Vivian Campbell is a big Les Paul fan – the model accounts for all five of his electric guitars with Def Leppard on tour right now, with a Gibson J200 acoustic guitar rounding out the live rig. Three of his LPs are signature models but all have their own unique names.
'Gary' is a replica of Greeny ; the Peter Green and Gary Moore '59 Burst now owned by Kirk Hammett; "This one was considerably cheaper," notes Campbell – a big Gary Moore fan himself.
'Ricky' is a Rick Nielsen signature Custom Shop Les Paul. "This one is super light which I really like," explains Campbell in the video below. "I'm a big fan of light Les Paul because by design they're pretty heavy guitars. I'm really enjoying playing this one." Unlike some of Campbell's other non-signature Les Pauls with DiMarzio Super 3 humbuckers, the pickups here are stock but Campbell had Tone Pros hardware installed and refret done. "The original frets were a little skinny for me, I like the big jumbo Dunlop frets."
Campbell's '56 reissue Goldtop is named Cait after his wife. This has stacked P-100 Lindy Fralin pickups. Again, the hardware and frets were replaced for Campbell's Tone Pros and jumbo preferences. "It's probably my most musical-sounding guitar," notes Campbell. It even has a personal message from Pete's Townsend etched near the bridge.
Casper is a Les Paul Custom named by its previous owner, Campbell's former guitar tech Dave Wolff. Mr C is a Custom Shop version of one of his own signature Les Paul models from 2018, named after Campbell's father, with DiMarzios and an Antrim Basalt Burst finish.
Campbell's Gibson J200 acoustic guitar is named Lily after his eldest daughter, and was refinished in red after a Winter tour took its toll on the original finish. "She asked me when she was young if she could have this guitar after I'm dead," explains Campbell of why it's called Lilly. "Hopefully it will be a long time before she actually gets it."
Check out the video above.
