MusikMesse is the European version of the NAMM show, and while we weren’t lucky enough to get to go, we’re still getting some of the news trickling in through other channels.
The bit of news that is most relevant to our audience thus far has been the unveiling of In Flames guitarist Björn Gelotte’s signature Les Paul from Epiphone. It looks like… a Les Paul. Like, exactly the same as a stock Black Beauty, aside from the Jester version of the headstock inlay (which is pretty cool, actually) and a truss rod cover signature. It features gold EMG 81/85 set, but it’s aesthetically almost identical. Observe:
Isn’t the point of a signature instrument to be, like, signature? Unique to its specific artist? Sure, a Black Beauty is gorgeous – but it’s already somebody’s signature guitar. LES PAUL’S. I know Björn’s played one forever, it suits him for sure. But I don’t think he needs a signature guitar just for having a signature. Trick it out a little, change it up – give it some pieces of flair!
Johnnywat / April 16, 2015 6:09 pm
Unlike other Epis, it has an ebony board instead of rosewood, ’59-style neck instead of the SlimTaper, and comes stock with not-shitty pickups. He likes the black beauty look, why not let him roll with it?
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alberbleuhm / April 16, 2015 6:10 pm
Actually “signature” means that it will have a SIGNATURE! hahaha
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Guest / April 19, 2015 6:54 am
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Austin Chandler Howe / April 23, 2015 2:38 am
That it comes loaded with EMGs is already a signature feature, also the guitar will likely be shipped with string guages/tuning appropriate for In Flames music: Dropped-Bb/C standard, based on pictures of the model I saw Gelotte holding from that show. (Said pictures showed a wound G string, suggesting a heavy set.)
That’s incredibly important for young metal players who have the money to buy a guitar, but likely don’t have the money for their first instrument to be properly re-strung, re-tuned, and re-intonated (truss rod adjustments are *extremely* delicate procedures, and trying to make a guitar go from standard to C standard is not easily recommended to a novice) for low, beefy metal tunings. (This is assuming that the guitar will ship for about $500 or so)
Unlike a standard Black Beauty, or most guitars on the market, this guitar will be ready right out of the box to play detuned metal. That’s becoming increasingly common among metal signature models, but it’s also very, very important.
Of course a lot of this is conjecture and assumption, but I very seriously doubt that Epiphone is making a signature guitar for a player in a band very much past their peak point of relevance and shipping it in standard tuning with light strings so that it’s accessible to everyone.
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