Sabtu, 20 Juni 2009

Peter Frampton Les Paul Custom

When players pick up this baby, it really comes alive. The Frampton Paul has three humbuckers and a chambered, lightweight body. And it’s unusually wired to get that distinctive out-of-phase style Frampton sound. The middle pickup is always on, but has a dedicated master volume knob so it can be dialed in or out. That tone should theoretically appeal more to players influenced by classic rock, but the variety of tones this black beauty produces captures the ears of just about anybody who hears or plays it.

Slash Les Paul

Although there are several Slash Les Paul models available, the granddaddy — and big draw in the Custom Shop’s traveling display — is the dark tobacco burst model introduced in 2004. Slash, of course, was almost single-handedly responsible for the skyrocketing popularity of Les Pauls in the ’80s. But this is a distinctive beast, with a pair of Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro pickups and a Fishman Power Bridge to provide an optional acoustic guitar sound. A mini three-way switch between the rear two pots — one a third volume control, for the level of the acoustic setting — allows toggling between acoustic and electric settings. But most players who pick up the Slash model wanna blast — and often the classic intro to “Sweet Child o’ Mine.”


Johnny A. with Bigsby

This guitar is a real attention getter on its own terms and offers some fairly unique characteristics. The fully hollow body is one-piece mahogany and the inside is flat in the back to increase natural projection. The Bigsy vibrato tailpiece that. a uses is optional, but not so the guitar’s distinctive 25-inches long scale neck abetted by double cutaway horns. And the neck’s profile, at A.’s insistence, is slightly flatted in the back for easy playability. When the guitar’s on display jazz, blues and rock players all relate to its blend of tone, feel, and light weight. And this six-string, birthed in 2003, is often described as “art deco” for the modern-yet-classic look of its crown shaped inlays, angular pick guard and singularly shaped f-holes.



Zakk Wylde Les Paul Bullseye

This Bullseye beauty is a hard-core rock guitar with active pickups, an EMG-81 and an EMG-85, and an unfinished maple neck — Wylde’s variation on the Les Paul Custom. Since it was first issued in 1999 the guitar’s been a magnet for Ozzy and Zakk influenced shredders.


Kamis, 18 Juni 2009

Mick Jones Les Paul Custom











“Feels like the First Time” takes on a whole new meaning when this smooth-necked wonder comes into play. It’s the ultimate working player’s Les Paul, inspired by Jones’ signature guitar — which he used as a session musician on recordings by George Harrison, Peter Frampton, Spooky Tooth and Leslie West before taking the helm of Foreigner.

Although Jones’ own Custom got retrofitted with DiMarzio pickups, the Custom Shop reissue sports a pair of Gibson’s biting ’57 Classic humbuckers with exposed coils. The solid mahogany body has an aged ebony finish and gold hardware, as well as a black jackplate and black Schaller strap locks.

SG Standard Reissue VOS











The SG is Gibson’s most popular model, and this version — based on the landmark 1963 edition, a guitar that hit the model’s characteristics out of the ballpark — provides the same look and feel as instruments played by Duane Allman, Dickey Betts, Quicksilver Messenger Service’s John Cipollina (plus some wild customizing), Eric Clapton, the Cars’ Elliot Easton, Tony Iommi, the Doors’ Robby Krieger, Carlos Santana, Pete Townshend, and, of course, Angus Young. When it comes to meat and potatoes rocking, the VOS SG is an undeniable force. The body is thin for easy wearing, but solid mahogany for ringing sustain. The one-piece neck with a rosewood fretboard has a speedy ’60s profile. And the VOS version with a Maestro tremolo has a gorgeous engraved tailpiece.

Johnny A. with Bigsby tremolo











This awesome contemporary guitar is proof that you don’t have to be a musical icon to be the namesake for an artist’s model — you just have to deserve that status. Boston-based Johnny A.’s résumé includes a host of pop bands and a stint supporting former J. Geils Band frontman Peter Wolf. But when A. stepped out with his 1999 instrumental debut, Sometime Tuesday Morning, he arrived at the pinnacle of six-string artistry. After A. became a regular visitor to the Custom Shop, this six-string beauty developed. This diehard Gibson player’s love for the company’s classic instruments is reflected in his design. The body ends with the rounded lines of a Les Paul, has an f-hole configuration similar to the ES-335, and sports the double-cutaway horns of an SG. The Johnny A. model has a fully hollow body for quick response, a flattened rear interior to increase natural projection, and an ebony-fretboard equipped neck that is small and quick despite its 25-inch scale length. Another tonal plus: the sides and back are a single carved piece of mahogany, topped by solid maple. The Bigsby adds to the guitar’s classic qualities. And appointments like gold hardware and multi-ply binding make this ’57 humbucker-equipped prize look as good as its sounds.

1959 Les Paul Standard Vintage Original Spec











Duane Allman, Jethro Tull’s Martin Barre, Jeff Beck, Billy Gibbons, Peter Green, Michael Bloomfield, Ted Nugent, Keith Richards and Jimmy Page are among the classic rock guitarists who made the 1959 Les Paul Standard the epitome of the solid body guitar for fans and players alike. Perhaps Page most of all, who — with a ’59 slung nearly down to his knees — defined the rock-guitar-star look as he co-fronted Led Zeppelin in the late ’60s and ’70s. What makes the exacting Custom Shop ’59 VOS — and the original ’59s, now worth $250,000-plus at auction — so special is that year’s Les Paul Standard evolved to a model with wider, fatter jumbo frets, creating a smoother, faster neck. Add the iconic sound of the model’s pickups, reproduced by today’s Gibson BurstBuckers, and history was made. Today’s Les Paul Standard VOS also has a carved maple top with a non-weight relieved mahogany back and sides, for natural sustain, plus vintage style tulip tuners as well as a classic one-piece mahogany neck and a 22-fret rosewood fingerboard.

B.B. King Lucille











This guitar is named after B.B. King’s muse, which was originally a ’50s Gibson ES-335. Over the decades she’s come a long way, baby. Today’s Lucille model, introduced by Gibson in 1982, has no F-holes — to reduce feedback — at King’s direction and sports his name and a crown, evocative of the big man’s role as King of the Blues, on its attractive headstock in mother-of-pearl inlay. The guitar’s gold hardware adds beautiful contrast to its shiny ebony finish defined by white binding. A laminated maple block improves overall sustain, as does the solid maple center block. Her neck is laminated maple with an ebony fingerboard. Lucille has stereo and mono jacks, and a TP-6 tailpiece for precise tuning. And at age 83 King still wails on a Gibson Lucille as he continues to tour the world.

Guitars The Gibson Custom Shop










The Gibson Custom Shop doesn’t just make guitars. It makes dreams — the kind that guitarists can plug in and play.

And who hasn’t dreamed of playing the same axes that absolute masters like Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and B.B. King wield on-stage?

Thanks to the Custom Shop’s exacting devotion to detail and quality, that’s possible. The Custom Shop has offered signature artist models since the 1920s, beginning with the Nick Lucas Special. And in 2006 the VOS (Vintage Original Spec) series of guitars was launched.