Gibson's 110th Birthday: Five of the Best Obscure Gibson Models

We look at some of Gibson's strange and wonderful offerings   11-Oct-12

In at number four

4. Gibson Marauder

One of the least popular guitars that Gibson has ever made, but that means it's now pretty well sought after. Fewer than 1400 Gibson Marauders were ever sold, and the line was discontinued in the late 70s (having started in the mid-70s) despite endorsements from Ace Frehley, Paul Stanley and Ron Wood (if he couldn't save it then nobody could).

The pickups alone are enough of an oddity to interest most collectors, designed by Bill Lawrence with a clear coating over the face, they kicked out a lot of high end frequencies, a lot of twang.

This was no coincidence, the guitar was designed to compete with the Telecaster, but the Telecaster is a formidable opponent and the Marauder faded into obscurity, which is the best place to fade into, of course.

The fact that Paul Stanley began to smash the Marauder up on stage did not bode well for the fate of the model. Out of the nearly 1400 models made, he probably smashed up a fair few of them.

You can now pick up a Gibson Marauder for around £600 or $900 if you can manage to track one down, there are people who collect these things though, and they might just beat you to it.