❌SOLD❌ Gibson Moderne Reissue Black, 2012

Here’s a reissue version one of the rarest of all Gibson guitars – the Gibson Moderne, designed and registered in June 1957 but only produced in limited numbers from 1981 to 1983!

This gloss black 2012 reissue version of the Gibson Moderne differs from any 1957 prototype and the 1980’s run in its use of Mahogany for the body rather than Korina, the lack of string pivots on the new V-shaped headstock, a gold Gibson decal logo rather than the cast type, and a considerably lower price. The pickups are ’57 Classics.

This reissue of the 1981-1983 run was built during 2012 at the Gibson Nashville plant. Wear is minor, with one small chip at the rear lower body end, light fret wear and light wear to the gold plating where the player’s hands rested.

The original brown rectangular Gibson hard shell case is included.

At the end of the 1950’s, Gibson had to respond to the Fender juggernaut with flashy new designs, and Ted McCarty developed three in co-operation with prominent Detroit auto designer Ray Dietrich. These three designs, the Explorer, Flying V and Moderne were registered with the US Patent and Trade Mark Office during 1958. Only the Explorer and Flying V were put into production – were not successes, and fell off the catalog in a short time. It was decades before the Rock world caught onto them and other companies started using the designs, and Gibson put them back into production.

The Gibson Moderne, however, existed only in design or a vanishingly small number of prototypes – which did in fact vanish. The Moderne was a thing of legend until 1982, with the introduction of the ‘Heritage’ series and the Gibson Moderne Heritage, built as the originals were, of Korina – Gibson’s name for African Limba (technically Terminalia Superba).

For the Heritage series, Gibson produced a very limited number of Korina Moderne Heritage models during the period 1981 to 1983. At this time, a black 1982 example can be seen here.

In addition to being rare, the Heritage series guitars were also expensive, targeted towards collectors. As with the originals, Korina was used for the body and Mahogany for the neck, with an unbound Rosewood fingerboard. The headstock has a unique splayed design, and included four pivot points align the A, D, G and B strings. The hardware was standard Gibson, with a pair of humbuckers passing through a three-position selector, individual volume controls and a master tone control. Gibson Deluxe Kluson-style tuners with plastic Keystone buttons are at the head, and a stock tune-o-matic bridge and stop tailpiece complete the hardware. All the visible metal parts were gold plated. All in all, a striking and unusual guitar!