COPYRIGHT 2002 Miller Freeman Publications,GUITAR PLAYER
Who would have guessed that one of the heaviest guitar sounds to ever thunder from a speaker would come out of an extremely light guitar? What looks to be a beautiful, vintage "burst" Les Paul is actually a newer
Gibson reissue. But that's just the start. Before ZZ Top maestro Billy Gibbons riffs away, the guitar is handed over to luthier and longtime friend John Bolin. Bolin removes the top and the fingerboard, and then scoops out as much wood as possible from the body and neck before putting the Paul back together and flawlessly touching it up. The result is a guitar so unexpectedly light and resonant that notes seem to jump right out of it. It's even more startling that Gibbons insists few adjustments to his amp rig are necessary when he changes to the hollowed-out Pauls from Pearly Gates--his faithful Les Paul that sets the standard by which he judges all others.
Other surprises include the very small .081 x.037 frets and the extra light .
008-.038 gauge strings. The neck is very straight, and the
low action measures just under 4/64" at the 12th fret. A bone nut was added, and
the strings are adjusted very low over the first fret. There's a standard
Gibson ABR-1 bridge and stop tailpiece--although the strings are fed through the tailpiece in the reverse direction, and then wrapped back over the top towards the bridge. This allows the tailpiece to be screwed down to the body while simultaneously easing the angle at which the strings pass over the bridge. Gibbons experimented with this setup, and he found a noticeable difference in the bass response and a better feel.
Finally, a pair of (you guessed it) Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates pickups run through the stock
Gibson electronics. The height of the bridge pickup is kept a low 5/32" from the strings on the bass side (to clean up the low-end response) and 3/32" on the treble side. The neck pickup is positioned an even 1/8" from the strings.