Longtime listeners and eagle-eyed admirers of Tool’s Adam Jones have been waiting for an Epiphone iteration of his iconic axe, and that day has finally arrived. The Epiphone Adam Jones 1979 Les Paul Custom sports a feature set unique to late ’70s Gibson instruments; the body is a classic maple-on-mahogany construction, but the neck’s 3-piece maple design offers enhanced stability — it’s even further upgraded with a sleek piece of ebony for the fingerboard! Under the hood, a bridge-position Seymour Duncan Distortion delivers the same searing high-gain tones found on many a Tool album, while the inverted Gibson Custombucker offers a smooth PAF-style shimmer for your cleaner moments. Lastly, the Epiphone Adam Jones 1979 Les Paul Custom sports all the elegance of a late ’70s Les Paul Custom with multi-ply binding on just about every surface and a moody Silverburst finish.

“Invincible” sonic foundations

Even a cursory glance at Tool’s sonically sprawling, multi-decade discography will reveal a complex landscape of tone, talent, and time, where double-digit track durations are as common as at least three time-signature changes within a given track. With both being regular fare for Tool, the nuances of Adam’s riff crafting invariably require an instrument with the depth and sensitivity needed to endure his near-frenzied range of play styles, and Epiphone spared no effort in ensuring their take on is iconic axe hits all the right notes. Its maple-capped mahogany body is paired with an ebony fingerboard and 3-piece maple neck, blending the warmth and harmonic depth of mahogany with the naturally-imbued brightness and clear voicing of maple, while the ebony conjures near-endless sustain with unmatched articulation in every register.

Over "Forty Six & 2" tonal possibilities

The dual-humbucker configuration of a neck-position Gibson Custombucker and a Seymour Duncan Distortion bridge pickup gives Adam’s signature 1979 Les Paul Custom a vast sonic palette to paint with — from the crushing high-octane metal riffage that serves as Adam’s calling card to articulate and atmospheric cleans. Plus, while this combo is a no-brainer when venturing into heavier territory à la Tool, it boasts an exceptional level of versatility that allows you to cover just about any aural application with ease.

’70s-style neck for enhanced stability

True to Adam’s ’79 instrument, his signature 1979 Les Paul Custom features an era-accurate 3-piece maple neck. Compared to the standard mahogany found on almost all other Les Pauls, this guitar’s neck is constructed to increase its dimensional stability, increasing its resilience and resistance to warping, twisting, or environmental damage. The neck is then topped with an elegant piece of ebony for a fast feel, and meticulously sculpted into the Adam Jones Custom Profile — a rounded “C” shape that Music Experience guitarists find eminently comfortable from the first fret all the way up to the 22nd.

What Epiphone Says...

Multi-platinum-selling and four-time Grammy Award® winner Adam Jones, from the band Tool, is one of rock’s most talented and sonically innovative guitarists. Now Epiphone has partnered with Gibson Custom to create a new model that pays tribute to what Adam calls “one of my top favorite guitars of all time” - his Silverburst 1979 Gibson Les Paul Custom. It has a three-piece maple neck with a custom Adam Jones profile, an ebony fretboard, and a mahogany body with a maple cap. Finished in Antique Silverburst, it also features a Custombucker pickup in the neck position and a Seymour Duncan® Distortion® in the bridge position, along with CTS® potentiometers and Orange Drop® capacitors. It also has a Gibson “open book” headstock profile with custom artwork on the headstock's rear that was designed by Joyce Su and Adam Jones, and even comes with a replica two-inch convex mirror included in the Deluxe Protector Series hardshell case.