| Gibson Sonex | |
|---|---|
Gibson Sonex 180 Deluxe (under repairing) Note: knobs, PU covers, bridge & tailpiece are temporally detached to repair. Also lockable nut may be latter addition. |
|
| Manufacturer | Gibson |
| Period | 1980–1984 |
| Construction | |
| Body type | Solid |
| Neck joint | Bolt-on neck |
| Scale | 24.75" |
| Woods | |
| Body | Resonwood |
| Neck | Maple |
| Fretboard | Rosewood |
| Hardware | |
| Bridge | tune-o-matic adjustable |
| Pickup(s) | Zebra Humbuckers |
| Colors available | |
| Offwhite, Silver, Candy Apple (Red), Ebony (Black) | |
The Sonex guitars were a range of budget Gibsons launched in 1980. They were made from a material called Resonwood, and manufactured with Multi-phonic body construction. There were four models: Deluxe, Standard, Custom and Artist.
They replaced the Marauder and S-1 guitars. Like these two instruments, the Sonex took its styling from the Les Paul guitars that had been popular for the previous decades, but using Resonwood instead of mahogany, bolt-on necks instead of set (glued-in) necks, and far less ornamentation.
Meaning the Resonwood was a coating used on a solid , usually mahogany body.
At its launch in mid 1980, the Sonex 180 Deluxe cost $299 which was Gibson's cheapest instrument. The Standard was $375, Custom $449 - all cheaper than the next model, the 335S at $499.
There were four guitar models to choose from in the Sonex Series, all with the Gibson single cutaway design. The Sonex-180 Deluxe featured a rosewood, dot inlayed fingerboard and adjustable exposed coil high output Sonex Humbuckers. All came with a three-position pick-up selector switch, Tune-0-Matic Bridge', stop bar tailpiece and volume/tone control speed knobs.
In 1981, the Standard had been dropped replaced by the Artist series, which was priced at $749. By 1982 the Custom had been discontinued. By 1984 only the Deluxe was left priced at $419.
Unlike the Deluxe, the Standard and Custom models featured the famous zebra Gibson 'Dirty Fingers' pickups, plus a coil tap switch. The Custom has a three-piece maple neck and ebony fingerboard. The Custom was available in white finish, as well as ebony.
COIL TAP SWITCH