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The price will undoubtedly add to the SG's success.

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The 'big two' companies arguably dominate both the guitar market and the airwaves with unprecedented levels of saturation. But while Fender is expert at making sure there's a 'proper' Stratocaster for every pocket, Gibson's efforts at making its classic outlines affordable for everyone have so far been less effective.

Sure, you can pick up a Les Paul or SG from Gibson's Chinese-made Epiphone range for reasonable money, but it's the idea of owning a USA-made guitar with 'Gibson' on the headstock that possesses as much allure today as it ever has.

"The guitar has a resonant acoustic voice, which makes for a wonderful snarling rock 'n' roll machine."

No amount of fanfared hi-tech misadventure or reports of poor quality control seem to be capable of causing anything more than minor dings in the lustrous gloss of the brand's heritage and desirability.

In light of all this, when the new Melody Maker series was ushered in at the Frankfurt Musikmesse in March, it seemed like an inevitable success story given the instruments' sub-£500 pricing.

Of course, this isn't the first time that Gibson has manufactured Melody Makers in the USA and marketed them squarely at the affordable end of the spectrum.

Back in December 2008, we got our hands on the vintage- style Melody Maker that was priced at less than £300 for a solid mahogany, USA-made affair with one single-coil pickup, scratchplate-mounted volume and tone controls and a satin finish. At the time of writing, this model is still in production, although prices have inevitably crept closer to the £400 mark.

Of course, the Melody Maker name has plenty of heritage of its own. Production began in 1959, when Gibson was struggling to shift Les Paul Standards but making great inroads by selling 'student' instruments to youngsters having music lessons in retail stores.

Following the single and double-cutaway Juniors, the original Melody Maker was introduced with a single-coil pickup, a thinner body and a narrower headstock than its siblings, and was priced at just $99.50 way back then.

It may have been a cut-price design, but lest we forget that Gibsons of this period were all made to a very high standard from the kind of materials that today demand a massive premium. A Brazilian rosewood fretboard on a 'student' guitar? You bet.

Fast-forward to 2011 and Gibson's newest Melody Makers obviously aren't hand-crafted from premium tonewoods. Indeed, they don't even share many common materials with the majority of the solidbodies in the Gibson range. The