Gibson S-1

[ripper70]

Hey All,

I've recently unearthed another strange Gibson beast and am interested in any info from experts and other experienced users.

I've been told it's a Gibson S-1 and the seller is asking $875 for it.

Opinions?

Any enlightenment is greatly appreciated.

[SGMM]

Never owned an S-1 but a friend did....sounded kinda cool....but the bolt-on maple/maple neck was not so cool!!

[TVR1977]

Here's some info I posted to another S-1 query a few months back. Hope it helps. I think the price on this one may be steep, but they are going up. I have one in sunburst with a maple/maple neck I'm getting ready to sell. If you're interested PM me.

************************Quoted from Previous post**********************

"You're probably thinking of the S-1. It was one of the Bill Lawrence designed Gibsons of the mid 1970's.

It's a slab bodied guitar of Les Paul size and shape, with a bolt on maple neck and a V-shaped headstock.

It has 3 single coil blade-type pickups, epoxy sealed. The pickups are laid out
strat-style. Because of this and the bolt-on maple neck (available with maple fingerboard), it is often mis-labeled as a Gibson attempt at a strat copy.

In fact, it is not. The pickups are configured in such a way that they are used in pairs, with reverse polarity for hum-bucking. With a 4 way selector, you can choose the front pair, the rear pair, the outside pair, or all three together (called "humbuck and a half" by Gibson). There is also a bypass switch that cuts out all but the bridge pick-up for a straight single coil lead.

At the time it was introduced it was described as a "single pick-up guitar with three coils."

It was endorsed and played by Ron Wood, among others.

Its sister guitar in the Gibson line-up was the Marauder, which had the same body, but used a humbucker at the neck and a single coil at the bridge. The neck was the same, except that the Marauder had a natural maple headstock instead of black. Initially the Marauder had a standard 3-way selector switch, but later versions used a blend pot for infinite combination of the 2 pickups.

The Marauder was famously used by Paul Stanley of Kiss (see the Marauder thread below).

Both guitars were available with unbound maple or rosewood dot-neck fingerboards, and occasionally you'll come across a high-end,bound neck with rectangular MOP inlays. Because they were bolt-on, it's common to find "Mix-n-match" neck and body combos between the 2 guitars. Finishes were initially tobacco sunburst, natural, and black, but later included a walnut satin finish and a Burgundy clear finish. S-1's all had black pickguards, but Marauders were made with white (early) and black guards.

The S-1 is a very light and comfortable guitar to play. However, by todays standards the p/u's are kind of anemic and thin-sounding. Replacing the p/u's with hot strat pickups may be possible (I'm not sure of the p/u dimensions), but would obviously destroy originality.

They are now entry-level "vintage" Gibsons with prices from around $500 to $800."

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[BMS]

I think that is a fair price if it is in minty condish with original case. I bought one a few years ago for under $600 and it is in really great shape. Very cool sounds with these. Not too fond of the neck profile though. It's got that Paul Stanley vibe.

[Murphy Slaw]

Interesting concept.

[steadyriot]

I allways wanted a marauder!
And the S-1 is cool, if you want it, get it, the price is allright, try if you can get it for 800?

[ScottGrove]

If anybody has an S-1 to sell, hit me up at groovylessons@aol.com and I'll buy it from you. I don't stop at one, just keep sending them all my way. Thank you very much.