Up for sale, a 1965 Gibson Melody Maker D (Double) in excellent condition and in perfect working order, complete with its original nickel-plated Maestro Vibrola tailpiece. Finished in a gloss Cherry nitro lacquer, this Melody Maker D features solid Honduran mahogany body construction with a one-piece mahogany neck capped with a Brazilian rosewood fingerboard. The pair of robust-sounding single coil pickups combine a Fender-esque snap and twang with the fuller midrange and low end punch that mahogany provides. The Melody Maker has a raw, bell-like sound and tonal profile all its own, and the single coils have plenty of detail and cut. Featherweight at 5lbs 15oz, this Melody Maker has been professionally setup here at Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar with 10-46 strings, low action, and accurate intonation. The one-piece Honduran mahogany neck has a slender C-shaped profile carve at the nut, with full-feeling shoulders in every register and notable heft and chunk further up the fingerboard, measuring .800" deep at the 1st fret and 1.015" at the 12th. On the Brazilian rosewood fretboard, the original medium jumbo firewire has benefitted from a level and crown, only exhibiting a hint of wear beneath the strings on the crowns of frets 1-3. This guitar plays cleanly up the 24 3/4“ scale with a straight neck and a responsive, optimally-adjusted truss rod, and the replacement nut measures 1.650” in width (a transitional width between the 1 11/16” nuts seen in years prior and the more slender 1 9/16” nut widths that persisted through the latter half of the ‘60s). The headstock sports the Melody Maker's signature slender "open book" shape, fitted with a set of vintage Kluson Deluxe double line strip tuners (replacing the less-expensive open-gear tuners Gibson briefly used in this era). On the body, the electronics function as intended, and the original wiring harness features CentraLab pots with visible date codes spanning late 1964 to early ‘65. The original pickguard (with “Melody Maker” silkscreen text), pickup covers, switch tip, and strap buttons are intact, and the quartet of black reflector cap knobs are present as well. The nickel-plated hardware has a light dusting of surface patina, including the replacement modern bridge with "lightning bolt" compensated saddle, designed for a plain G, working in concert with the original short frame Maestro Vibrola tailpiece. The Vibrola has a smooth, easy response for quick flutters and deeper dives, reliably jumping back to the original pitch. The Cherry gloss nitro lacquer finish exhibits extremely subtle checking on top, and cosmetic wear includes a number of minor dings and faint scratches on the body as a whole, as well as some chips of varying sizes along the lower bout perimeter and buckle rash across the back. The smooth gloss finish on the neck profile has a worn-in, comfortable feel. A brand new premium hardshell case is included.