1975 Gibson MK-72

According to The Blue Book of Acoustic Guitars, the Gibson MK-72 was made in very limited quantities: “Approx. 1,225 mfg. 1975-78” (p. 281. Gruhn’s Guide, Gibson’s Fabulous Flat-Top Guitars, and Vintage Guitar Price Guide basically agree). George Gruhn, et al. add that the MK models were custom designed by Michael Kasha and other acoustic physicists and Richard Schneider, Gibson’s Master Luthier at the time. Thought of as a successor to Gibson’s iconic flat-tops of the 1930s to 1960s, they were produced in a range of finishes and prices. In early 1976, the rosewood MK-72 and the MK-81 were listed at $659 and $879 respectively, and the ultimate MK-99 at $1,999—all in a year when the top-of-the-line Gibson J-200 listed at $899!

In addition to the somewhat unusual shape, with a slope- shouldered body, a slightly wider lower bout (16 3/16”) than the dreadnought size, a narrowed waist for easier handling, and a 25 ½” scale, the MK-72 has a number of other special design features: modified fan-pattern bracing, an asymmetrical fan-shaped “Kasha” bridge to distribute string tension more effectively, a narrow 1920’s snakehead headstock with points at the upper corners, a three-stripe rosewood sound hole cap, and an old style script logo (verified by Gruhn, p. 169). In other words, it will excite lots of interest when you take it out of its case, because nobody will have seen a Gibson like this before.

Overall, it’s 40 ¾” long—about standard dreadnought size, 11 ¾” at the upper bout, but only 10” at the waist; it tapers from 4 ¼” to a full 5” deep, which with the modified bracing enhances its bass register—kind of like a jumbo without the jumbo bulk and weight. While it may have been designed more for solo work than the blue grass stage, it still has enough carrying power for anybody and is an outstanding example of Gibson craftsmanship.

The standard MK-72 features a solid spruce top with solid rosewood back and sides, and a ebony/rosewood/ebony three-piece fret board. The solid rosewood fan bridge has pearl-dot pins, and the 14/20-fret finger board has pearl dot inlay. It has the three-stripe rosewood sound hole cap rather than the usual rosette, and multi-stripe body binding, top and back; there is no pick guard on this guitar, showing nicely the natural spruce finish. The rosewood veneer headstock has a cool modernistic truss rod cover with the vintage Gibson script logo. The chrome enclosed Gibson tuners work well, and I might add that there was one on eBay recently (admittedly in near mint condition) with a buy-it-now price of $2,499!

Considering its over four decades of making music, this guitar has very few cosmetic or structural issues: several minor dings and bruises, perhaps barely visible in the pictures. The neck joint looks solid, and there is no lifting of the bridge. I also checked the truss rod action by backing off and re-tightening and there is no evidence of any issues there. The nut has a small chunk missing on the low E side, but once at normal tension, the E string stays put. The finish on the back of the neck is very smooth, and the headstock has only minimal cosmetic wear also. The action is very nice in the "cowboy chord" area & up some, but it's higher than I personally prefer it at 4/32” at the 12th fret low E, the neck is straight, the top is flat, and over-all it looks great.

And, of course, playing music for over forty years has made that Gibson sound even better, more resonant, and more powerful. Despite its relative rarity and very good condition, this guitar is not for a collector to put in a museum—although it’s fun to show it off. This is still a player’s guitar, and I sincerely hope that its next owner is someone who will continue to play it well and often.

The hard shell vintage case is probably not the original Gibson case, but it is in very good structural shape, inside and out. There was evidently considerable cosmetic wear in the vinyl cover along the front bottom edge which has been rather artistically covered with black tape, visible in the pictures; there is also a bit of tape on the top. The hardware all works fine, and the gold plush interior fits the MK-72 shape perfectly. It is an excellent vintage complement to this fine vintage guitar.

Buyer pays a flat rate of $55 for insurance and shipping to the lower forty-eight states; shipping costs elsewhere will be negotiated as necessary. Payment by Paypal is preferred; cashiers and personal checks are acceptable, but checks must clear before the guitar will be shipped.

I have tried to be perfectly clear and accurate in describing this vintage instrument, so its return will not be accepted unless it can be shown that it was egregiously misrepresented in this listing. Please check out the pictures and ask any questions you might have before buying.

Thank you for your interest in this fine vintage guitar.

Now, having said all that, I feel obligated to include these additional notes from the previous owner, who apparently knows a lot more about these guitars than I do. I am offering this guitar simply as an interesting vintage Gibson, as I have no idea as to its collectability; below is his opinion, for what it’s worth.

“I recently stumbled into this very unusual example of a vintage Gibson MK Series acoustic guitar. It is very unusual & notably different than any MK series I had seen before as no Gibson name on face of headstock, no serial number or other info stamped into the back of the headstock as all other MK's I've seen have & also no Gibson & model stamped into the center back brace as all other production models are. I could also find no examples of an MK having the Gibson name engraved/molded into the truss rod cover & this appears completely original.

Given this, I am personally about 95% certain it has to be a prototype as Gibson would have never let a production model leave the factory missing all of these basic attributes. It also seems to have features from a few different models. It has the rosewood back and sides of an MK-72, but does not have the distinctive rosewood/ebony/rosewood fretboard of that model, just straight rosewood on this one.

I wish I could provide you with a bunch of impressive history on this particular guitar, but info is kind of all over the place for these MK series guitars & very little re prototypes. I saw one prototype listed (ended) on Reverb that you can still find & that seller had a price of 18K for his. I do not have ANY idea as to value to collectors, so just putting a number in there as a starting point & fully expecting it to sell with a fair offer as opposed to 5k.”