“Handcrafted to be fully functional, authentically Gibson, and utterly one of a kind”: Leo Scala goes back to the future for the unique Master Artisan range of Theodore Retroliners

Gibson and the genius Serbian luthier Leo Scala have teamed up for a wholly unique Master Artisan Collection run of Theodore Retroliners, taking the recently resurrected and finally realised electric guitar design and turning it into a work of art.

Make that 10 works of art, but as Scala tells the Gibson Gazette, they might be eye-catching but they were not designed to be kept in a glass case and hung on the wall – they’re made to be played, with each instrument a “performing piece of art”. 

Scala is as obsessed with the tone as he is with the aesthetic, winding pickups especially for the series, with a Retrophonic P-90 at the neck and a PAF-alike Retrophonic “Vault ‘58” at the bridge

“It’s always the sound,” he says. “It can be extremely flashy, but if you pick it up and it doesn’t do its own thing, then you just missed the whole point. It’s not art that should be hanging on a wall; it’s a performing piece of art.”

The Leo Scala Theodore Retroliners - Gibson Master Artisan Collection - YouTube

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Gibson’s Theodore is a story unto itself. This is the guitar that Ted McCarty designed back in 1957 but Gibson never released until 2022, first as a limited edition run, then as a full production model as the Theodore Standard. 

Scala’s idea behind this Master Artisan Collection was to reimagine the Theodore as a custom guitar that was being released in the ‘50s. Hence the Retroliner designation.

Fans of the factory wiggle stick will find a lot to like about these, with custom spacers on the Bigsby B7 tailpieces to give you more wiggle than regular units with a wider range of travel. We like this radicalism. 

Some of these Master Artisan Collection have a steampunk Americana vibe, like the Custom 57, with its custom aged metal pickguard, and the aged metal on the pickup covers.  

Others, like the Electric Purple model, look like custom orders from the golden era. All the ageing on the hardware and finishes was done by Scala and by hand. A lot of time has been spent on these. The details are incredible.

“When I build a guitar, I am not building a guitar,” says Scala. “I’m first building a knob. Then I’m winding the pickups. I’m 100 per cent dialled into each and every one of those details. I build a whole lot of different little things. The guitar is just a place where everything comes together.”

Each of these instruments ships in a custom G&G guitar case and has a certificate of authenticity in a Gibson headstock-shaped box.

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Of course they don’t come cheap. These are available from the Gibson Garage locations and are priced $15,999. But there really is nothing like them and they won’t stick around. Check out the full story behind the collection in the video above and find out more at Gibson.