1976 GIBSON S-1

1976 Gibson S-1, in very good condition.

The Gibson S-1 is part, alongside other models like the Marauder or the Sonex, of these solidbody guitars that are somewhat offbeat when we put them in relation to Les Paul, SG, and other classics produced by the Kalamazoo company , now based in Tennessee. The S-1 debuted in 1975, the last in a series of models designed by Bill Lawrence, and highlighted the realities of running a guitar company at the time: in the 1970s, Gibson, owned by Norlin, tried new approaches to guitar building – some were truly innovative, particularly with regard to the electronics onboard the instruments, while others were simply new to Gibson in the face of its material conditions: the oil shock of the 1970s, the Vietnam War, imports of cheap guitars from East Asian factories and the deep recession were taking their toll, and all major American guitar makers were losing sales to new, cheaper competitors. In this general environment, Gibson was also forced, with the aim of reducing costs, to employ certain techniques that it had resisted for a long time: screw-on necks, electronics mounted directly onto the pickguard, use of wood such as alder or poplar… After all, Fender had been using these for almost two decades and was doing very well, and we cannot deny that the Gibson models resulting from this logic have a certain charm!

In addition to the relatively typical body shape, this guitar features wiring allowing a wide variety of tones: 3 single-coil pickups connected to a rotary selector allowing various combinations of two pickups or all three together, with a two-position selector allowing you to bypass the rotary selector and giving access to the bridge pickup alone – note that this configuration is the work of Bill Lawrence, to whom we also owe the guitar’s atypical pickups, cast in resin shells. The guitar also comes equipped with a Bigsby style vibrato tailpiece, installed later on in the life of the instrument but which ultimately brings it even closer to Fender guitars in the use that can be made of it. Other than this point, the guitar is completely original, and comes fully set up and prepared in our workshop.

Sold in its original Gibson case.