Illustrations: Michael C. Ludwig |
In the vintage guitar world, the Gibson Moderne is the ultimate maddening mystery:
the Holy Grail, El Dorado, the Unicorn, UFOs and Big Foot, if you will. It was designed
along with the Flying V and Explorer as part of Gibson’s “Modernistic” series in 1957
(the era of pulp fiction and the space craze), in order to shake up Gibson’s stodgy
image. The V and Explorer made it into production, but the Moderne seemingly never
saw the light of day, until Gibson saw fit to finally issue a limited run in 1982. To this
day, not a single Moderne has ever been verified as original by anyone, although there
have been forgeries, copies, and more false sightings than one could imagine. This
article is a condensed history of the guitar, the fifty-plus-year search for an original
example—the myth, the mystery, the facts and the rumors.
A Controversy is Born
Click here to see our gallery of Moderne variations through the ages.
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Ted McCarty, Gibson’s president during their
golden age of the late 1950s, commissioned
three “modernistic” guitars in response to
disparaging comments that had gotten back
to him from the Fender camp in California.
McCarty realized Gibson’s solidbody guitar line
was rather staid, so he decided to shake the
industry up with wild guitars inspired by futuristic,
space-age concepts. After settling on three
designs from the one hundred or so that were
submitted, prototypes were made to be shown
at the 1957 NAMM (National Association of
Music Merchants) show in Chicago. There’s
speculation that only the Flying V and Explorer,
then called the Futura, made it to the show,
and that the Moderne was scrapped.
Others say all three guitars were shown, and
that while the Flying V and Explorer achieved
their goal of “shaking things up” at the show
and getting into limited production, the
Moderne was so poorly received that all the
prototypes may have been scrapped at the
Gibson factory—but not before one was supposedly
sent out to Gibson’s case supplier for
fitting. Ted McCarty went to his grave claiming
that at least several Modernes were built,
but he didn’t know what had happened to
them. Some Gibson employees say none were
produced. A few say the prototypes were cut
up and destroyed. A few others maintain that
two Gibson employees took the parts and
assembled three Modernes outside the factory,
yet nobody seems to remember either of
these men. Almost all the original players in
this fascinating mystery tale are deceased.
If you’ve never seen the Moderne, it’s an
extremely unique design that’s impossible to
ignore. The left side of the body resembles
a Flying V or a shark fin, while the smaller
right side looks like an old-style can opener
or a fish hook. It’s a radical shape even today,
so one can only imagine how it must have
appeared in the conservative Eisenhower
era fifty-two years ago. The headstock
was shaped like a widened boat paddle,
with four string guides. Some think the
Moderne is butt-ugly; others consider
it a thing of beauty. You can make
your own judgment.