About this Guitar:
This is the second Gibson Custom Shop guitar done in collaboration with Joe Perry.
With its Tiger Green finish this Joe Perry Les Paul Signature version is quite a jump from the earlier 1996 version. This one has solid mahogany body with an AAA grade figured maple top. The finish is aged tiger green which has a greenish/yellow hue. The body is weight relieved which means that the mahogany back has cavities which help to reduce the weight of the guitar. Around the body is a single-ply cream colored binding which matches the pickup covers and toggle switch ring. The bridge used is an ABR-1 bridge with stopbar or with a Bigsby tremolo. The hardware is aged nickel which also lends a vintage look to the guitar.
The 24.7 5 inch scale length neck is made from a single piece of mahogany with a '59 rounded profile with a cream colored binding around it. The neck also has a long tenon for greater contact with the body. The ebony fretboard has 22 frets and aged acrylic trapezoidal inlays as position markers. On the headstock below the Gibson logo you'll find Joe's 'Bone yard' logo with an engraved truss rod cover.
On the 1996 version a '57 Classic pickup and special humbucker where used. These have been replaced with Burstbuckers pickups. There are two Burstbucker humbucker pickups with a Burstbucker 2 in the bridge position and a Burstbucker 3 in neck position. The neck Burstbucker's polarity is reversed. These pickups have more of an edge to them than the '57 classic mainly because of the uneven number of winds on the pickup coils. They still have the 'creamy' sound but with more of an edge. They also don't have any wax-potting where wax is poured in to the pickup to help reduce microphonic noise. The controls are the standard with one exception in that the neck pickup's polarity is reversed. The controls consist of two volume, two tone, and a 3-way pickup selector switch.
The original version had a special bridge pickup that had an active mid boost and tone shaping circuit built in to it. This also had a book matched figured maple top and mahogany back. The neck was also made of mahogany with 22 frets and a '59 rounded neck profile. The main difference seems to be the in the pickups, electronics and wood used. So it's pretty much a different guitar. The '96 version had a push-pull switch which activated the electronics in the specially designed humbucker. The hardware was also black chrome which became popular at the time.
This guitar has been signed by Joe Perry.
This guitar features:
- Solid mahogany Body with AAA figured maple top
- Single-ply cream Binding
- Aged Tiger Green Body Color
- Single piece mahogany Neck
- "Boneyard" decal on peghead face
- 22 fret rosewood Fingerboard
- Aged acrylic trapezoid Inlays
- 24-3/4" Scale
- 1-11/16" Nut
- Burstbucker 2 Bridge Pickup
- Burstbucker 3 Neck Pickup
- Bridge/Tailpiece: ABR-1/Stopbar
- Vintage tulip style Tuners
