There’s a new Epiphone guitar on the market and it’s a Guitar Center exclusive that applies the “Black Widow” treatment – and a whole lot of colour – to the Les Paul Custom.
Just look at the colour finishes on these. There’s Orange Burst, Purple Burst, Red Burst, and, our favourite at the top of the page, Indigo Burst, with the colour extending to the binding and headstock inlays.
It is a look that will tickle the pickle of long-time Gibson fanatics. The Black Widow was an early 21st-century cult classic from the Custom Shop.
These circa 2009 single-cut electric guitars are as rare as hen’s teeth and change hands for serious money – we have seen the quilted-maple topped Red Burst models online for $10,000.
These new Epiphone Widow Les Paul Customs will set you back just $799. For that price you get the seven-ply binding on the body’s top, the headstock, single-ply on the neck and a figured maple top.
Each guitar has a pair of Epiphone’s own PAF-alike ProBucker Custom humbuckers, each controlled by dual volume, dual tone controls, all wired up to Orange Drop capacitors and black “speed” knobs as per the Les Paul Custom’s style.
Indeed, all the Les Paul Custom appointments are present and correct – the pearloid block inlays have been left aux naturel which is aesthetically pleasing (and just like the original Black Widow Gibsons) – albeit with a colour twist and black pickup switch tips as standard.
The rudiments remain unchanged. These models have mahogany bodies, capped with figured maple. Necks are mahogany, glued to the body, shaped into a C profile, topped with a 12” radius ebony fingerboard.
You’ve got a Graph Tech Tusq nut, LockTone Tune-O-Matic bridge and a set of 18:1 ratio Grover rotomatics with “kidney bean” metal buttons on the headstock. And that price includes a padded gig bag.
“What I love about this Les Paul in particular is, to be honest, I feel like I am playing a high-end Gibson guitar that costs way more than this,” says Nick Hames, the Boston native turned Angelino behind pop/rock project HAMES. “This is as comfortable as any Les Paul I’ve ever played, Gibson, Epiphone, and it’s so smooth, easy to play, and it has that punchy, Les Paul tone that we all know and love.”
You can check out Hames’ demo of the Les Paul Custom Widow above, and check out more pics – and actually buy this limited run model – over at Guitar Center.
