Gibson has revealed its first signature guitar for Mark Morton – which arrives more than three years after the Lamb of God guitarist signed with the company.
Morton’s signing, which was also confirmed via a post on Gibson’s X account, brought an end to the riff maestro’s long-standing partnership with Jackson, and fans quickly began speculating about the arrival of a potential signature guitar.
Fans would have to wait until August 2024 for any further information, though, when Morton shared what many believed to be the first glimpse of his soon-to-be-launched signature Les Paul, complete with his signature on the headstock and a quilt maple top.
Another prolonged period of painful silence has since elapsed, but now Morton’s Les Paul has finally arrived – and it’s built off that back of Gibson’s Les Paul Modern template.
As the name suggests, the Modern series puts a forward-thinking spin on the classic LP, meaning there’s a generous neck carve, locking tuners, a weight relieved body and compound radius fingerboard.
All of that is present on the Morton model, which also boasts an AAA quilted maple top in Translucent Ebony Burst Satin, a SlimTaper neck profile, an ebony fingerboard with 22 medium jumbo frets, and a satin nitrocellulose lacquer finish.
What’s perhaps most interesting, though, is the fact it comes equipped with all-new Gibson-developed Mark Morton signature pickups, which have been drafted in over the guitarist’s previous DiMarzio Dominion and go-to Seymour Duncan humbuckers.
According to Gibson, they were developed by the Gibson Pickup Shop to deliver Morton’s singular style, with the rhythm offering a moderate PAF-esque sound, and the lead delivering a higher output with increased presence. Both feature a ceramic foundation.
The Morton Les Paul has been a long time coming. In April last year, he discussed the rumors during a Guitar World interview and teased some of the design choices.
“I was using Seymours for a long time. I also had some DiMarzios for a bit,” Morton teased. “My dream guitar would have some kind of hot-rod pickup, because I play in Lamb of God, right? I need a lot of output; there has to be a certain response for tight riffing. It needs to open up quite bright for all my lead work. Gibson have been winding some wild pickups over the years…”
Speaking further about those pickups – which are exclusive to this new model – in a launch video, Morton expanded, “I worked really closely with Jim DeCola and the Gibson Pickup Shop in designing them. When you’re swinging at these bridge pickups, they really give you all the gain you want.
“We went back and forth for quite a while trying different prototypes. The great thing about that was I was touring a lot while we were doing that, so I would take prototypes, put them in a stage guitar and try them on stage.”
“I don’t think there was a point along the way where you would have told me I’d have a signature model Les Paul and I would’ve thought that would have been a reality. It’s such an iconic guitar.
“It’s such an important piece of music history, so for me to be associated with it – even in just the smallest way – is one of the greatest honors of my career.”
The Mark Morton Les Paul Modern is available now for $2,999.
Head over to Gibson to find out more.
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