Gibson Marauder

Manufacturer	Gibson
Period	1974—1979
Body type	Solid
Neck joint	Bolt-on
Scale	24.75 in (629 mm)
Body	Alder, Mahogany, Maple
Neck	Maple
Fretboard	Maple, Rosewood, Ebony
Bridge	Tune-o-matic, and "Short Lyre Vibrola" used on some models
Pickup(s)	H-SC: Bill Lawrence Humbucker (neck), Bill Lawrence Blade Noiseless Single-coil (bridge)
Classic White, Cherry, Ebony, Natural

The Gibson Marauder was an electric guitar model produced by Gibson. Around 7,111 were made between 1975 and ’79 and 1 prototype in 1974. Most common was the natural satin finish on 4,758 of the Marauders. 1,368 Marauders were finished in the colour wine-red, 460 were finished in Ebony, 240 in tobacco sunburst, 202 Marauders without specified finish were mentioned in Gibson's shipping lists, and 83 Marauder Customs were made only in the tobacco sunburst finish. (http://www.vintageguitarandbass.com/gibson/Marauder_2.php) A handful more built until 1982. Designed to compete with guitars made by Fender, it had limited success and was discontinued.

The Marauder came at a difficult time for American guitar makers: sales in the early 1970s were down, and there was significant competition from Japanese competitors. It was Gibson's attempt to break into the single coil pickup, bolt-on neck guitar market dominated by Fender. In cooperation with Bill Lawrence, who had joined Gibson in 1972 and had already produced the L6-S, the Marauder was developed to compete with Fender, and had a pickup layout reminiscent of the Fender Telecaster, though in fact it had two humbucker pickups.

The guitar, though officially introduced in 1974, began shipping in 1975 and was endorsed by Ace Frehley and Paul Stanley. Minor modifications were made in 1976 and in 1978; it was cancelled in 1979 though some were still made until 1982. In all, fewer than 7,200 were ever made.

The Marauder sports a contoured single cutaway Les Paul-shaped body, and a bolt on maple neck with a similar to the Flying V's. Marauders were made with alder, maple, or mahogany bodies. The fretboard was produced both in the traditional Gibson rosewood, or the more Fender-like maple, with twenty-two frets. Most had dot markers, "though some may have had trapezoid."

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Wikipedia