[WAB74]

How rare is the marauder in sunburst? its not one of the common finishes. how many were made and in what years?

[jules]

The regular and Custom marauder were made with sunburst finishes at different times: 240 Marauders, 83 Marauder Customs.See the Marauder shipping figures

Just seen an '81 Candy Apple Red Marauder on ebay.

Don't see those too often!

[WAB74]

Thanks Jules, thats exactly what I was looking for

Warren

[marauder]

Hi,
I have one of those candy apple red Marauders; original owner. I can't find production figures on it anywhere. Anyone know production, and current market value?
Thanks.

[jules]

There are no released production figures beyond 1979. Gibson gave some of the older 70s models new finishes in the early eighties (Grabbers, G3s, Rippers, Marauders etc) - in order to boost sales and use up stock before deleting them.

These are certainly the rarer finishes and are somewhat more desirable than the more common finishes. The value of Marauders depends on where you are, condition, state of the economy etc - but you can probably add 10-20% value for one of these rarer finishes.

Re value - best bet is to watch them on ebay for a few weeks and see what they go for. Any value I quote is liable to be proved wrong by the market, but roughly between $500 and $1000 depending on the factors above.

[WAB74]

Originally Posted by jules

Gibson gave some of the older 70s models new finishes in the early eighties (Grabbers, G3s, Rippers, Marauders etc) - in order to boost sales and use up stock before deleting them.

Hello Jules. What finishes (obviously other than CAR). Silverburst?

And how about the S-1, did that come out in a new finish.

[jules]

Off the top of my head, i've seen white (Marauder and on one '82 Ripper - something never seen in the 70s), Antique Sunbust (on an 81 G3) Candy Apple red on a few G-3s and Marauders. Can't recall silverburst on any of these, although I have seen it on an L-6S from 1980.

I'm sure the S-1 must have seen some new finishes around this time.

There was a folder of "Gibson Specials" that came out in 1981 of all the stuff they were phasing out. Lots of the 70s models are listed, and a couple have new colours listed too, but most don't. It includes the Marauder, S-1, Grabber, G-3, Ripper, RD Artist bass and so on.

From time to time circumstances allow the Gibson Guitar Company to make available special and/or limited production guitars.

Within this folder you will find specific information sheets on a widely diverse selection of instruments, such as:

• Instruments produced in limited production runs to satisfy the needs of guitarists involved in an immediate musical trend;
  [/*:m:21ffi704]
• "Test marketing" of a new concept in guitar design to observe the musician's response;
  [/*:m:21ffi704]
• A modification of an existing design, again as a barometer of public acceptance
  [/*:m:21ffi704]
• Close outs and/or phase outs of an existing production instrument.[/*:m:21ffi704]

To a large extent, the instruments in this folder fit into the last (phase out) catagory, although you could argue a new finish is a modification of an existing design.