Gibson Joan Jett Blackheart Melody Maker Limited Edition Electric Guitar Review

Gibson Joan Jett Blackheart Melody Maker Limited Edition Electric Guitar Feature
- Buffed neck for smooth feel.
- East/West(side to side) Kill Switch
- Adorned with black heart and red dot inlays
- Joan Jett Signature on the truss rod cover
- Mini Grover LP Style Tuners
To celebrate Joan Jett's rock achievements, Gibson USA introduces the Joan Jett Blackheart Melody Maker. It's a guitar made in the image of her own simple-yet-powerful go-to Gibson, but with upgraded appointments befitting a deluxe artist's model. With the Melody Makers light and incredibly resonant solid-mahogany body, a quarter-sawn solid-mahogany neck with 17-degree headstock pitch, a Tune-o-matic (ABR-1) bridge with stopbar tailpice and a Corian nut to keep it all ringing true, and a single zebra-coil BurstBucker 3-pickup in the bridge position for a hot yet vintage response, the Joan Jett Blackheart is equipped for your most aggressive sonic assault, while still capable of singing sweetly when desired.
Single Volume and Tone controls provide all the sound crafting you need, while a sideways mounted "kill switch" toggle lets you cut out when necessary, while avoiding any accidental dead air when you're thrashing hard. To dress up this lean, mean rockin' machine, the guitars neck wears an ebony fingerboard with red dot inlays in the traditional positions of the single dots, with two white hearts at the 12th fret, and a satin ebony black nitrocellulose finish to let you know it means business. All guitars come with a plush-lined Joan Jett hardshell case, and a Gibson Owner's Manual with full care instructions.
 | From laying the foundations of punk with The Runaways in the mid to late '70s, to scoring hit after hit with her own band The Blackhearts, Joan Jett has long been devoted to her Gibson guitars, and to one hard-traveled, heavily modified mutt of an old Melody Maker in particular. Jett knows that her Gibsons'--from the most elite Les Paul to the humblest "student" model--have the power to grind out the rock like no other guitar, and whether chunking down the punk power chords or wailing out scorching leads, they get the job done every time. "I got my Melody Maker in 1977," Jett says about the guitar she has made one of the most iconic instruments in rock and roll. "It was light and it sounded great. It was the guitar I had in the Runaways and then played on all my hits, like 'I Love Rock N' Roll' and 'Bad Reputation' and 'Do You Wanna Touch Me.' It's my baby." |
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Body and Finish
The Joan Jett Blackhearts solid-mahogany body is light and incredibly resonant, with a big, broad voice that's deceptive in a scaled-down guitar and a high double-cutaway design for easy upper fret access. Its satin ebony nitrocellulose finish is understated, yet elegant.
The body has a high double-cutaway design for easy upper fret access. |
- Species: The body of each Gibson USA Joan Jett Blackheart is crafted from solid mahogany, just like the original Melody Makers of the ’60s. This classic tone wood has yielded some of the most sought-after tones in the history of rock.
- Tonal Characteristics: Mahogany is a medium-dense wood with excellent resonance and superior sustain, and it offers a rich, round, warm tone, but with plenty of high-end sheen and good midrange presence. The mahogany of the Gibson USA Joan Jett Blackheart also lends a percussive snap and some added clarity to the tone of the guitar.
- Design: The body of the Joan Jett Blackheart is made to the design of the Melody Maker of the early to mid ’60s, with two cutaways for outstanding access to the neck’s upper frets.
- Weight: The total average weight of a Gibson USA Joan Jett Blackheart body is under 4 lbs, making for an extremely light finished guitar.
Neck and Headstock
The guitars fast yet comfortably rounded mahogany neck has a buffed nitrocellulose finish for a smooth feel. Its headstock is carved in the simple, straight lines of the narrow vintage Melody Maker headstock, yet it is still given the 17-degree back angle that contributes to outstanding resonance and sustain. Slim, trim, and businesslike, it wears upgraded Mini Grover tuners and a simple white logo, and the truss-rod cover is engraved with Joan Jett's signature.
The headstock is carefully angled at 17 degrees, which increases pressure on the strings and helps them stay in the nut slots. |
- Neck Species: The neck of the Gibson USA Joan Jett Blackheart is constructed from solid, quarter-sawn mahogany.
- Neck Profile: Mahogany is a medium-dense wood with excellent resonance and superior sustain, and it offers a rich, round, warm tone, but with plenty of high-end sheen and good midrange presence. The mahogany of the Gibson USA Joan Jett Blackheart also lends a percussive snap and some added clarity to the tone of the guitar.
- Tolerance: When fitting the neck and body together, we take advantage of our precise measuring equipment so that all angles, pitches and alignments maintain a tolerance within .005 of an inch. Not only does this help to keep your guitar in tune but it also maintains proper string alignment relative to the fingerboard.
- Headstock Angle: The Blackheart headstock is carefully angled at Gibson’s traditional 17 degrees, which increases pressure on the strings and helps them stay in the nut slots. An increase in string pressure also means there is no loss of string vibration between the nut and the tuners, which equals better sustain.
- Truss Rod: Gibson’s traditional truss rod, found in most all of our guitars, is highly responsive to the individual adjustments you’ll want to make to personalize and optimize string action and sustain.
Fingerboard and Nut
The Joan Jett Blackheart is equipped with an unbound ebony fingerboard, which enhances note attack and articulation. A hard, dense, dark-black exotic wood, ebony has commonly been regarded as a deluxe, upgraded option on electric guitars, and has been used by Gibson in the past on the Les Paul Custom. Ebony is also extremely hardwearing, and more resistant to humidity and climate and weather changes than many other fingerboard woods.
The neck sports 22 jumbo frets. |
- Frets: The Blackheart sports 22 jumbo frets, all immaculately dressed and polished.
- Tonal Characteristics: Ebony is a very popular up-market fingerboard material, known for its strong, clear tone.
- Radius: The fingerboard has the 12" radius that is preferred by the vast majority of rock players. It provides smooth note bending capabilities and eliminates "dead" or "choked out" notes, common occurrences on fingerboards with lesser radiuses.
- Inlays: The fingerboard carries red dot position markers at frets 3, 5, 7, 9, 15, 17, 19, and 21, and two white hearts at the 12th fret.
- Nut Material: The nut is made from Corian, which is mainly composed of acrylic polymer. This popular synthetic alternative to bone offers a very durable material, delivers enhanced sustain, and holds the tolerances of the precision cuts made in the slotting process. It is installed into the top surface of the neck, butting up to the end of the fingerboard to ensure proper tone and sustain transfer, and its nut slots are cut with Gibson's PLEK system to ensure precise fit, break angle, and string spacing.
with a single zebra coil (black-and-cream) BurstBucker 3 pickup in the bridge position. |
The two-way “kill switch” that can turn off all sound from the guitar when instant silence is desired. |
Pickups and Electronics
With the straightforward complement of a single BurstBucker 3 in the bridge position and single volume and tone controls, the Joan Jett Blackheart is ready to get down to business--with nothing to get in the way of rocking. As a useful bonus, a "kill switch" lets you cut the noise for dramatic breaks, while its sideways east-to-west orientation means you won’t knock it accidentally when you're laying down the thrash.
The Joan Jett Blackheart is equipped with a single zebra coil (black-and-cream) BurstBucker 3 pickup in the bridge position. Recognized as one of Gibson’s most accurate vintage PAF humbucker reproductions, the BurstBucker 3 is made with an unpolished Alnico II magnet and enamel-coated wire just like the originals of the late ’50s, and is wound to replicate a higher output range that only a small percentage of the original pickups presented. Also like the originals, that were produced with hand-operated machinery, the BurstBucker 3 has slightly mismatched coils for more edge and “single-coil” like snap and clarity in the final tone.
- Tonal Characteristics: The BurstBucker 3 offers an outstanding blend of punch and power, with enough output to grind out crunching power cords and singing leads alike, while it can also wail sweetly with plenty of depth and warmth when the Tone and Volume are dialed back.
- Volume and Tone Controls: With a single pickup, the Blackheart uses single volume and tone controls. The former consists of a high-quality 300k linear pot, while the latter comprises a 500k non-linear pot with a .022uF capacitor for a smooth, natural attenuation of highs.
- Toggle Switch: The Blackheart features a single two-way "kill switch" that can turn off all sound from the guitar when instant silence is desired. It is mounted sideways (with an east-to-west orientation) so it can't accidentally be knocked into the "off" position while playing. For the creative guitarist this also opens up some possibilities for dramatic electronic on/off stacatto effects.
- Output Jack: The guitar features a 1⁄4" output jack made by Switchcraft. Its super heavy duty construction holds your guitar cable securely in place.
Features a tune-o-matic bridge, which allows the player to adjust and fine-tune the strings easily. |
The bridge is combined with a separate "stopbar" tailpiece. |
Hardware
Featuring Gibson’s famous Tune-o-matic (ABR-1) bridge and stopbar tailpiece, the Joan Jett Blackheart sings with sustain. Plus, a set of Mini Grovers allows precision tuning.
- Tuning Keys: The headstock is equipped with Mini Grover tuners with chrome buttons and an efficient 14:1 gear ratio. These tuners were a popular upgrade on several classic electric guitars of the '60s and '70s.
- Trussrod Cover: As with most Gibson guitars, the truss rod cover is made from black and white vinyl plastic and shaped like an antique bell. On this model, the truss-rod cover is engraved with Joan Jett’s signature.
- Bridge: The tune-o-matic bridge provides a firm seating for the strings, allowing the player to adjust and fine-tune the intonation and string height in a matter of minutes. It also yields excellent coupling between strings and body, maximizing resonance, tone, and sustain. This bridge is made from Zamak and then plated with chrome.
- Tailpiece: Every Tune-o-matic bridge is combined with a separate “stopbar” tailpiece, which is essentially a modified version of the earlier wraparound bridge that's designed to further enhance the connection between the strings and the body. The Blackheart’s stopbar tailpiece is made from Zamak then plated with chrome.
- Control Knobs: The control knobs are Gibson's black witch-hat knobs with silver inserts, found on many vintage and modern Gibson guitars
- Strap Buttons: Features aluminum strap buttons are the same style and design that Gibson has used since the early 1950s.