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, few reaching large size, distributed throughout the North Temperate Zone and in the Americas along the Andes southwards to...
, maple, or mahogany
Mahogany
The name mahogany is used when referring to numerous varieties of dark-colored hardwood. It is a native American word originally used for the wood of the species Swietenia mahagoni, known as West Indian or Cuban mahogany....
bodies. The fretboard was produced both in the traditional Gibson rosewood
Rosewood
Rosewood refers to any of a number of richly hued timbers, often brownish with darker veining, but found in many different hues. All rosewoods are strong and heavy, taking an excellent polish, being suitable for guitars, marimbas, turnery , handles, furniture, luxury flooring, etc.In general,...
, or the more Fender-like maple, with twenty-two frets. All maple Marauder fretboards had dot markers. Many of the Marauders with rosewood fretboards had trapezoidal markers.
The Marauder features custom-designed Bill Lawrence
Bill Lawrence (guitar maker)
Bill Lawrence is a recording musician and an electric guitar pickup designer/maker and guitar designer/maker in the musical instrument industry, designing pickups and guitars for Fender, Gibson, Peavey and other companies from the 1950s to the present.MusicianThe Bill Lawrence story began...
pickups sealed in clear epoxy, a feature which was considered ahead of its time, and this was and still is considered to be one of the best qualities of this guitar. The guitar has a humbucker
Humbucker
A humbucker is a type of electric guitar pickup, first patented by Seth Lover and the Gibson company, that uses two coils, both generating string signal. Humbuckers have higher output than a single coil pickup since both coils are connected in series...
pickup in the neck position and a single-coil, solid-blade style pickup mounted at an angle by the bridge. This arrangement resembles the Fender Telecaster Custom
Fender Telecaster Custom
Fender Telecaster Custom is a model of electric guitar made by Fender. This model should not be confused with the "Fender Custom Telecaster" model manufactured between 1959 and 1968, which only differs from a standard Telecaster in having a bound body...
. The resulting sound was closer to the Fender sound than that of most Gibson guitars.
Early Marauders have a three-way toggle switch in the lower bout of the body, to turn on either one or both pickups. Later examples were fitted with a rotary potentiometer
Potentiometer
A potentiometer , informally, a pot, is a three-terminal resistor with a sliding contact that forms an adjustable voltage divider. If only two terminals are used , it acts as a variable resistor or rheostat. Potentiometers are commonly used to control electrical devices such as volume controls on...
instead, which allows a range of blends between the two pickups. In still later Marauders, the potentiometer was positioned between the volume and tone knobs.
Marauders all have Gibson's tune-o-matic
Tune-o-matic
Tune-o-matic is a name of fixed bridge design for electric guitars. It was designed by Ted McCarty and introduced in the Gibson Les Paul Custom guitar in 1954. In 1955, it was used on the Gibson Les Paul Gold Top...
bridge and a stop tailpiece
Tailpiece
A tailpiece is a component on many stringed musical instruments that anchors one end of the strings, usually the end opposite the end with the tuning mechanism the scroll, headstock, peghead, etc.-Function and construction:...
. They have enclosed tuners
Machine head
A machine head is part of a string instrument ranging from guitars to double basses, a geared apparatus for applying tension and thereby tuning a string, usually located at the headstock. A headstock has several machine heads, one per string...
, and typical Gibson strap buttons.
Published reviews characterize the guitar as heavy and durable, but with weak pickups.
Due to the bolt-on neck construction and unusual Fender characteristics of the guitar, the Marauder was not a success. It was too much like a Fender for Gibson buyers to like, and too much like the Gibson for those who liked Fender qualities to enjoy. After its slow reaction, the Marauder was discontinued by 1982. It is, however, considered a solid-quality, if unusual, vintage guitar.
In 1976–77, Gibson produced the Marauder Custom, with a premium finish and construction details. Also starting in 1976, Gibson started producing the Gibson S-1
Gibson S-1
The Gibson S-1 is an electric guitar, made by the Gibson Guitar Corporation.Gibson started producing the S-1 in mid-1975, but released it on the market in 1976. Its production lifespan was 1975-1980. Like the Gibson Marauder, the S-1 was an attempt to break through into the single-coil guitar...
, similar to the Marauder in appearance, but with three single-coil pickups. It, too, was unpopular and was discontinued at around the same time as the Marauder.
The Kiss connection
The Marauder was heavily promoted by the rock band KissKISS (band)
Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...
in the 1970s. Gibson ads featuring them even went so far as to call the Marauder "the Kiss axe". There was a Paul Stanley
Paul Stanley
Stanley Harvey Eisen , better known by his stage name Paul Stanley, is an American hard rock guitarist, singer, musician, painter and songwriter best known for being the rhythm guitarist and primary lead vocalist of the rock band Kiss. He is the writer or co-writer of many of the band's...
signature model known as "the midnight special" with Paul's signature on the pickguard. He and Ace Frehley
Ace Frehley
Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley is an American musician best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Kiss. He took on the persona of the "Spaceman" or "Space Ace" when the band adopted costumes and theatrics...
were pictured with them during photo-shoots and Stanley with them onstage, but they generally did not play them live. Paul Stanley is seen playing the Marauder on the 1975 airing of "Deuce" on "The Midnight Special"(Upon reviewing the Kiss
KISS (band)
Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...
"Midnight Special" videos on "YouTube", Paul Stanley
Paul Stanley
Stanley Harvey Eisen , better known by his stage name Paul Stanley, is an American hard rock guitarist, singer, musician, painter and songwriter best known for being the rhythm guitarist and primary lead vocalist of the rock band Kiss. He is the writer or co-writer of many of the band's...
can clearly be seen playing his Gibson L6S in all three clips, not the similar looking Marauder.) . Stanley also used them at the end of concerts for his guitar smashing finale.
Notable Marauder players
- Ace FrehleyAce FrehleyPaul Daniel "Ace" Frehley is an American musician best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Kiss. He took on the persona of the "Spaceman" or "Space Ace" when the band adopted costumes and theatrics...
- Masafumi Gotoh
- Josh Homme
- Jeff LynneJeff LynneJeffrey "Jeff" Lynne is an English songwriter, composer, arranger, singer, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer who gained fame as the leader and sole constant member of Electric Light Orchestra and was a co-founder and member of The Traveling Wilburys together with George Harrison, Bob...
- Mac McCaughanMac McCaughanMac McCaughan is a founding member of the rock band Superchunk, and co-founder of Merge Records along with Laura Ballance. He also heads the band Portastatic, which began as a lo-fi side project and has blossomed into his main musical project...
- Michael Pace
- Pete ShelleyPete ShelleyPete Shelley is an English singer, songwriter and guitarist, best known as the leader of Buzzcocks.-Biography:...
- Paul StanleyPaul StanleyStanley Harvey Eisen , better known by his stage name Paul Stanley, is an American hard rock guitarist, singer, musician, painter and songwriter best known for being the rhythm guitarist and primary lead vocalist of the rock band Kiss. He is the writer or co-writer of many of the band's...
- Creston Spiers
- Deryck WhibleyDeryck WhibleyDeryck Jason Whibley is a Canadian musician and producer, best known for his work as the guitarist, lead vocalist, songwriter and producer of the Juno Award-winning rock band Sum 41. Whibley married fellow singer Avril Lavigne in 2006. The couple occasionally performed together, and they have...
- George Clift
External links
- Know Your Gibson: Marauder and S-1, at Gibson
- Gibson Marauder, at Vintage Guitars
- Gibson Marauder, at Vintage Gibson Guitars
- Gibson Marauder Guitars at Zuitar Guitar DataBase