Buckethead Signature Les Paul
From his prolific solo work, to his prominent memberships in the supergroup Praxis and rock legends Guns N’ Roses, Buckethead has displayed one of the most fiery creative personas of our times, and has continually affirmed his stance in the upper echelon of contemporary shredders. Equally attention-grabbing as his incendiary chops, Buckethead’s stage show and visual presence remain unique among the rock field, and his Gibson guitars—a white Les Paul in particular—have always been a big part of that. As Gibson continues to roll out the Rocktober action, the Buckethead Signature Les Paul celebrates this unparalleled artist’s achievements. With an oversized, chambered Les Paul body, a marker-less ebony fingerboard, and Buckethead’s choice of Gibson’s contemporary ceramic humbucking pickups—complete with modified electronics and “arcade” style kill switches—this is a Les Paul like none to have come before. It’s primed to get you noticed, and designed for utmost performance for the contemporary rock, metal, and shred performer.
Body
Species
Each Buckethead Signature Les Paul is crafted from a two-piece maple top attached with ultra-strong Franklin Titebond 50 glue to a chambered mahogany body. This wood combination, one of the most legendary pairs in the history of the solid and semi-solid electric guitar, yields a “best of both worlds” tonal splendor.
Design
Reflecting Buckethead’s continued departure from the norm, the Buckethead Signature Les Paul looks outwardly much like a slightly modified white Les Paul Standard, but had been made with an oversized, chambered body. The chambered mahogany back serves to minimize weight, while also adding tonal nuances to the guitar’s overall sound. Its high-gloss Alpine White finish is complimented with a stunning black and white 5 ply binding.
Tonal Characteristics
The Buckethead Signature Les Paul body woods present a combination of good clarity, definition and treble bite from the maple, and excellent depth and richness from the mahogany, elements found in the classic Les Paul Standard tone. The chambering adds a further dimension, increasing the complexity of this guitar’s tone, while also increasing its acoustic volume and sustain.
Finish
Color
The Buckethead Signature Les Paul is finished in high-gloss Alpine White.
Surface Texture
A gloss finish with 90-sheen lacquer and extensive hand buffing give the Buckethead Signature Les Paul a sleek, contemporary appearance and a smooth, fast playing feel.
Process
The Buckethead Signature Les Paul is hand-finished in nitrocellulose in a process that is carefully monitored to ensure minimum build-up, in an effort to produce a final finish that breathes with the guitar and enhances natural resonance. Unlike many other manufacturers, who settle for a polyurethane finish, Gibson opts for a nitrocellulose finish that will encourage the natural vibration of the instrument for a purer tone. In addition, a nitro finish is very porous and actually gets thinner over time. That way your guitar’s wood can age beautifully and naturally.
Neck and Headstock
Species
The neck of the Buckethead Signature Les Paul is constructed from a single piece of solid mahogany, and glued to the body at a 4-degree angle (pitch). Mahogany is a traditional neck wood and a long-time partner to many legendary Gibson guitars. It is prized for its combination of lightness and strength.
Truss Rod
Gibson’s traditional truss rod, found in most all of our guitars, is highly responsive to the individual adjustments you’ll want to make to personalize and optimize string action and sustain.
Profile
The Buckethead Signature Les Paul’s neck is carved to its own custom profile that runs from .870” at the nut to .955” at the 12th fret, and is designed for the ultimate combination of speed and comfort.
Joint Angle
4.0° (+/- 15 seconds)
Headstock Angle
The Buckethead Signature Les Paul’s headstock is carefully angled at a tried-and-true 17 degrees, which increases pressure on the strings and helps them stay in the nut slots. An increase in string pressure also means there is no loss of string vibration between the nut and the tuners, which equals better sustain.
Logo
The Gibson logo — one of the most globally recognized logos of all time — is silkscreened in black on the face of the Buckethead Signature Les Paul’s oversized Les Paul-style headstock.
Tonal Characteristics
The angled, classical-style peg head and mahogany neck work together to provide exceptional tonal depth and resonance from the neck, with a smooth attack and excellent tonal depth.
Scale Length
The Buckethead Signature Les Paul features a 27" Scale length which increases neck tension for improved accuracy and precision.
Neck Fit
Joint
Gibson uses what is known as the Mortise & Tenon joint to bind neck to body so that the two pieces form one solid unit. This time-tested joint style has been used in all the great woodworking arts — from shipbuilding to cabinetry — and has been proven to yield a stronger neck and body than if the instrument was made from a single piece of wood.
Adhesive
The adhesive used to join neck and body is Franklin Titebond 50, one of the strongest glues on the market today.
Tolerance
When fitting the neck and body together, we take advantage of our precise measuring equipment so that all angles, pitches and alignments maintain a tolerance within .005 of an inch. Not only does this help to keep your guitar in tune but it also maintains proper string alignment relative to the fingerboard.
Joint Angle Tolerance
0.0° (+/- 15 seconds)
Fingerboard
Species
The Buckethead Signature Les Paul is equipped with a Grade-A ebony fingerboard, which enhances note attack and articulation. A hard, dense, dark-black exotic wood, ebony has commonly been regarded as a deluxe, upgraded option on electric guitars, and has been used by Gibson in the past on the Les Paul Custom. Ebony is also extremely hard-wearing, and more resistant to humidity and climate and weather changes than many other fingerboard woods.
Radius
The 12-inch radius of the Buckethead Signature Les Paul fingerboard provides smooth note bending capabilities and eliminates “dead” or “choked out” notes, common occurrences on fingerboards with lesser radiuses.
Frets
The Buckethead Signature Les Paul sports 24 jumbo frets, all immaculately dressed and polished.
Inlays
The Buckethead Signature Les Paul carries no inlays, echoing the stark, contemporary look that this artist is known for.
Tonal Characteristics
Ebony is a very popular up-market fingerboard material, known for its strong, clear tone.
Nut
Material
The nut on the Buckethead Signature Les Paul is made from white Corian, which is mainly composed of acrylic polymer. It’s a very durable material, delivers enhanced sustain, and holds the tolerances of the precision cuts made in the slotting process. It is installed into the top surface of the neck, butting up to the end of the fingerboard to ensure proper tone and sustain transfer.
Width
The Buckethead Signature Les Paul features an enhanced nut width of approximately 1.715”.
Pickups
Model
The Buckethead Signature Les Paul carries a calibrated pair of Gibson’s contemporary-voiced Ceramic series humbucking pickups, featuring a 496R in the neck (rhythm) position, and a hot 500T in the bridge (lead) position. Both are specially made with double-white bobbins to match the look of the guitar, and the bridge pickup is split via a push/pull switch on the Tone knob to achieve a single-coil tone.
Magnet Material
Both the 496R and 500T are made with ceramic magnets. While alnico has long been used as a magnet for vintage-style pickups, over-winding an alnico-magnet unit in an effort to create a “hot” pickup can lead to a squashed, muddy tone. Ceramic magnets provide a clear, bold performance with plenty of output, without the need for packing on more coil windings than the pickup design can handle.
Tonal Characteristics
The 496R in the neck position offers unparalleled creamy sustain that nevertheless retains excellent cutting power. Its partner, the 500T, is one of Gibson’s two hottest pickups, intended for ultimate wailing lead tones, sustain, and searing cutting power in the bridge position. Between them, they present excellent sonic versatility and impressive contemporary tones. This pair is also well matched for balanced output levels in all switch positions.
Electronics
Volume Control
The Buckethead Signature Les Paul carries a single Volume control which comprises a 300k linear potentiometer for a smooth, natural roll off.
Tone Control
The Buckethead Signature Les Paul features a single Tone control that comprises a 500k non-linear potentiometer for a natural transition from full treble to bass tones. The Tone control also carries a built-in push/pull switch to engage the coil splitting in the bridge pickup and achieve single-coil-like tones.
Toggle Switch
The Buckethead Signature Les Paul features one three-way toggle switch made of stainless steel with white plastic tip, which acts as the instrument’s pickup selector. In the down position, only the bridge pickup is active. In the middle position, both pickups are active. In the up position, only the neck pickup is active.
Special Features
The Buckethead Signature Les Paul carries two red “arcade” style pushbutton kill switches to mute the output of the guitar, as well as a push/pull switch on the Tone potentiometer to access the bridge pickup’s split-coil feature.
Output Jack
The guitar features a 1⁄4” output jack made by Switchcraft. Its super heavy duty construction holds your guitar cable securely in place.
Hardware
Tuning Keys
The headstock of the Buckethead Signature Les Paul is equipped with chrome-plated locking Grover keystone tuners with an advanced 18:1 gear ratio for increased efficiency. These tuners are sealed with a special lubricant to ensure years of stable service, and are recognized as one of the finest tuners in the industry.
Bridge
In 1954, Gibson rocked the world when it debuted the tune-o-matic bridge, setting a standard for simplicity and functionality that has never been bettered. Included on the Buckethead Signature Les Paul, the tune-o-matic provides a firm seating for the strings, allowing the player to adjust and fine-tune the intonation and string height in a matter of minutes. It also yields excellent coupling between strings and body, maximizing resonance, tone, and sustain. The Buckethead Signature Les Paul’s bridge is made from Zamak then plated with chrome, and each one weighs approximately .118 lbs.
Tailpiece
Every Tune-o-matic bridge is combined with a separate “stopbar” tailpiece, which is essentially a modified version of the earlier wraparound bridge that’s designed to further enhance the connection between the strings and the body. The Buckethead Signature Les Paul’s stopbar tailpiece is made from Zamak then plated with Platinum, and each one weighs approximately .168 lbs.
Strap Buttons
The Buckethead Signature Les Paul’s aluminum strap buttons are the same style and design that Gibson has used since the early 1950s.
Plastics
Truss Rod Cover
As with most Gibson guitars, the truss rod cover on the Buckethead Signature Les Paul is made from black and white vinyl plastic, and is shaped like an antique bell.
Control Knobs
The control knobs on the Buckethead Signature Les Paul are Gibson’s white speed knobs.
Pickup Trim Rings
The pickup trim rings on the Buckethead Signature Les Paul are made of white ABS plastic.
Strings
Gauge
The Buckethead Signature Les Paul is fitted with genuine Gibson strings, sizes .010 - .046.
Accessories
Hardshell Case
Your Buckethead Signature Les Paul comes protected in one of Gibson’s durable black, hardshell cases with Gibson logo silk-screened across the front in white lettering.
$4,311
MSRP as Shown
Finish Options
*
Alpine White
Video: Buckethead Lesson
Stories
* Chambering the Les Paul: A Marriage of Weight and Tone
* Interactive Gibson Bible Excerpt and Video Footage: The First Les Paul Standards
* Wikipedia: Gibson Les Paul
* The Making of a Gibson USA Guitar
* 15 Iconic Les Paul Players
* The World Has Lost a Remarkable Innovator and Musician: Les Paul Passes Away at 94
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Products Electric Guitars Les Paul Gibson USA Buckethead Signature Les Paul
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9.3 - Overall Guitar Rating
Player Reviews
More Comments (159)
Beau McMurray
Rating 10/10
+144
Way to go Gibson for recognizing one of the worlds fine
