More than two years ago, Gibson kicked off its long-in-the-cards partnership with Tool electric guitar player Adam Jones with the release of the immaculately-spec'd Adam Jones 1979 Les Paul Custom.
Though that high-end model – which was followed earlier this year by a less expensive Gibson Les Paul Standard counterpart – grabbed most of the headlines, in the small print of the announcement was the potential of an Epiphone version of the Silverburst signature guitar.
There have been teases galore, with plenty of speculation abounding about what form the Epiphone Adam Jones Les Paul would take all the way.
Now though, the highly anticipated model has finally been revealed... though not quite in the form that we expected.
The curtains have been pulled back to reveal what Epiphone is calling 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.
The first of these models, revealed today, is “The Veil of Bees" model, with eye-catching artwork by Mark Ryden.
From the front, the model looks pretty much like what you'd expect the Epiphone Jones Les Paul Custom (and it is, as we predicted, a Custom, not a Standard) to look like. Ryden's somewhat-unsettling artwork, though, dominates the back of the guitar's body, with a special back plate commemorating the artist and the name of the work.
The guitar also features a special design by artist Korin Faught at the back of the headstock, which – according to Epiphone – will also appear on all subsequent Adam Jones Art Collection models.
“When I think of art, I see both the visual and the aural as equally important, with one bolstering the other,” Jones said of the collection in a statement. In regards to Ryden, the guitarist added, “Mark’s work is instantly recognizable, uniquely his own. While he started in fine art, he has expanded into music and theatrical productions. What a perfect partner to kick off this series with.”
But what about those specs? Well, for starters, the guitar sports a mahogany body and a maple top, with seven-ply binding. The back and the headstock, meanwhile, feature five-ply binding.
The Adam Jones Custom Profile three-piece bound maple neck, in turn, features a 24.75", 12" radius ebony fretboard with 22 medium frets, block inlays and a Graph Tech nut.
At the neck of the guitar sits a reverse-mounted Epiphone ProBucker Custom humbucker, while the bridge features – as we hypothesized some months ago – a Seymour Duncan Distortion unit. The model also features two volume and two tone knobs, and a three-way toggle pickup switch, with CTS Potentiometers and Orange Drop Capacitors highlighting the circuitry.
As far as hardware goes, there's 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.
The Epiphone Adam Jones "The Veil of Bees" Les Paul Custom guitar is available now – finished, of course, in Antique Silverburst, and with a Protector Series hardshell case sporting a polyethylene shell, TSA-approved locks, soft-grip handles, and black powder-coated hardware, included – for $1,299.
Four other artists – Frank Frazetta, Julie Heffernan, Korin Faught, and Ernst Fuchs – will be featured in the subsequent Art Collection models.
For more on the guitar, visit Epiphone.
