Credit: Rob ArthurPeter Frampton has announced plans for a new signature guitar, based on his famous Gibson Les Paul Custom VOS model that he played on his classic Frampton Comes Alive! album and which is now known as the “Phenix.”
According to a post on Gibson’s Twitter page, the new guitar will be available in early May.
“My brand-new Gibson Les Paul Custom VOS is here and boy is it good,” says Frampton in a statement. “I couldn’t be more pleased with the look and sound. Gibson has gone that extra mile in every area to make this feel and sound the closest to my original, storied Phenix Les Paul Custom guitar.
He adds, “The neck and weight of this mahogany guitar will amaze you at how great it feels and how light it is (and it’s even a hair lighter than the Phenix). This is the real deal.”
Meanwhile, Gibson Brands executive Mat Koehler says, “It was such a thrill and a privilege to work with Peter on this project. Thanks to recent technology we were able to get the guitars to feel and sound closer than ever to Peter’s iconic original.”
During his early solo career, Frampton’s 1954 Gibson Les Paul Custom VOS was his favorite guitar to play on stage, but he thought the instrument was destroyed in a 1980 cargo plane crash in Venezuela. Unknown to Peter, the guitar actually survived the crash, and it eventually was returned to him in 2012. After he restored the instrument, he named it the Phenix.
By Matt Friedlander
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