@nachanga Thank you and congratulations! Welcome to the S-1 Club! I'm glad you like it. It's the main reason I even bother doing any reviews at all. Just to let folks see how truly cool some guitars are that are long forgotten. Plust to shoot down those guitars that are truly horrible and people think that they are what they should be buying because their friend or music magazine says they should. I'm glad that this helped you in your search for a great guitar. Thanks my friend! Scott
@snapperface I had thought that too, but no other guitars other than the S-1 and the Marauders used the flying V headstock and were a bolt on neck. Had they been 67-68 flying V necks (which were VERY popular) they would've been much longer and designed a lot differently because of the talon needed to be used in the set neck V's. I asked Gibson about it and they said that they were just no more than a mix up at the beginning of the 1975 run of them. So, just an oversight according to them.
@GuitarGuys337 On all of the models, the actual 2 way toggle switch will make the guitar go to bridge pickup only. That was the only pickup that was able to operate on it's own from 1975-77. All the other pickup selections via the 4 way rotary switch were for pairs of pickups or all 3 pickups. In 1978-80, the changed the first postition to allow for the neck position only, and still the toggle switch allowed for the bridge pickup only.
@MrNate0620 I use only Johnson Millennium JM-150 amps and when live I use a Morley Volume pedal and a Boss CS-3 Compressor, which stays on all the time. I'm playing through the same amp here, just plugged straight into it with no pedals. All of the effects you are hearing were programmed by me into the amp (the very first modeling amp) and I'm just using the external foot controller to control the patches that I programmed into it.
@MrStevon123 Cool, and the sunburst was first made in 1975. They didn't release the guitars to the public until 1976, but they made a huge batch before actually releasing them. Sunburst is one of the harder finishes to find though, so that helps. There is a new interest in the S-1's and yours sounds like most of mine and would bring in $800.00 - $1,100.00 on the Ebay market. That's where I picked up all of mine and that's the range of what I gave for each of my sunbursts. Hope that helps.
@itsloganscott Thank you very much. I love the sunburst ones too. It took like 6 or 7 of them before I finally landed a sunburst. Then the very next one was exactly the same, but in cleaner condition. I couldn't believe it. 2 1975 sunbursts in a row. It was a great run of luck. Really classy looking axes with that sunburst on it for sure.
Scott, I love the S-1!!! I've been "borrowing" my uncles S-1 for 18 years. Love the feel, the sound, the action, and the rarity. Great review, my friend. I'm still working on that Hagstrom vid for you. Pip.
@GamerMan57 Perfectly valid question and the answer is easily BOTH. lol I can't pass one up if it's all there and correct. But, these are one of my favorite Gibson guitars of all time. The necks are amazing, I love the fact that they are bolt ons. The pickups are ingenious. It's like having a major pull for the UNDER DOG of the entire Gibson heritage. These, the Marauder, Corvus III, Challenger III and the V/2 are all just super cool, funky guitars that I just can't get enough of.
@CrazyDaveZ Very cool! I love it when someone else grabs one of these great guitars. Have fun with it and watch out, they are adicting...as you can see.
@chambermeleon You know, the S-1 switch on the Fenders are used for so many different things on different models now. It started out being just a series parallel button to fatten up the sound so that the distortion tones had some more balls to them. They are that way on all of my S-1 equipped guitars. Now they do, different pickup selections and coil splitting on humbucker equipped axes and anything you could use a switch for. In any case, the S-1 Fender switch is a groovy working switch.
Thanks man. Yeah, these are great axes and EVERYBODY turned their backs on them until I put up about 30 different videos of the ones I bought. Now these, Corvus, Marauder on and on are going between 1-2 thousand bucks. I was buying these all day long for 5-6 hundred bucks. Those prices are up where they deserve to be now. lol
Groovy Music Lessons: I know you also like the Pevey T series between those 2 which way do you lean? you should do a shoot out between them. pros cons etc... like for like I think it would be interesting stuff.
@MrSmearTheQueer Thank you. Yes, the pickups in your G-3 and these are pretty much the same. They are all Bill Lawrence pickups. Bill was responsible for most of the wild and wacky (but the best sounding) pickups of the Norlin years at Gibson. I also have the G-3 and love that bass. Superb!
@hsvdt I wish anything could be used for anything, but yes, single coils can be used for anything, but humbuckers can't get the Strat quack in a 100% clean mode. So......?
@groovydjs oh okay, sorry forthrowing out a bunch of questions, but i noticed your thinline telecaster and was just wondering why you prefer that semi hollowbody over gibsons? anyways i have a telecaster and its great. thanks for your time
@MrKISSfan12 True, Paul started having Ibanez make his guitars in 1978 and stuck with them for a long time before he went through many trials with Steinberter, B.C. Rich, Hamer and a lot of other oddballs during the 80's.
@ziplok35 You are so correct my friend. Gibson forced BL to do so much BS to keep the cost down on all of the instruments that they had him working on. He kept the pickups nothing short of amazing and simply cut the cost back to satisfy Norlin by doing the bolt on necks on everything (which I personally would much rather have anyway). Now people (some people) are finally realizing just what treasures some of these great axes are. Nice to meet up with you! Scott
@MrStevon123 Cool, if your S-1 is indeed a 1976, the serial number will be on an oval shaped sticker on the back of your headstock on the top and begin with "00" Yep, zero-zero. The one and only year that they didn't put the correct serial numbers on were the 1975 models. Those often had 1967 or 1968 serial numbers on them. The worth is determined 100% by it's originality and condition and if it comes with the original hardshell case and it's condition. So, let me know all that and we'll talk.
@FeaRxMaGiq Thank you my friend. I'm going straight into my Johnson Millennium JM150 amp. All of the effects are built into it. So, I'm not using any outboard effects at all. I have a review of this amp on my channel if you would like to check it out. Thanks again! Scott
@bmiranda2645 Yes, they are still very strict on their quality. Gotta love that about them. They would also be very correct in "curing" the figured and birdseye necks as those woods are actually weakened by the figuring. So, if they can "Bond" those flaws in the wood to gain the strength with the "Roasting" process, then that would be awesome. Plus the slightly burnt look really brings out the grain and patterns like no other method before it has done. I see an Albert Lee in my future!
@ubacam The main thing is that I like solid bodies (the Tele is solid except for directly under the F hole, it's purely cosmetic, and I just like single coil pickups over humbuckers is all. If I were doing a Rock show, then the Gibsons would come out and I'd leave the Fender's at home.
Thanks for the info on this Gibson. My buddy helped develop and wind the pickups with BL. I have the G-3 Bass, and hopefully I will soon have this. I find that some of the strangest models of the most unlikely instruments are some of the best sounding…but you can't give away those secrets. American made guitars don't have to be 2500 and up. There are still great ones for around 600…you just need to know where to look.
You sir must be THE authority on the S1! Do you know much about the guts of these things? I'm working on restoring one for a friend. The issue is, the guitar was Frankensteined long ago, and had the rotary switch torn out, and the BL single coils pickups swapped for a DiMarzio HB and a BL500. I think the switch is original, but it's been wired as a three-way. Is the original switch a three-way with a dead "up" position, or is it truly only a two position switch? Do you know who made the rotary switch for Gibson? I can't seem to find any info on it. Switchcraft? I'm making replicas of these pickups with 3D printed bobbins and covers, and would love to get as much info as possible to make a new pre-wired pickguard to replace his weird setup.
@golden381 They come up for sale on Ebay every now and then. Most are so beat up or have so many parts changed out on them that they aren't worth having. I buy all of them that come up for sale that I find that are clean enough to own. But, I won't pay over $800.00 for them. Some folks try to get twice that out of them and sometimes they get it, but it's rare. But Ebay is where I have found all of mine.
Great, Scott (am I going back to the future)? I bought my S1 sunburst in 1978 in North London and have loved it ever since. I did change the machine heads and scratch plate to a full body stainless steel so it looks different but it's the king of my guitar collection
@OWNGEMASTER1993 That's pretty much it. The BIG BOY companies have really been slacking off and it's much better to simply buy a great, older guitar or simply have one built exactly the way you want it. Either way, you're still spending the same amount of money. There are so many great, used guitars from the 70's and early 80's from Aria Pro, Ibanez, Washburn, Peavey, Greco, Electra, Tokai, Fernandes etc. that you can still pick up for a couple hundred dollars that will smoke anything today.
@xmunful Thanks much! If the guitar is the Traditional PRO, then, not a bad deal at all. Just as long as you can't feel those dents when you're playing. I'm not a fan at all of the regular Traditionals, but the Traditional Pro (they just do SOOOOOOOO much more for a grand less....go figure), then yeah....go for it.
I've got a 1975 (SN verified by Gibson) S-1 but it was highly modified when I acquired it in 2005. The bridge and neck pups were replaced with late 70's T-buckers and the machines were also switched out for Grovers. I always thought the wood was maple.
@groovydjs its got some paint chipped off on the back an the odd ding here and there so its been played but its still in good shape for its age and if it was played they also have a murader with a rosewood fretborad and a unfinished headstook origeinal knobs have bean replaced $750 did the do muraders with unfinished headstocks? and which should i go with s-1 or marader
Scott, greetings. You seem to be the S1 man, so I have a question for you. I bought an S1 20 years ago, knowing nothing about them, and I’ve come find out it’s a bit of an oddball. Mahogany body, maple neck, everything stock, and it’s a double cutaway! Not altered by someone, but done at the factory. I’ve been a furniture maker for 35 years, so I know when something has been altered. I haven’t seen a picture of one like anywhere. Any thoughts? If you would like, I could send you some pictures. Jon
Thanks for the review. Very thorough. Hey, is that a 2 part neck on at least one of those? Looked like a curved joint a little below the headstock - not necessarily a bad thing but good to note. Also, on another one the body looked like it might be a 2 piece with the horizontal line running just above the pickguard.
@sawyerhite1 Hi and welcome to my little corner of the cyber world. These are all from my personal collection. I'm not opposed to selling now and then. So, offers are considered. Thanks and I hope to hear from you again. Scott
@OWNGEMASTER1993 Yeah, they do have some funky combinations on them and then they made more sense right at the end when they finally changed the wiring on them. An on and off switch for each pickup would've been just fine and dandy. lol
hey please respond quick, i am either gonna get a 1982 fender bullet strat made in usa or a mid 70s Gibson S 1, which do you think will be the better buy
@itsloganscott You'll find it. I'm looking to try to find the Marauder Custom that was in the same finish, bound neck and block inlays on the neck. Very cool. If you find one of those.....I'll swap you for one of these.
@MrKISSfan12 The old Ibanez stuff sounded great. I haven't heard one in decades that has done anything for me. But the 70's through the early 80's had some real nice quality and sound to most of them.
hi, can you help me determine if the gibson s1 I just purchased is authentic since the variation in the way they stamped the headstock varies so much ? wonderingnif ingot ripped off or not, seems to need a few original parts replaced
@AguynamedScott Thanks my friend. That is way too cool that you found one of these puppies. I scour Craig's list nationwide and always look for these. How did you beat me to one? lol I hope it's great and that you snag it up! You'll really love it if it's all straight and no funny business with it. I think everybody should have one of these in the house for sure. For these to have failed is just sad. It's that whole "A Gibson shouldn't sound like a Fender" mentality out there. lol
@metalhead384 I've owned the Bullet that you're talking about. It's got a very small body on it and the bridge pickup is way too close to the bridge which makes it very harsh to listen to. The necks on the Bullet are amazing. But as far as the 2 guitars go, the S-1 is the clear winner in that challenge. It's simply a better guitar all around. I way more of a Fender fan than a Gibson fan, but when they did the S-1, it delivers "THAT" sound in spades.
SO Scott, That thing is major snappy with a lot more depth than your usual strat, to me anyway, likr you say given tiny computer speakers and what but compared to your strat demos its a little deeper but crackly too. Does the scale make a difference as well? Is that 24.75 scale? I still think the White Peavey t 60 kills everything
hey bro, did that 75 come with a case that had m anderson (i think)sewn into the lid strap? i sold this guitar in a divorce 20 years ago and have been trying to find it ever since. i loved that guitar.
@Desmaad Really, better stay with a single pickup guitar then. These are amazingly easy to use. But, if it's out of your range of understanding, there's always an EPIPHONE LES PAUL JR. Just plug-n-play.
@OWNGEMASTER1993 I like the Marauder and S-1's a lot! They are identical except for the pickups. They did do a natural headstock on the earliest of the Marauders. The price is too high though for something with anything at all to be wrong with it. I understand that they have to pay their rent and all. But, it's just too high. Would I pay it and have I? Yes, but....they are worth it to me, but you can't resell them for that.
I bought my daughter a Gibson SG3 when it was offered as the Guitar of the Week, maybe #30 in 2007. One of 400 with three single coils but with the regular chicken switch.
@AMAN1640 Wow, I actually hate all of those. lol Um, I would have to go with the Les Paul Traditional Pro, simply because of the coil splitting. It has more tonal possibilities than the others. More options are a good thing. Plus, the bridge actually stays on the guitar when you change the strings. The tail piece still falls off, but at least they are kind of trying.
This guitar always reminded me of Brian Mays red special. They even offered the S1 in mahogany with a similar dark reddish finish. I would love to find a really old and beat S1 in need of repairs and convert it to a Brian May Red Special specs.
@OWNGEMASTER1993 No original Grovers on any S-1's. They were just what everybody were replacing EVERYTHING with back at that time. The price is good if the guitar is in pretty much MINT condition and if the original hardshell case is too. It wouldn't hurt if it was a 1975 also. That was the year BEFORE they were released to the public and they will have a 1967-1968 serial number on them. Pretty groovy huh? Then next 2 years have an oval decal with the serial on it then black pickups after that.
Hi Scott great guitar review. You'r a talented player as well. I had a Marauder back in the day but just saw and S-1on offer up. Your review just convinced me to try and buy it. Single coil magic machine. This seems like a good investment. Comes with OHSC too All orig. It's a black one with the numbered knob positions. ROCK ON AND THANKS BROTHER MAN
@kamaboko1 Me too. I don't know why more folks don't offer that. These axes had SO much right going for them. You would think that the GREAT things would stick around. But, it's simply not meant to be for whatever reason. That's one reason that I'm glad that people tend to leave these axes for me to buy up. lol They're MINE, MINE.....ALL MINE! LOL
@chrishpippin Thank you so much my friend. Nobody that matters......that's quite true. lol I'm allowed to use the "BLOCK" button on here all I want. I love that feature. lol Thanks again!!!!!!
@stonedrocker666 You are learning so very much. I'm proud of you. You brough up the other very funny thing. The "Break Angle". Lol Don't you love that one? There's so much funny stuff out there (usually the people spreading the funny stuff). But you are dead on. The folks were making some serious axes back then for sure. Today all they have to do is spray paint a piece of cardboard and put a famous logon on it and it will simply sell because of the decal.
i was at a used guitar store and saw an s-1 in a tabaco burst finish with a rosewood fret board and tuners that are grovers but they are just like the ones on you alder s-1(first one you showed off)but i dout there origeinle who knows maybe in all the exsitmint i was seeing things anyway they want $850 but he says we could talk out a deal any way idera on what year it is and if the tuners a grovers like i talked about above are they origieinle an is the price fare? wish me luck
I had one of these when I was a teenager. I got it for dirt cheap and sold it for slightly less than dirt cheap because I was a dumb kid. I wanted an SG. Man I wish I kept that thing, it was a really cool guitar.
Cool tones man..my friend had an S-1 back in '78-'79 . I had just started playing and really wasn't aware of tone/good sound , or how to obtain it. But that S-1 got my attention. It had a tubular, Caramelized sound that had a "professional"ring to it lol. And i thought, note to self, well made instruments like Gibson are worth the extra cash. Nowadays you can pick-up decent guitars for a fraction of the cost. Just ask guitar Max. And Sean at Scarred guitar
@JWL1092 Yeah, these are really great guitars and I hope you find one that you really like. Once you get one, you'll want them all. That's where I'm at right now. lol
Scott it seems like you have every guitar in the world except a gretsch, and a gibson es 335. So i was wondering if you have ever owned either if them, and if you have why you didnt like them because those are my favorite guitars
the thought crosses my mind that the 60s serial numbers may have been on some leftover? / unused/ completed flying v necks maybe experimental necks (alder) what do you think?... a possibility? Anyway... love you videos brother .
@bmiranda2645 MusicMan makes some of the best instruments on the planet period. The whole "Roasting" thing does make sense. To what degree it will actually help waits to be seen. But in theory, it actually holds water. I know that current necks on all guitars are dried, but the physical appeal is undeniable. So, we'll just have to wait for the reports in 10 years. lol But it does make sense, but no more than the regular drying process. It sure looks pretty though.
(please dont take this as a smart ass question, because im honestly asking) would u say these are ur favorite guitars or are they just one of those types of guitars that u buy and for some reason u just think "u know what i want another one of these"?
@mc2alfawolf Yep, people have no business playing metal on an S-1. It isn't meant for it. Nothing about 99% of Gibson's guitars are meant for Metal. Ibanez gears it's current line of axes for metal players. They don't offer guitars for country players etc. So, sure....I could understand, you need the right tool for the job. Just an axe that will be on high gain distortion where tone is really not an issue, but a flat and wide neck with a 12" radius and no finish would be warranted.
@Zuhzuhzombie Yeah, real single coils, not P-90's and not a fan of any type of a hollow or semi hollow body guitar. So, anything that sounds like a Strat, but doesn't look like one. lol
OxygenDestroyer Metalband Easy, it sounds like every other guitar in the world sounds through one. They have so much gain on them that it makes no difference what you plug into it.....it will sound the same.
@thomastheawesomeguy Hi there my friend. I've grabbed up a few more since this video. I've actually landed all but one of them from Ebay. The other I got from Craig's List. There is a link where you can check the site nationwide instead of just area by area. So, I alway hit people up all over the place and see if they will be willing to ship to me if I don't try to talk them down on the price. Sometimes the price is TOO GOOD and I'll actually offer them an extra hundred to sell to me. lol
@MrKISSfan12 Only 1 Washburn Paul Stanley Acoustic / Electric. I'm more of a fan of his Ibanez PS-10's than the Washburn stuff. I'm sure they're fine and dandy. I love a lot of Washburn guitars. I've just never liked any of the designs that he came up with while with Washburn.
@ricflairjrs4 Thank you so very much! I had sworn off TDPRI, but I couldn't refuse the summons to participate in an S-1 chat. lol. Maybe I'll go without notice in that one thread. lol Yeah, these are just superb guitars and the world is just now starting to catch on.
@stonedrocker666 People think that the more of an angle the string passes over the nut or your bridge saddles, the more sustain you will get. So, they purposely try all kinds of things to force the strings onto those parts of the guitar thinking that it will get this HUGE sustain lift. What they actually get are big grooves in their saddles and splitting their nuts......and we all know how painful split nuts can be. lol I've found that too much of an angle simply breaks strings. Crazy Huh? lol
