❌SOLD❌ Gibson Marauder Solidbody Sunburst, 1975

The Gibson Marauder was designed by Bill Lawrence and built from 1974 to 1980, and over time a total of 7,112 were built including the Marauder Custom. Endorsed by Paul Stanley and Ace Frehley of KISS, the bolt-together Gibson Marauder was targeted at both Fender and import guitar buyers.

Taking cues from bolt on construction principles, the Gibson Marauder used a contoured, single cutaway solid body of Alder, Maple or Mahogany with a Rosewood-fingerboard Maple neck and a Flying V-type head. A brass nut was factory installed. The maple neck also featured a volute and scarf-joint to create the head, which gives the traditional Gibson tipped-back head significantly more strength and break resistance. The tuners were originally Kluson Deluxe style models. A stop tailpiece was located some distance from a Schaller-made ‘Harmonica’ bridge which provides a lot of saddle travel.

The electronics of the Gibson Marauder were relatively simple and aimed to produce brighter sounds. To that end, Bill Lawrence designed two new pickups – sealed in epoxy – for this guitar. The neck position received a full size humbucking model, but the angled bridge pickup was a smaller humbucking model with rounded ends. An example of these pickups can be seen in this older posting of a 1978 natural finish Marauder. Unfortunately, these pickups were not entirely successful and the expoxy used to ‘pot’ the pickups rendered them irreparable should problems arise. Early Marauders, like this one, used a 3-way toggle switch near the cutaway, but later models shifted this or went to a blend control.

This Gibson Marauder example dates to 1975 and was built at the Gibson Nashville plant. It is in good condition and plays well, though the pickups are not original and a full size humbucker has been installed in the bridge position, with the pickguard cut to fit. The finish otherwise is in good shape with a number of small dents and dings from honest use. The neck finish is worn from frets 2 to 7 from playing in that area. Fret wear is moderate.

The original Gibson form fit case is included.