1980 Vintage Gibson S-1

Interested in this guitar? Its for sale! CALL [phone]
A really unique Gibson Guitar. It’s a 1980 Gibson S-1 with three Bill Lawrence designed Single Coil Pickups. Excellent shape and comes with the original Gibson Chain Saw case in also excellent shape for its age!
Here’s what we found on the internet regarding these cool guitars.
History
The S-1 was introduced as part of Gibson's attempt to break into the guitar market, which was then dominated by . It began production in mid-1974, and debuted in 1975 with endorsements from as well as guitarists and . However, the nontraditional construction and -like characteristics led to disappointing sales, as they previously had with the similar . As a result, both the and the S-1 were discontinued in early 1980.
The S-1 enjoys an afterlife as a cool vintage guitar!
Description
The body of the S-1 was broadly similar to the . It was made of a solid -like body with a maple neck bolted on. It was adorned with made "Harmonica" style tune-o-matic bridge and the standard Gibson stopbar tailpiece.
However, the S-1 was unique in its elaborate electronics and wiring. It featured three "see-thru" designed by , which could be used together to generate sounds. The pickups were controlled by a combination of a toggle switch and a "chicken head" rotary switch. The rotary switch had four positions which allowed different selections of pickup combinations: 1) neck + middle, 2), middle + bridge 3) all three together, and 4) neck and bridge out of phase. The toggle switch bypassed the entire 4 position rotary switch circuit and made one straight connection to the bridge pick-up.
This one in particular is really cool. It has a Mahogany body and neck with a Maple fret board. Most have all maple fret boards. Was it special ordered? Hmmm…. They were only made from 1975 to 1980 which makes this one of the last. Gibson only made3089 of these which would explain why I didn’t see any until now. Cool guitar with lots of cool sounds!
The guitar is build very solid. It weighs 8 lbs. It has a 24 1/2 inch scale neck with a 1 5/8 inch nut. The neck is a nice medium C that feels great in the hand. The jumbo frets are hardly worn. Check those pics!
We had our Techs set this Gibson up with a new set of 9’s and awesome playing action. You will love playing this guitar. Easy playing low action!
Comes complete with the shown Gibson Hard Shell Chain Saw Case. Its as nice as the guitar. I am used to seeing these in much worse condition. The interior plush is still very nice as is the accessory box. Great case with all the hinges and latches still working!
Awesome guitar but sold as is no returns as its vintage and used. However, I have been hand picking my customers instruments for over 20 years now and they all loved the guitars I found for them. This cool Gibson will certainly not be an exception.
Thanks for checking out our cool guitars, parts and gear!
Lawman Mike at Lawman Guitars

[@jedward5155]

If people didn't dismiss these guitars their value would be through the roof. They play and sound so good.

[@TomiSimatupang]

in the '10s I bought a set of the transparent S1 pickups and the solo-switch (which is a bypass switch to the bridge PU, btw), all mint condition for about 20,- € on ebay. Acouple of years later I could resell them and buy a really good guitar from that money. They are also in some Grabber Bass models. Very rare and indeed unique single coils.

[@traileater]

I just bought one of these today for a price I couldnt refuse. I bit beat up but very playable. Someone added a floyd rose unfortunately but...it is what it is. Original HSC is decent but has some damage. Your switching works like this, #1 is neck/middle, #2 is middle/bridge, #3 all 3, #4 bridge/neck out of phase. This is with the 2 way toggle in the up pos. In the down pos it is bridge only. There were some late models with neck only option. Original idea is from Ron Wood & Bill Lawrence.

[@thomasrevere7916]

I bought one today at guitar center and mine came with a different vintage case like the ones from the 60s. It has a pinkish purpleish interior and it's really gorgeous.

[@hailmaryrecordings8255]

I’ve gotta have one of these.

[@brianosullivan5441]

www.12fret.com/instruments/gibson-s1-solidbody-maple-natural-1978/

[@davejones5745]

When you throw the toggle switch you only have the rear pickup.

[@tore-andregurandsrud1043]

Isn’t the two way toggle switch there to bypass the other settings and just give you the bridge pickup?

[@shma1israel]

Yes. And the chickenhead switch positions are: 1 - neck and middle, 2 - bridge and middle, 3 - all three, 4 - neck and bridge out of phase.

[@tore-andregurandsrud1043]

@@shma1israel cheers!

[@BluegillGreg]

That neck is not maple, it's mahogany (the fingerboard is maple). They didn't make any with rosewood necks, either, although they did make many S-1s with rosewood finger boards. In general the blonde bodies came with maple necks and either rosewood or maple fingerboards. The mahogany bodies came with mahogany necks and either rosewood or maple finger boards.

[@toddsteele5918]

No necessarily, mine is a mahogany body, maple neck, rosewood board. But mine is also Cardinal Red and so far as I know that was the only Cardinal Red S-1 made. It is also a 1981 so a bit after the supposedly stopped making them.

[@BluegillGreg]

@@toddsteele5918 Interesting. They are kind of a weird bird. Is the body finish opaque or transparent or sunburst or... ? If these guitars could talk...

[@toddsteele5918]

@@BluegillGreg Oh heck yeah they are weird. Creating humbucking signals with 2 single coils, phase shifting etc. One of the more unique guitars from an era at Gibson that was marked by lots of "throw it at the wall and see what sticks". There is a place for the S-1 at the table IMHO. It is fully a opaque super red with black white black three ply pick guard though I also have a HH pickguard for it. But in my old age I prefer the original electrics. There's a chance it was a special order as the guy i purchased it from was pretty well known in the Bay Area and worked with a lot of those older SF Bay Area musicians moding guitars and amps etc.

[@BluegillGreg]

​@@toddsteele5918 That would have been super stylish for some of the music current back in the day. I like your idea of having an HH pickguard as well as the original set-up. I had a natural with rosewood board in the late 70s which I foolishly let go, and later got a natural with a maple board. It has switching problems which are very frustrating. I'm about ready to send it to Gibson for repair. I really like that ability to over-ride the chicken head knob by toggling on the bridge pickup, but that's what's not working on mine. Thanks for the response.

[@toddsteele5918]

@@BluegillGreg The reason I got a HH setup was because I had the same issue. Then I took it to someone who made it worse and ended up totally fing up the wiring. There is a very good luthier here in VT that I am taking it to to be fixed based on the Gibson wiring diagrams... Fingers crossed he is as good as advertised. He has pretty long lead times on repairs but I take that as a sign he is thorough...

[@kennshotts7258]

It looks just like my old one i had. I wonder how much.

[@brianosullivan5441]

www.12fret.com/instruments/gibson-s1-solidbody-maple-natural-1978/