Epiphone goes berserk with its second Adam Jones Art Collection Les Paul
Like its predecessor in the Art Collection series, the Tool guitarist's new "Berserker" Les Paul is all Silverburst business up front, with an epic design in the back
Last December, the much-anticipated, long-teased Epiphone Adam Jones Les Paul Custom finally arrived, though not quite in the form we were anticipating.
Epiphone partnered with the Tool electric guitar player to create the Adam Jones Art Collection, a series of seven limited-edition Epiphone Les Pauls – limited to 800 units apiece – that each boast a different piece of fine art, selected by Jones.
December saw the release of the first model in the collection, “The Veil of Bees" model. Now, Epiphone has unveiled the collection's second six-string, “The Berserker.”
“The Berserker” is so named for the piece of Frank Frazetta artwork that adorns the back of its body. Like its predecessor in the Art Collection – and all of its future siblings in the line – the guitar also sports a special design by artist Korin Faught at the back of the headstock, and a special back plate commemorating the artwork and the artist.
Artwork aside, “The Berserker” is spec'd just like the first Epi Jones Les Paul, with a mahogany body, a maple top with seven-ply binding, and five-ply binding on the back and the headstock.
There's also an Adam Jones Custom Profile three-piece bound maple neck that sports a 24.75", 12" radius ebony fretboard with 22 medium frets, block inlays and a Graph Tech nut.
Sonically, the Les Paul is armed with a reverse-mounted Epiphone ProBucker Custom humbucker at the neck and a Seymour Duncan Distortion unit at the bridge. Controls, meanwhile, come in the form of two volume and two tone knobs and a three-way toggle pickup switch, with CTS Potentiometers and Orange Drop Capacitors highlighting the circuitry.
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An Epiphone LockTone Tune-O-Matic bridge with an Epiphone LockTone Stop Bar tailpiece, a two-way adjustable truss rod, and vintage-style chrome tuning machines, in turn, round out the six-string's spec sheet.
The Epiphone Adam Jones "The Berserker" Art Collection Les Paul is available now – in, of course, an Antique Silverburst finish, and with a Protector hardshell case included – for $1,299.
For more info on the guitar, visit Epiphone.
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Jackson is an Associate Editor at GuitarWorld.com. He’s been writing and editing stories about new gear, technique and guitar-driven music both old and new since 2014, and has also written extensively on the same topics for Guitar Player. Elsewhere, his album reviews and essays have appeared in Louder and Unrecorded. Though open to music of all kinds, his greatest love has always been indie, and everything that falls under its massive umbrella. To that end, you can find him on Twitter crowing about whatever great new guitar band you need to drop everything to hear right now.
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