Gibson Les Paul Gary Moore BFG Signature Guitar

Gear-Vault had recently received official word on the soon to be released Gibson USA Gary Moore Signature guitar. Is it a coincidence that Gibson USA’s Gary Moore Signature Les Paul is a BFG—Gibson says no! This axe could, perhaps, be the mightiest and most extreme Les Paul to ever leave the Gibson factory.

The Gary Moore Signature Les Paul BFG takes the raw, crude and rude unrefined power of Gibson’s classic BFG and matches it with the look of Moore’s personal and legendary Les Paul Standards from the late 50’s, constructing a radical, yet beautiful, Les Paul. Not only does this axe play like silk, it symbolizes Moore’s badge of rock, metal and blues as one of the world’s finest guitar players of today.

Gibson tells us that the Gary Moore Signature Les Paul BFG is a stripped down version of the well-known Les Paul BFG guitar. The Gary Moore BFG features Gibson’s high-powered and uncovered Zebra Burstbucker 3 humbucker in the bridge position, and a classic, screaming single-coil P90 in the neck position, all managed by two volumes and a tone control knob. The traditional toggle switch has been rewired to act as a kill switch, and a smaller toggle at the volume knobs controls pickup selection.

Finishing off this rock and roll machine is its unique unfinished and unsanded plain top, chambered mahogany body with maple top. The guitar comes with unique nitrocellulose Lemon Burst finish similar to the faded appearance of Moore’s original Les Paul.

The neck is a perfectly matched one-piece mahogany set-neck with a ’50’s rounded contour—rosewood fingerboard; 24.75” scale length—also just like Moore’s favorite original Les Paul, there’s no binding, no fretboard inlays, and the hardware is a unique distressed Tune-O-Matic bridge with stopbar tailpiece, which magnifies the BFG’s distinct, bare-bone natural look. The Gary Moore Signature Les Paul BFG is, without a doubt, an innovative powerhouse, a true testament and another icon to one of rock and roll’s greatest living legends, Gary Moore.

Surface Texture and Satin Nitrocellulose Lemon Burst Finish

In almost every respect, the Gary Moore Signature Les Paul BFG is not an ordinary Les Paul — including the surface and texture of the body and neck. The most powerful, radical Les Paul needed a raw look, so Gibson’s designers decided to leave the surface carving marks on the solid maple top and mahogany body—exactly as they appear when they emerge from the rough mill. The body of the Gary Moore Signature Les Paul BFG is then given a Lemon Burst finish that closely resembles the finish on Moore’s historic, original Les Pauls. The neck is also given its initial finish, then hand-sanded to yield its own unique worn appearance. A smooth coat of satin nitrocellulose is then applied over the entire guitar, insuring less interference with the natural vibration of the instrument — producing a purer tone — and allowing the wood to breathe and age naturally and properly over the course of its life.

Gibson’s Burstbucker 3 and P-90
The Gary Moore Signature Les Paul BFG demanded a pickup configuration as radical as the man himself, and the pairing of Gibson’s Burstbucker 3 with the classic P-90 is as intense as it gets. The Burstbucker 3 arrived on the scene in 1990, and—like the Burstbucker 1 and 2—represents Gibson’s drive to capture and recreate the characteristics of the vintage “Patent Applied For” humbuckers of the late 1950s. On the shop floor of the original Gibson plant in Kalamazoo, Michigan, the earliest Gibson PAF humbuckers were wound using imprecise machines, resulting in pickups with varying degrees of output and tone. The Burstbucker line represents those variations, but with some modern appointments. The Burstbucker 3 provides historically accurate PAF tone with two slightly overwound coils, creating a raw, airy tone packed with enough punch to cut through any mix. The legendary P-90 black soapbar, introduced in the early 1950s, Gibson’s truly legendary singlecoil pickup, and offers the soulful, classic tone that only a P-90 can. It delivers more warmth than a standard singlecoil pickup, for high output and sweet treble response. Together, they are one of the most powerful pickup combinations on any Les Paul.

The Gibson Les Paul Gary Moore BFG Signature Guitar is soon to be released and its MSRP is $2,150. Find more information at www.gibson.com