Gibson unveils the much-anticipated Adam Jones Signature Les Paul Standard
Based on the Tool guitarist's number one 1979 Les Paul Custom, this production line US model offers the same Aged Silverburst cool points all for at a more accessible price
Gibson has revealed its latest signature guitar for Tool guitarist Adam Jones and it is the much-anticipated Les Paul Standard version of his number one electric guitar.
The Adam Jones Les Paul Standard shares the same Antique Silverburst finish as Jones’ 1979 Custom – recently replicated in the Murphy Lab and as a VOS Custom Shop model for a limited edition release – but arriving in the Gibson USA mainline it is more affordable, and crucially, won’t sell out within hours of its release.
The tonewood recipes are similar. Jones’ Les Paul Standard has a solid mahogany body capped with maple, and a glued-in neck mahogany neck with a ‘70s rounded profile with volute as per the original Custom.
Unusually for a Les Paul Standard, we have an ebony fingerboard as opposed to rosewood, though its 12” radius and the 24.75” scale will present a familiar feel, and those MOP trapezoids offer a visual contrast to the block inlays on the Adam Jones Les Paul Custom.
Jones’ signature appointments can be found on the rear of the headstock, and on the truss rod cover. His Les Paul Standard also has an interesting electric guitar pickup pairing, with a DC High-Gain Humbucker in the bridge position and a BurstBucker 1 at the neck.
There is the typical complement of volume and tone controls – one set for each pickup – plus a three-way pickup selector switch positioned on the shoulder in a black mounting ring. Another nice little detail is the chrome switch tip, adding to the custom vibe here.
Everything is hand-wired under the hood, with Orange Drop capacitors used as standard. Elsewhere, there is a set of Grover Rotomatic tuners with contemporary-style buttons, an aluminium Nashville Tune-O-Matic bridge, and a Graph Tech nut. The Adam Jones Les Paul Standard ships in a hardshell case and will cost you $2,999. See Gibson for more details.
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That's big news, but perhaps it begs the question: when are we going to see the Epiphone Adam Jones Les Paul Custom? We have been teased enough already.
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Jonathan Horsley has been writing about guitars and guitar culture since 2005, playing them since 1990, and regularly contributes to MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitar World. He uses Jazz III nylon picks, 10s during the week, 9s at the weekend, and shamefully still struggles with rhythm figure one of Van Halen’s Panama.
“It’s been road-tested, dropped on its head, kicked around, x-rayed, strummed, chicken-picked, and arpeggio swept!”: Fender and Chris Shiflett team up for signature Cleaver Telecaster Deluxe
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