Gibson Custom Launches Limited Edition Peter Frampton "Phenix" 1954 Les Paul Custom — Video

Gibson Custom has announced a collaboration with Peter Frampton for a limited release of the Peter Frampton “Phenix” 1954 “Triple-Pickup” Les Paul Custom.

A detailed and extensive replica of Frampton’s storied guitar, the limited run celebrates one of music history’s most unlikely reunions. Each of the 35 “Phenix” guitars in the series has been and played, signed and approved by Frampton.

Frampton was introduced to his 1954 Les Paul Custom in 1970 when, after suffering guitar issues on stage during a Humble Pie show, fan Mark Mariana loaned him the guitar. The ’54 Les Paul became an immediate favorite of Frampton’s and Mariana generously gifted it to him. Over the next decade, that very guitar was heard on some of Frampton’s biggest recordings, Humble Pie’s Rockin’ the Fillmore, Harry Nilsson’s Son of Schmilsson and Frampton Comes Alive! as well as many other seminal albums in which Peter was a session player.

The duo separated in 1980 when Frampton’s cherished ’54 Les Paul was lost in a cargo plane crash in Venezuela. Miraculously, the guitar was spotted on stage in Caracas then disappeared to the Dutch island of Curaçao. In 2011, through the cooperation of the government of Curacao and a local luthier from said island, Frampton and his guitar were reunited. Now nicknamed “Phenix,” for its ability to rise from the ashes, the guitar appears with Frampton on stage and in the studio.

In addition to bearing the battle scars of Frampton’s own “Phenix,” each limited edition Gibson Custom model features a genuine mahogany body and neck, an ebony fingerboard, a pearl custom inlay and the ’54 Les Paul Custom holly veneer headstock. The series stays true to the recognizable lamp black finish of Frampton’s guitar and features heavy aging, all while maintaining exceptional playability and tone.

For more about this guitar, visit its page on gibson.com

Image 1 of 4