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Gibson Announces Midtown Custom

Gibson USA's Midtown Custom takes their ES properties a step further, maximizing each design goal, while adding a rich, deep resonance all its own.

Nashville, TN (November 18, 2011) -- Gibson USA has announced the new Midtown Custom, designed to take all of the legendary Gibson ES properties a step further, maximizing each design goal, while adding a rich, deep resonance all its own. With a trimmed-down and more player-friendly body size that still emulates the lines of the ES models, but built with the chambered solid-wood construction (rather than a laminated top and back with solid center block), the Midtown Custom is designed to embody, "the optimum marriage of solidbody and archtop."

Features:

  • Chambered Mahogany body with carved, bound Maple top
  • Mahogany neck with '60s SlimTaper neck profile
  • Black Richlite fingerboard with acrylic block inlays
  • Burstbucker 1 in the neck and Burstbucker 2 in the bridge
  • Grover kidney button tuners with 14:1 tuning ratio
  • Vintage Sunburst, Heritage Cherry Sunburst, Ebony, or Antique Natural finishes
  • MSRP $2299

For more information:
Gibson


     

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Comments

 (13 comments) display by
UsernameComment
Rob
on 12/09/2011 		I did buy the black version of this new guitar. I dare to say this is pratically the same quality as a 335. (Sound and Build) This quitar will increase in value over the next years, mark my words.
I ve got several other Fenders and Gibsons, but this one is really my newest treasure.
I'm from The Netherlands and overhere its becoming a 'HIT'
Robbie S
on 12/08/2011 		WOW WHat an awesome Axe. The neck is crazy fast and comfortable. The vocal quality of the Midtown is broad and expressive. Finally Gibson offers a semi-hollow that hits a practical price point for most guitarists. The guitar is very comfortable and balanced. The fit and finish are perfect, really looks great..I have the cherry burst and the wood quality is first rate. I don't think anyone grabbing this axe will be sorry.
Tranquil b
on 12/06/2011 		Martin has been using Richlite on their finger boards and bridges for years. It's the same material used for wiper blades in hot steel rolling It's as strong as hell. And more wear resistant than wood. So if for some weird reason you think the fingerboard contributes that much to the sound...you can think of Richlite as super ebony.. It makes no frickin difference what the guitar is made of....it's about tone and playability All the superficial BS people post. They can't possibly be musicians.
Jerry
on 12/05/2011 		I played a Midtown at GC last week. Beautiful guitar. Felt like my $4000 ES355. I plan to order a chery sunbburst for Christmas! It's about time Gibson made a high-end looking guitar affordable.
K.Dove
on 11/25/2011 		Guys please! It's just one model! Iremember Travis Bean and Kramer using aluminum necks! It is an interesting idea. If it sounds good...great. If it doesn't..DON 'T BUY IT. Does every guitar have to sound the same?
hotdotdog
on 11/24/2011 		What do you expect Gibson to do here? The government has "bent him over a barrel". There are already many "synthetic" parts in an electric guitar and natural wood fingerboards are on Obama's "naughty list" right now unless the whole guitar is made in India...... Meanwhile China makes sells fake Gibsons by the dozens and has no trouble getting them into this country. It's too weird.
Jon Fine
on 11/24/2011 		Oh, come on, folks, get over it! Richlite is nothing more than Bakelite, which has been used for toothbrushes, bowling balls, and various other products (including Rickenbacker lap steels in the 1930's) for years. If using man-made materials for fingerboards will help save rainforest trees, I'm all for it. I hate to use the term "synthetic"--when I was a teenager in the early-mid-'60's, I asked my dad for an electric guitar, and he asked me point-blank why I wanted to make a "synthetic" sound when I already had a "real" (read "acoustic") guitar. As I recall, I asked him what was so all-fired natural about making music by scraping horsehair across nylon...It worked--I got my electric!
Sam
on 11/23/2011 		Why go to the trouble and expense of a carved top only to combine it with synthetic materials in the neck.It could have been more affordable and no less desirable with a pressed top and back, ES style.Another misjudged Gibson effort ?
GuitarSlinge r
on 11/23/2011 		Don't knock it until you try it. The Richlite board, to me, is snappier than ebony boards on my Flying V and Les Pauls and has a nice articulation.
Marketing Guy
on 11/21/2011 		Guitar Center in Las Vegas has the vintage sunburst and antique natural models on display in their acoustic room. I like the larger peghead design, but the rest of the neck and inlay appear very...well, plastic. The Richlite fretboard is a deep, inky black color and the acrylic inlays are milky white. It doesn't look natural because it isn't. The question is whether this is a phase or a shift in the industry. With guitars like Flaxwood on the market, we're seeing broader use of man-made materials in key components affecting feel and tone. My hope is that the synthetic materials will reside in mid-range guitars (like the Midtown Custom) and the natural products still available but at slightly higher prices to account for government meddling. I wanted to test drive the Midtown Custom, but the staff at Guitar Center last Friday night was really not interested in selling to anyone other than the guy playing a Les Paul in the Platinum room.



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