Gibson joins forces with Jerry Cantrell for two new signature acoustic-electric guitars
The Atone and Fire Devil Songwriter models sport rosewood bodies, L.R. Baggs VTC electronics, and a number of unique visual touches
Last July, Alice In Chains electric guitar player Jerry Cantrell released the music video for Atone, a twisty, psychedelic teaser from his third solo album, Brighten.
The song was killer, but what really caught our eyes was the acoustic guitar Cantrell wielded in its video. Boasting Cantrell's signature on the truss rod cover and a square white scratchplate around the soundhole, it sure seemed like a signature twist on Gibson's Songwriter model.
Now, more than six months later, the mystery guitar has finally showed its face. Fittingly named the Jerry Cantrell Atone Songwriter, it's been released in tandem with another Cantrell signature guitar, the Jerry Cantrell Fire Devil Songwriter.
Both guitars are built with a rosewood body – with a Sitka Spruce top and rosewood back and sides – in the Songwriter cutaway shape. They also both feature a mahogany neck and 16" Indian rosewood fretboard sporting 20 standard small crown frets with mother of pearl parallelogram inlays (with a special “12” inlay at the 12th fret to boot.)
The Atone and Fire Devil are armed with an L.R. Baggs VTC under saddle pickup and preamp, with volume and tone controls mounted to the soundhole and a 1/4" endpin jack for connecting to your acoustic guitar amp.
Hardware on both acoustics is gold all around, with Grover Mini Rotomatic tuners and a reverse belly Indian rosewood bridge – with a TUSQ saddle, nut and bridge pins – also coming aboard.
As for signature touches, the Atone and Fire Devil both sport Cantrell's signature on the truss rod cover, and a “JJ” decal on the rear of the headstock.
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Where the two acoustics differ is in the prominent illustrations on their body – the Atone features a cream circle around the soundhole, with a black square inside, while the Fire Devil features a "Firefly" pickguard.
Gibson's Jerry Cantrell Atone and Fire Devil Songwriter models both come with a hardshell case, and are available now for $3,749 and $3,999, respectively. The latter is limited to just 100 examples worldwide, so be sure to snap yours up quickly if you're interested.
For more on the guitars, point your browser over to Gibson.
The acoustics come around six months after the unveiling of Cantrell's first signature Gibson, the Murphy Lab-aged “Wino” Les Paul Custom.
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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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