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DARK SECRETS: Jim decola - The Real Truth

“Always a pleasure to host BFG in my office, and even better when he decides to take one of my CEO builds on tour!” Gibson CEO Cesar Gueikian has made a stunning custom Explorer – and Billy Gibbons is playing it onstage with ZZ Top

And the Gibson CEO also given us a sneak peak of the forthcoming DES lineup in the shape of a Ghost Burst SG?

MusicRadar

“I’m sure there are players that don’t have an interest in playing dynamically and just want to be on or off… that’s cool, and there’s a lot of pickups that do that. But not mine”: How Mark Morton and Gibson reinvented the Les Paul for modern metal

The Lamb Of God guitarist walks us through the evolution of his signature Les Paul Modern Quilt and explains why passive humbuckers beat active every time

MusicRadar

“Belying its stately, muted aesthetic, this is surely the most vicious artist series model in the Gibson catalog”: Gibson Mark Morton Les Paul Modern Quilt review

Lamb of God riff-master Mark Morton's Les Paul has been years in the making, subject to brutal road-testing, featuring a hot custom-wound humbucker pairing, but it's finally here

Guitar World

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“I put the headstock on the buffing wheel. It threw it out of my hands. That day I learned how to fix a broken headstock”: Cesar Gueikian on building the SG Kirk Hammett played to honour Black Sabbath and how his designs might shape future Gibson releases

The Gibson CEO on his guitar-making journey, from early missteps to making the SG Hammett rocked at Back To The Beginning, and the Ghost Burst finish that's coming soon to the Gibson lineup

MusicRadar

“One of the most distinctive looking guitar designs ever”: Gibson’s 1965 Firebird Platypus was the oddball model that marked a moment of transition for the guitar giant – now it’s been revived

Gibson was constantly tweaking the Firebird design during the 1960s, and the Platypus variant comes from the epicenter of that trial-and-error period

Guitar World

“When we brought it back, we wanted to do it in a way that we’ve never done before – at least not since 1965”: Gibson resurrects a vintage unicorn with the return of the Firebird Platypus

Gibson's Jim DeCola describes it as a "best of" Firebird and it comes loaded with a pair of "historically accurate" Firebird mini-humbuckers

MusicRadar

“A vibrant update to an all-time classic”: By popular demand, Gibson gives the ES-335 its Custom Color refresh

Spearmint, Watermelon, Ocean Blue, Blood Moon Burst, the ES-335 and its AAA figured maple siblings have never looked so bright

MusicRadar

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“Modding for dummies? Well, some of you more experienced guitar tinkerers might be having a chuckle, but this levels the playing field”: How Gibson’s Quick Connect pickups are the Les Paul mod pretty much anyone can do – no soldering required

As Gibson finally adds some Quick Connect pickups to its Pickup Shop lineup, we revisit this simple no-solder method to mod your Modern guitar

Guitar World

“We went back to the dressing room. He said, ‘Yeah, it stays in tune great! But if you could make it a little slinkier’”: Gibson’s master luthier Jim DeCola reveals the Leo Fender-inspired mods he made to Randy Rhoads’ guitar just hours before showtime

DeCola was still only a teenager in 1982 but he had already had a reputation for being able to work magic on a tremolo system, which he duly did on Rhoads' iconic polka-dotted Sandoval V

MusicRadar

Does your acoustic guitar never sound properly in tune? This may solve it once and for all

Intonation is about trusting a process on elimination with the factors that can affect the pitch of your instrument

MusicRadar

Want to change your guitar's humbuckers and upgrade your tone but don't know where to start? These guides prove changing pickups doesn't need to be stressful

Solder on

MusicRadar

“This is an intensely crafted ‘Super Guitar’ with a separate piezo output…”: Dweezil Zappa’s huge gear auction is full of utterly unique guitars, including his Hot Rats Gibson Les Paul, a Madonna-clad Jackson and a true one-off custom PRS

The inimitable Zappa is selling off some of his most unusual and prized guitar possessions in order to raise funds for his forthcoming tour dates

Guitar World

If you're restringing your acoustic guitar for the first time there's one thing you might need to avoid doing

These tips will show you the way

MusicRadar

Loose knobs? How to deal with your guitar's most easily overlooked issues

Gibson Master Luthier Jim DeCola knows how to solve control mechanical control knob, output jack and pickup switch issues

MusicRadar

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MusicRadar

Does your guitar sound out of tune, even though you just tuned it? You might need to make these extra adjustments

A Master Luthier shows you how to set your intonation

MusicRadar

"It sounds simple enough, but it's not so simple" – are you cleaning your guitar the right way? Master Luthier Jim DeCola can show you how

How to avoid adding scratches

MusicRadar

Gibson Master Luthier Jim DeCola has made a brilliant, simple tool to help set up an acoustic guitar – and you can make one too

Is your acoustic's action too high? You need to see this

Guitar World

“It’s a lower price point, but it’s not cheap and there’s no apologies with this guitar”: Gibson’s Les Paul Modern Lite offers a slimline take on the iconic LP – and the lowest priced all-mahogany, two-pickup build in the USA line

A new Gibson USA Les Paul (with two humbuckers) for under $1,500? We’re interested…

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Guitar World

Kramer’s Eruption humbucker aims to bottle Eddie Van Halen’s iconic ’80s guitar tone with the help of his former luthier Jim DeCola

Get a humbucker befitting the 'brown sound' in Gibson’s latest pickup shop drop

Guitar World

Jason Becker is selling the guitar Eddie Van Halen gave him in their emotional first meeting

The Peavey Wolfgang is one of the first 100 produced – and was signed and played by the late great guitar god during his 1996 visit to Becker’s house

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