Rare 1969 Gibson Melody Maker 3/4 SG with upgrades

Beautiful and rare Gibson Melody Maker 3/4. 1 of 42 made in 1969. 22-3/4" scale. Even as Gibson's cheapest electric guitar in 1969, the craftsmanship is on par with any SG.

I bought it advertised as walnut, but it looks like cherry stain to me, which was a special order color. It is likely a one-off, making it even rarer. I am mildly colorblind, so look at the color in the pics and decide for yourself.

Upgrades include:

• Lollar Melody Maker p90 with b/w/b 3 ply custom ordered pickguard. Dropped in no routing required. Huge sound improvement.

• Brand new medium jumbo frets. The originals were tiny and short, making string bending difficult. My luthier planed the fretboard so he was able to save the original nut.

• New Kluson Deluxe tuners.

• Large gold strap buttons.

• New Faber intonated wraparound bridge. Huge improvement to intonation.

The guitar now screams, and plays effortlessly and in tune all the way up its 18 fret neck. Light as a feather. With the cherry stain color, it looks like a mini SG Junior.

I am including all of the original parts I replaced so you can restore it to original if you choose to (except the frets of course). Also included is an extra 1 ply black pickguard for the Lollar pickup.

The only thing missing is the Maestro Vibrola. It was removed before I purchased the guitar in 2007. You can see the 3 screw holes and finish indentations left behind.

Many Gibson owners removed their Vibrolas. One light tap and the guitar went out of tune.

The last picture shows me playing the guitar as I bought it, prior to any modifications.

I rated it as good because of its honest play wear from almost 60 years of loving use. But there are no breaks or a neck reset. It is solid as a rock and ready to play.

The 25 detailed photos show its chips, dings, scratches and finish checking. The guitar was in this condition when I bought it in 2007. Please consider the photos as part of the description.

It will ship with your choice of 1 of its 2 cases. They are both shown in the photos.

• The original case is cardboard and appears to be sized for a full scale Melody Maker.

• The other case I made myself and highly recommend. It is a normal hard case, but I custom cut dense foam to the shape, size, length and neck angle of the guitar, then finished it with crimson velour. The guitar fits perfectly and snugly, similar to the interior of a flight case.

You could buy both cases, but I would need to create an additional listing on Reverb with its own cost and shipping charge.

Feel free to make me an offer. Please message me with any questions before buying. It is sold as is, no return or refund.

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Cross posted on Facebook Marketplace.