I built those guitars as an experiment back in the early 1990s. They have several key features that make them play & sound different than the guitars that inspired these.
They have a 25.5" scale, like a gretsch or fender. Gibson of course uses a 24.75" scale. The longer scale increases string tension which increases sustain, has a brighter tone, & improves tuning stability, especially on the "G" string which is always the most difficult string on any gibson. The result is super long sustain & exceptional note definition & clarity, clean or distorted, even on the neck pu.
The body is chambered which makes it very lightweight & softens the midrange response. It also resonates very nicely & again enhances the natural sustain.
The bridge pickup is moved forward toward the neck by 1/4" to fatten up the lead tone.
We had never done a carved top instrument before, & I wanted to try all the above ideas to check the combined results. We took the first one to one of the NAMM shows in Anaheim along with our regular production guitars & a few custom pieces. A few of the more astute buyers understood the concept & wanted to order them. I don't think any more than 20 were made total; most of which went to European Customers.
Honestly, it is very difficult to produce an instrument like this in quantity without automated carving equipment. We were hand carving them, & no 2 are exactly alike. We did fill the orders & everyone loved the guitars, but in the end I don't think we made a dime after fooling around with all the carving, etc. Believe me, any les paul is a good value, which you would find out if you ever tried to make one. I know everybody loves their fenders, but I can assure you that in 1959, gibson could have easily made a strat, but fender could never have made a les paul, if you know what I mean...
At the same time, we were supplying Gibson with the Tone X circuit used in the Joe Perry sig mod Les Paul. It was a huge manufacturing contract for us & Adrian spent one summer soldering pcbs to fill the order. Gibson's legal counsel contacted us & asked us to stop doing the guitars, which at the time were called "Golden 59". When we considered the cash flow coming in from the Tone X job against what the guitars were generating, it was a no-brainer to decide to discontinue the guitars. It is always bad business to get into a fight with a customer. No guitars were destroyed, no blood was spilled, no tears were shed.
I am still playing the first one of these guitars we ever made; it has served me well on hundreds of gigs over the years. Nothing else I have ever tried even comes close. It just rings; feels great, & looks cool.
The guitar can speak for itself; here is a youtube link of me playing the guitar...
