YouTube electric guitar giant Rick Beato first announced last January that he had joined forces with Gibson to create a new signature guitar: a double-cut based on his personal Les Paul Special.
Now – after Beato heightened anticipation for the model with some assembly-line photos back in April – the model has finally been officially launched. You can see it in action below.
Envisioned as a combination of two of Beato's favorite guitars – a TV Yellow double-cut Special and a Pelham Blue Les Paul Standard – the Rick Beato Les Paul Special Double Cut features a mahogany body that's been thinned out. All told, it weighs in at a slim 7.2 pounds.
The Les Paul's neck – which sports an Indian rosewood fretboard with 22 medium jumbo frets and acrylic dot inlays – has a heel that's been specially sculpted for easier upper-fret access.
Sonics come by way of a pair of P90s, controlled by two volume and two tone knobs, plus a three-way pickup switch. Hardware, meanwhile, comes in the form of a Tune-O-Matic bridge with a stopbar tailpiece, a black multi-ply pickguard, and vintage deluxe tuners with white buttons. All hardware is finished in nickel.
Beato's Les Paul is fairly light on signature touches, but his signature does make an appearance on the truss rod cover.
"The only thing that's different between this and a regular Les Paul Special," Beato summarizes in the video above, "is that this is a quarter of an inch thinner, so it's lighter and more resonant. It's actually similar to my 1965 SG – it's very light like an SG."
The Gibson Rick Beato Les Paul Special Double Cut is available now – in a custom TV Blue Mist finish, and with an Original Series hardshell case included – for $1,999. All proceeds from the model will be donated to the Save The Music foundation, which helps provide access to music education for American public school students.
For more info on the model, visit Gibson.
