Gibson has partnered with System Of A Down frontman on a new Custom Shop signature guitar marking the release of his Foundations EP on the Nashville brand’s own label.
The Serj Tankian Foundations Les Paul Modern is limited to 25 models worldwide, is available exclusively from the Gibson Garage, and features a sublimation-printed graphic finish featuring the System Of A Down frontman’s own artwork – a piece titled ‘Sunburst’.
This Custom Shop special edition was launched on 17 April at Tankian’s Tankian’s own coffee shop and art gallery, Kavat Café/Eye For Sound, and it is really more than just an electric guitar with some sweet case candy.
This is a package. As Gibson puts it, this is “a unique, limited edition guitar, accessory, and experience package celebrating the artistry of System Of A Down frontman Serj Tankian across all mediums.”
Let’s look at them. There’s the artwork, which is not only on the guitar but is included with the list price as a 18” x 24” museum-grade signed print.
There’s music, too, with a signed 12” copy of Tankian’s new solo EP. There is a signed copy of Tankian’s memoir, Down With The System. Completing this comprehensive presentation of Tankian’s work, you also get two VIP tickets to forthcoming System Of A Down gigs in NYC, Chicago or Toronto.
And of course there’s the guitar. Again, this is signed. And it is a Les Paul Modern, which means it has Ultra-Modern weight-relief to make it easy on the back, challenging the maxim that says you need a thick, padded guitar strap whenever you play an LP.
It has the SlimTaper mahogany neck that is glued to the body in the traditional style but features a Modern Contoured heel to enhance upper-fret access.
The body itself is mahogany with a AAA-grade maple top. The fingerboard is ebony and has a compound radius.
Modern updates include the locking Grover Rotomatic tuners and the electronics that hook up its BurstBucker Pro and Pro Plus pairing to a dual volume, dual tone controls configuration with a push/pull function for coil-tapping, for out of phase tones, and for bypassing the tone circuit entirely.
Other specs include an aluminium Tune-O-Matic bridge and stop-bar tailpiece, a Graph Tech nut, 22 medium jumbo frets and you the hard-shell guitar case as standard.
The chassis of the guitar, it’s build and features are what you might expect from a Les Paul Modern – “A high-performance Les Paul that is sure to satisfy even the most contemporary player,” was MusicRadar’s verdict of the Les Paul Modern Figured – but getting that graphic print on the top is where Custom Shop really earned its corn.
Sublimation printing involves heat and pressure and a careful treatment of the wood so that the graphic binds with it.
Available now, the Serj Tankian Foundations Les Paul Modern is priced $7,499. See Gibson and the Gibson Gazette for more details and watch the video with Tankian above for the story behind the Foundations project.
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