Gibson and Adam Jones have announced the kick-off of their partnership and collaboration with the Gibson Custom Shop Adam Jones 1979 Les Paul Custom guitar.
“I’m proud to finally show the world the first release in our multi-year partnership with Adam Jones,” says Cesar Gueikian, Gibson Brands. “Adam is one of the most talented and sonically innovative guitarists; I call him modern riff lord and sonic architect. His creativity and technical ability in music, visual effects, production, videography and beyond is second to none and our collaboration is a true reflection of Adam. The Gibson Les Paul Custom Adam Jones 1979 Silverburst Aged replica version is the first-ever artist collaboration done at the newly created Gibson Custom Shop Murphy Lab. I hope that fans fall in love with the guitars, starting with this initial release.”
The Adam Jones 1979 Les Paul Custom is a limited-edition guitar offering from Gibson Custom Shop Murphy Lab that exactly recreates Adam‘s No. 1 guitar, his prized original Silverburst 1979 Gibson Les Paul, seen everywhere during the world tour for TOOL‘s blockbuster “Fear Inoculum” album, which became one of the highest-selling albums of 2019. A limited offering of 79 Adam Jones 1979 Les Paul Custom replicas have been precisely aged by the expert luthiers and craftspeople of the Gibson Custom Shop Murphy Lab — led by Tom Murphy — then signed and numbered by Adam himself. An additional 179 Adam Jones Les Paul Custom replicas for 2020 feature exclusive silkscreen artwork on the back of the headstock, created by Joyce Su and Adam. The two also collaborated on the design for the custom hardshell guitar cases housing each instrument.
Each Adam Jones 1979 Les Paul Custom replicates not only the look, but the exact feel of the neck profile down to the unique electronics of Adam‘s original — like a hand-wound Seymour Duncan Distortion bridge pickup, a Dimarzio volume potentiometer, and custom capacitors. Even the diamond-shaped strap buttons seen on Adam‘s original guitar were painstakingly recreated, as well as the mirror he affixed to the headstock — included with each.
One of rock’s most talented artists, Adam is renowned as the guitarist for the multiplatinum and multiple Grammy Award-winning band TOOL, as well as his work as a visual artist, sculptor, videographer, producer, and special effects designer (“Jurassic Park”, “Terminator 2”, “Edward Scissorhands”, “Ghostbusters 2”, “Batman 2”, “A Nightmare On Elm Street”). Adam was heavily involved in re-creating the new guitar, working with Gibson‘s luthiers in Nashville, Tennessee to ensure the instrument was a clone of his No. 1 guitar. Utilizing his extensive experience in visual art, special effects and design, Adam Jones is both the director of the majority of TOOL‘s music videos and creates the visual experience on stage for the band.
For the world premiere of the new Gibson Custom Shop Adam Jones Les Paul Custom, a special animated short film, “The Witness”, was created and scored by Adam and mixed by Joe Barresi. Check it out below.
