On this website I tend to not focus on the two big most known guitar brands. But if I do feature guitars of these brands they have to be lesser known models of these brands. Well, today I'm writing about the Gibson M Series guitars. Another guitar model from the nineties, the time I first got introduced to guitars. So somewhere in my memory I still remember reading about or seen some advertisements about the Gibson M Series. This is the first time I dug up some information on these guitars though. What first comes to mind when you see the design of these guitars is that this must be Gibson's take on the superstrat.
First of all the M-series features a 25.5 inch scale maple neck with 24 frets as opposed to a Gibson Les Paul's neck scale of 24.75 inch. The profile of the neck IS that of a Gibson Slim Taper neck. The headstock is a reversed Explorere headstock with 6 in-line Schaller made tuners. Then there is the Schaller made Floyd Rose tremolo (with Gibson imprint). To complete the specs, Gibson put in an HSH pickup configuration which could produce 9 different sounds. The two-way toggle switched between single-coil and humbucking modes, while the 5-way switch, like usual, switches between the different combinations of pickups. Noteworthy might be that in humbucking mode there is a "stand-by" (think kill-switch) and also an enhanced tone position.
Here is the info I could find: Some guitars have their own profile on the site now, others don't.
The Gibson M-III Standard was produced between 1991 and 1996 and featured a poplar body and came in the colours Alpine White, Candy Apple Red and Ebony which came with a tortoise pickguard. Later in 1991 there were also versions released without the pickguard, these came in the colors Translucent Amber and Translucent Red.
The Gibson M-III Deluxe produced from 1991 til 1992 is the same guitar as the Gibson M-III Standard, but has a 3-wood laminated body consisting of Walnut, Poplar and a maple back and was available in Antique Natural.
The Gibson M-III H Standard (1991-1992) is the same as the Gibson M-III Standard but came with two humbuckers in an HH configuration. It only had a 3-way toggle and the tone knob was a coil tap.
The Gibson M-III H Deluxe (1991) is the same guitar as the Gibson M-III Deluxe but came with two humbuckers in an HH configuratioon. It only had a 3-way toggle and the tone knob was a coil-tap.
The Gibson M-IV S Standard is the same as the Gibson M-III Standard but features a Steinberger Jam Trem and an ebony fingerboard with pearl dot inlays.
The Gibson M-IV S Deluxe is the same guitar as the Gibson M-III Deluxe but features a Steinberger Jam Trem and an ebony fingerboard with pearl arrow inlays. The body was made of Black Limba (Korina) wood and came in a Natural color.
Gibson M-III StealthThe Gibson M-III Stealth resembles the Gibson M-IV S Deluxe because it is also has a body made of Black Limba and came in a Natural color. The tremolo on this guitar however was the same Floyd Rose as on the Gibson M-III's.
The Gibson M-III All American was a reissue of the Gibson M-III that came out in 1997. It differed in the other M-III's in that it also featured Steinberger Gearless Tuners on a different headstock than the reversed Explorer headstock on the other models. The tremolo on the Gibson M-III All American was also a Steinberger Jam Trem.
In 2013 there was another reissue of the Gibson M-III. It had new colors and some other specs that were different. The body of the guitar is now made of mahogany, the Floyd Rose is an original one and the tone-knob now functions as a push-pull coil split. Also the pickups are all Dirty Finger pickups now.
