The Gibson MIII Standard is a double-cutaway un-Gibson-like guitar introduced in 1991. It features a reversed Explorer headstock and an HSH pickup configuration with a Gibson 500T, a Gibson NSX single coil and a Gibson 496R humbucker. In combination with the five-way switch and a two-way toggle the guitar was capable to produce a total of nine different sounds. The two-way toggle flipped the neck and bridge pickups from humbucker to single coil mode and back. The 5 way switch also had a stand-by position for kill-switch effects. The set-in neck with a slim-taper profile joined the body at the 22nd fret, making the upper frets very accessible. The uniquely shaped tortoise shell pickguard has an engraved M-III logo and was paired with a tortoise shell truss rod cover and toggle switch surround. The tremolo was a Gibson branded Schaller licensed Floyd Rose. The tuners were also made by Schaller. The Gibson MIII standard came in the colors Ebony, White and Candy Apple Red. Later on in 1991 there were also versions without a pickguard. These came in the colours translucent red and translucent amber. There is also a Deluxe version where the body consists of 3 woods (Walnut, Poplar and Maple) with a Natural color.
