Since Gibson launched the Custom Shop Adam Jones 1979 Les Paul Custom in 2020, many players have sought a more affordable version. Understandable, given the guitar was originally available in two specifications: unrelic'd VOS and Aged & Signed, priced at $5,999 and $9,999, respectively.
Back in May last year, the Tool guitarist sent pulses racing when he shared a video teasing an Epiphone version of the guitar on Instagram, though information has since been limited and the status of such a model remains shrouded in mystery.
There is, however, new cause for celebration, as the guitar giant has just launched a Gibson USA version, priced considerably lower at a much cooler $2,999.
Like its more expensive counterpart, the guitar – which was confirmed by Gibson brand president Cesar Gueikian and director of brand experience Mark Agnesi back in July – features a mahogany body with a maple top and nitrocellulose lacquer Antique Silverburst finish, 22-fret ebony fingerboard and Tune-O-Matic bridge, but trades many of its other specs.
Differences on the Adam Jones Les Paul Standard include a mahogany neck with a '70s rounded profile, mother-of-pearl trapezoid inlays – where the Custom Shop model has block inlays – and electronics; the Standard model trades out its Custom Shop counterpart's Custombucker neck and custom-wound Seymour Duncan DDJ bridge pickups for a BurstBucker 1 and a DC high-gain humbucker.
Other appointments include Adam Jones' signature on the truss rod cover and custom Adam Jones artwork on the back of the headstock.
The Adam Jones Les Paul Standard is available now. For more information, head to Gibson.
Gibson will be hoping the shipment of these Adam Jones Les Paul Standards will be smoother than that of their Custom Shop counterparts. Back in November 2020, an entire pallet of 13 Adam Jones 1979 Les Paul Customs – worth $95,000 in total – was stolen from a Sweetwater truck, prompting both Gibson and Sweetwater to request the help of the guitar community in assuring their safe return.
The guitar giant's “multi-year partnership” with Adam Jones has been off to a flying start already, but looks set to soar even higher after the Tool man offered a glimpse of a potential Flying V signature model onstage earlier this year.
Closing the band's set with Invincible at the Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Oregon, Jones could be seen wielding a mystery Flying V model with a split headstock.
And as Jones has already teased an Epiphone version of his Silverburst Les Paul signature, we're confident an even more affordable model will arrive in the not-too-distant future.
