Gibson Billy Morrisson Signature Les Paul

Billy Morrisson is a session player who has played with The Cult and Billy Idol among others. Gibson likes to give loyal big name players their own signature guitars and this is one of them. Usually these guitars are pretty much standard guitsrs with maybe a unique color or something but this guitar has been totally but subtly modded into a road ready rock machine. This guitar has totally modern hardware and I think a lot of the stuff on this signature model should be standard Gibson pieces. The body is mostly standard. You get a chambered mahogany body with a maple top. The set neck is mahogany as well. It is the 60s slim profile neck which is great. I cant think of any other Les Pauls that come with 60s necks and ebony fretboards. The fretboard has 22 medium jumbo frets. Up top you get Grover locking tuners on the big custom style headstock. The bridge is a tonepros tune-o-matic unit. The pickups are the classic Seymour Duncan set. It has a 59 in the neck and a JB in the bridge. Aftermarket tone from the factory. The controls are standard with a volume and tone for each pickup and a 3 way toggle. The whole guitar is finished in a classy creme color. I just wish they would have kept the split diamond inlay on the headstock.

UTILIZATION

This guitar plays about as good as a Les Paul can play. The 60s neck is the fastest neck you will get in a Les Paul. Most higher end Les Pauls come with the 50s neck which is huge. The 60s neck on this guitar is slim and speedy. The ebony fretboard is smooth as glass. This combined with the 60s neck means you can really zip along. The PLEK process Gibson uses on the frets mean from the factory the frets come leveled well and the guitar is setup with a low action. The upper fret access is typical Les Paul. Its not great. If you want upper fret access buy an SG. The locking tuners is something that you only find on some signature Gibsons but they should be on every Gibson now. The Tonepros bridge feels more solid than the typical Gibson unit. Like on all guitars with gold hardware expect it to tarnish unless you clean it off after every session.

SOUNDS

Gibson should take the hint. If an endorsed player wants Seymour Duncans in his signature guitar maybe normal people want them too. Billy Morrison obviously knows that the standard Gibson pickups do not match the quality of pickups from a specialized pickup maker. The 59 and JB pickups in this guitar is probably one of the most popular passive pickup sets. These pickups were made to go together. The 59 in the neck is super smooth and very PAF like. It is great for old school blues or leads. Its smoothness makes your leads and neck position playing creamy. A bright neck position pickup would make your leads sound harsh and piercing and most people do not want that. The 59 in the type of pickup you want in the neck position. The JB is an all around classic bridge pickup. There is pretty much no style this pickup cant do. Everyone from classic rock to metal players use this pickup in their guitars. You can find it in everything from Fender strats to Jacksons. In the bridge position it really brings out the natural tone of the guitar. The pickup in this guitar has a thick overall tone with a good top end bite that keeps the clarity in the sound.

OVERALL OPINION

This is a great guitar. It is a shame it is so expensive. I guess what it takes for Gibson to make a good guitar is for one of their endorsed players to demand it. There are alternatives to a guitar like this thankfully. An Edwards Les Paul copy out of Japan has a lot of the same features, Seymour Duncan pickups, Tonepros bridge and locking tuners. It would be funny if Billy Morrison had seen one of those guitars and wondered why his Gibson that cost 4x as much didnt have the same level of features. If you have to have a Gibson and you want one with very modern features and good easy playability this is a great model. You can always get another truss rod cover if your name isnt Billy Morrison as well.