This week, Gibson USA Introduced a signature Les Paul for Rammstein guitarist Paul Landers.
According to Gibson's press materials, the Paul Landers Signature Les Paul is "an EMG-equipped tone machine with nothing to get in the way of your riffmeistery other than a single volume control, packed in über attitudinal satin-black and silver styling. As a take-no-prisoners electric for the seriously heavy rocker, the Paul Landers Signature Les Paul simply can't be beat."
The body is solid mahogany, weight-relieved for a more comfortable playing experience and enhanced resonance, topped by a carved solid maple cap. The glued-in neck is carved from solid quarter-sawn mahogany to a rounded '50s profile and topped with a dark obeche fingerboard. The body and neck are finished in hand-sprayed Satin Ebony in nitrocellulose lacquer. The body has a silver binding, and there are no inlays and no pickguard. The headstock, however, features a mother-of-pearl Gibson logo and silver silkscreened "Les Paul Model" (not the usual gold).
The PLEK-cut nut is made from black Corian. A silver disk engraved "Paul Landers #1" is attached to the back of the headstock.
The guitar is powered by a pair of EMG humbuckers. There's a silver-covered EMG 60 in the neck position and an EMG 81 in the bridge position. The pickups are linked via a traditional three-way toggle switch to a single chrome-knobbed volume control, which has been moved further up and forward from the customary position to make it accessible for easy "pinky finger" volume swells.
A chrome TonePros Tune-o-matic bridge and stopbar tailpiece provide a solid anchor at the body end, while a set of locking chrome Grover tuners with keystone buttons clamp your strings tightly at the headstock.
Damian is Editor-in-Chief of Guitar World magazine. In past lives, he was GW’s managing editor and online managing editor. He's written liner notes for major-label releases, including Stevie Ray Vaughan's 'The Complete Epic Recordings Collection' (Sony Legacy) and has interviewed everyone from Yngwie Malmsteen to Kevin Bacon (with a few memorable Eric Clapton chats thrown into the mix). Damian, a former member of Brooklyn's The Gas House Gorillas, was the sole guitarist in Mister Neutron, a trio that toured the U.S. and released three albums. He now plays in two NYC-area bands.
