The Guitar Player's Resource
Guitar style linked to players such as Peter Frampton.
The Peter Frampton Les Paul Custom is that rare electric that has both a story and a tone that have to heard to be believed. This Les Paul features a weight-relieved, all-mahogany body that produces rich resonance and is incredibly light for hours of comfortable performance. A trio of hard-hitting CustomBuckers arms you with an endless array of classic 'bucker tone reminiscent of that decade when rock came alive: the '70s! A smooth mahogany neck with an ebony fingerboard and 22 jumbo nickel frets provides outstanding feel and playability up and down the neck.
Peter Frampton fell in love with the feedback-free humbuckers in his original '54, and that's why Gibson outfitted this guitar with CustomBuckers. These renowned pickups represent the company's truest PAF-style offerings. Since no original humbuckers wound and wired from the '50s through the '70s sounded exactly the same, Gibson listened to recordings of original humbuckers from Les Pauls manufactured during these decades to get the tone exact as possible. Just like these classic pickups, the CustomBuckers are unpotted for more bite and an overall hotter sound. With Alnico 3 magnets and approximately 10,800 turns of wire, these humbuckers are quite literally wired for heavy output and killer warm tone. And with a master volume and tone shared by the neck and bridge pickups, plus a second volume and tone for the middle pickup and 3-way toggle, you can dial in a dizzying array of 'bucker tone to suit just about any style.
In the world of guitar lore, there are few stories that are as incredible as the tale of Peter Frampton's original 1954 Les Paul Custom. Peter's "Black Beauty" '54 Gibson was lost in 1980 in a fatal cargo plane crash in Central America, after he and the band traveled separately to take a day off before a show in Panama. Peter learned of the crash and assumed, as most would, that his beloved axe was lost for good. He and the band flew back to the States in short order and resumed touring, albeit with the glaring absence of a special guitar he was sure would never be replaced.
Fast-forward 32 years later, to the eve of the Frampton Comes Alive 35 Tour in 2012 to celebrate the release of one of the best-selling live album of all time. Frampton was about halfway into the tour when he received an email from a stranger with pics of a Les Paul '54 that looked uncannily like his original Black Beauty. By closely examining the detailed photos included in the email, Frampton learned the truth: his guitar had, in fact, survived the crash and would now be on its way back to him! This Les Paul Custom is a prized celebration of this reunion, as well as an homage to one of rock's legendary players.
General:
Number of Strings: 6
Left-/Right-handed: Right-handed
Body:
Body Type: Solidbody, Weight Relief
Body Shape: Peter Frampton "Phenix" Les Paul
Body Material: Mahogany
Body Finish: Gloss Nitrocellulose Lacquer
Color: Ebony
Neck:
Neck Material: Mahogany
Neck Shape: Peter Frampton Phenix
Neck Joint: Set Neck
Radius: 12"
Fingerboard Material: Ebony
Fingerboard Inlay: Custom Blocks, Signature at 12th
Number of Frets: 22, Jumbo
Scale Length: 24.75"
Nut Width: 1.687"
Nut Material: Bone
Hardware:
Bridge/Tailpiece: Tune-O-Matic Bridge with Lightweight Aluminum Stopbar Tailpiece
Tuners: Grover Kidney
Electronics:
Neck Pickup: Gibson Custom Humbucker
Middle Pickup: Gibson Custom Humbucker
Bridge Pickup: Gibson Custom Humbucker
Controls: 2 x volume, 2 x tone
Switching: 3-way toggle pickup switch
