Neil Schon Signature Les Paul

No, but I've played all the prototypes. What would you like to know.

Scott A.

 

This is not your Dad's Les Paul, that's for sure. There is a totally new neck joint design for starters. The neck tenon goes all the way to the treble pickup and fans out for an exceptionally stable neck joint (think kind of like a Stephens cutaway, but further into the body) This allows the heel of the neck to be carved like a neck through, allowing total access to every fret of the guitar. Makes playing on the top of the neck a breeze. The angle of the neck is flatter, to accomodate the Floyd, which Neal has blocked on his guitars. The last prototype we got had jumbo frets on it which Neal really seemed to like over the smaller ones on the previous proto's. The treble pickup is a 57 Classic Plus, and the neck is a Sustainer, and a Dimarzio Rails pickup (forgive me, we tried several different models, and for the life of me, I can't remember which one Neal settled on). There are two switches for the sustainer behind the bridge, one is on/off, and the other is a three way to change the harmonic/octave of the sustained note. The controls are volume, tone, sustain level, and a dummy push/pull which is a wah wah pot when pulled out, and the sweep is controled by the pot. You can geta really cool wah in one position effect that way. They should be available in Gold Top, Cardinal Red, Black, and White.

The guitar practically plays itself, the action is low, and the sustain of the instrument is amazing, even with the Floyd (I personally can't wait for a stop tail version, it should blow minds in my opinion)

Hope that answers some of your questions.

Scott A.

 

How about some specifics, like...

What's the neck carve? Varied widely from a 'normal' modern LP or pretty similar?

How do the Floyd & locking nut affect the tension/feel of the strings?

How does the Floyd affect the TONE of the guitar?

What do the 2 little switches do?

How does a Sustainiac work and what does it 'normally' sound like?

When's Gibson putting the things on sale?



--chiba

 

It must have a maple neck if it has Floyd Rose.

 

Chiba-

I would say the neck carve is somewhere between a 60's and 50's LP. Bigger than the 60's, but not a baseball bat either (PM me for the exact neck it was modeled after). Despite the Floyd, the strings still retain a "slinky" feel. Neal uses .009's, if I had to judge, they probably feel like 9.5's. The tone is definetly Neal. Not a vintage LP, but meaty with a little zing on the top for clarity. Chords are clear (the blocked trem helps alot here), and single notes just sing. The switches are the on/off, and the three way toggle for the sustainer- regular note, octave up harmonic, and two octaves up harmonic. The Sustainer is like having an E-Bow built into your guitar. It works by magnetic inductance, causing the strings to vibrate at different rates for different notes or harmonics. It does require a 9 volt battery for the operation of the guitar. When not in use, the Sustainer does not affect your tone. When engaged, you can hear a bit of tonal difference, because it is trying to resonate the strings. It is a bit of a freak out the first time you use it, when the strings move under your fingers without strumming them, but you get used to it quick. Now, as for when it goes on sale...... Hopfully soon!

Joe-

The neck is mahogany with an ebony board.

Braciola-

Rumour has it, and once again this is only a rumour at this point (sorry some overzealous folks on another forum nearly got this guitar canned for spreading bad information) is a list price of 10,800.00 for the Custom Shop model. Once again, I repeat, this is only a rumour!!! There is talk of a USA model soon after obviously at a lower price point.

Hope that answers everyone's questions, if there are more, feel free to ask!!

Scott A

 

Out of curiosity...why a floyd if it's blocked anyway?

Sounds like a sweet axe!

 

Hey Carson!!

The trem is only blocked from going up in pitch. That way, if you break a string, the rest of the guitar doesnt go all out of wack. By the way, I hope the Boost is working well for you!!

Scott A.

 

anyone got pics?

 

Thanks for the info Guit

Available in white...hmm... intriguing!

Rumour or not, those list/street price estimates sound reasonable for a Custom Shop/Signature model Les Paul.

I'm not surprised it has a mahogany neck. It's well known the only TRUE FANS of maple necks on Les Pauls are me, Motorhed & Zakk

--chiba

PS: edit:

 

hey, dont forget me on that list. lol, mine's got one, i think thats probably why i find something missing in the tone of most les pauls.

 

I guess Gibson is going to have a lot of warranty claims to ignore then.

 

Thanks again, Joe, for your cheery and uplifting commentary.

--chiba

 

Ahhhhhh, the pics that got alot of people in trouble!! Jeez, at lease they could have used some polish on the guitar before taking them. Oh well, just an FYI, the final inlay on the neck will be different than this prototype. The angled portion of the diamonds will be reversed to match the one on the headstock, and there will be a MOP bar running through the middle of each one.

Scott A.

 

Ahh...I undestand. I heard "blocked" and was picturing an Eric Clapton style fully disabled trem. That makes total sense. Really sweet looking axe!

My PHI Boost is rockin' my world! People ask me about the mysterious pedal with the single unlabled knob and the cool flame paint job and I tell them "it's the hotness knob." The more I crank it, the hotter things get.

 

Tell ya what, you buy one, unblock the Floyd and use it like Steve Vai for 90 days and tell me how the neck is afterwards.

MOST manufacturers will not make a non-maple necked Floyd Rose guitar because they know that mahogany does not stand up well to the stress and release a Floyd user creates.

Name five guitars that come with factory Floyds w/o a maple neck other than this one.