“I got my Melody Maker in 1977,” the legendary Joan Jett says about the guitar she has made one of the most iconic instruments in rock and roll. “It was light and it sounded great. It was the guitar I had in the Runaways and then played on all my hits, like ‘I Love Rock N’ Roll’ and ‘Bad Reputation’ and ‘Do You Wanna Touch Me.’ It’s my baby.”
Carefully developed in close cooperation with Jett herself, Gibson’s Joan Jett Signature Melody Maker features a lightweight, slab mahogany body with a Worn White finish.
The slim-tapered neck profile is handcrafted to the same specs as Jett’s original guitar, with an ebony fingerboard and Gibson’s classic, silk-screened gold logo on the headstock.
The tuners are mini-Grovers with authentic “witch hat” knobs, exactly as they are on Jett’s guitar.
A “kill” switch replaces the normal Gibson toggle switch, and the body is outfitted with a period-correct black vinyl pickguard.
The classic, snarling growl of Jett’s original Melody Maker is accurately captured by a single Gibson Burstbucker 3 zebra humbucker, slightly overwound with asymmetrical coils, unpolished Alnico II magnets, and all the punch and power of an original Gibson PAF pickup.
Add some typical Melody Maker appointments-24 ¾-inch scale length, and standard Gibson Tune-o-matic and stopbar tailpiece-and the result is a painstaking and heartfelt tribute to one of the most fearless, groundbreaking artists in rock and roll.
Each Joan Jett Signature Melody Maker comes with a Gibson USA hard case. Credit Gibson and Joan Jett.