Gibson launches the Theodore Standard

The ‘lost’ design from 1957 is now being produced in series and is a lot more affordable

Brand news 25-03-2024 15:23

The Gibson Theodore was an electric guitar design that had fallen into obscurity until a 2022 Archive Collection release revived the guitar as a limited edition Custom Shop model.

The guitar with the striking tulip-shaped body, which started life in 1957 as a sketch by Ted McCarty, was finally on the market, but with only 318 built and a street price of $4,999, it was one for the collectors.

The Theodore Standard changes that. This guitar is now officially a Gibson model, with a list price of $1,999. There are some important differences from the original Archive Collection Theodore.

While the luxurious Custom Shop version had a walnut center stripe across the body, the Standard is made entirely of mahogany. The pickups have been updated, with the P-90s of the original replaced by two humbuckers: a 57 Classic at the neck and a slightly more powerful 57 Classic Plus at the bridge – appropriate, considering the year the Theodore was first designed. Operation is simpler, with just a volume and tone control plus a three-way switch.

The new models have exchanged the sturdy neck for a slimmer SlimTaper mahogany neck that is glued to the body and equipped with an Indian rosewood fingerboard with a 12-inch radius. Trapezoidal position markers are inlaid between the 22 frets.

Instead of the wraparound tailpiece of the Archive Collection model, the Standards are equipped with an ABR-1 Tune-O-Matic bridge and aluminum stop bar. At the other end, a Graph Tech nut sits under the same straight-six headstock, fitted with Grover Mini Rotomatic tuners.