The monster movie fanatic, nun-chuck enthusiast, and speed-shredding blackbelt who goes by the name of Buckethead may have frigthened some of G 'N R's old-school fans when Axl first recruited him for touring duty, but Gibson is not afraid. They've recently introduced the Gibson Buckethead Signature Les Paul (, a near-exact replica of the modded LP that Mr. 'Head is often see wielding.

For a guy whose stage presence and skills are downright scary, Buckethead's signature Paul looks extra-fun to play. Also like Buckethead, the true nature of this axe lurks under its death-white veneer. Aside from those red buttons (we'll get to those in a minute), it just looks like a White Les Paul. Not so. The body is actually slightly over-sized and chambered, and crafted from two complementary tonewoods -- maple and mahogany -- for emphasized pick attack and rich sustain.

Also subtly modified is the 24-fret neck's dimensions. The scale length is 27" for higher string tension and a unique tonal characteristic, and the neck's profile is a custom shape of Buckethead's decree. Combined with the 12" fretboard radius it makes for one sleek speed-machine of a Les Paul. The nut is a wider-than-typical 1.715”. In short, you'll feel like Edith Ann when you play this guitar.

There are a few weird materials used in the Buckethead Les Paul. The aforementioned nut is made from Corian, a custom acrylic that adds to the guitar's attack and sustain. The bridge and tailpiece are crafted from something called Zamak, which sounds like the villain in a 70's "B" sci-fi but turns out to be a zinc-aluminum alloy developed in New Jersey. New Jersey!

Let's talk about those buttons. Not only to they give the Buckethead Les Paul a vaguely Rising-Sun look (in line with his faintly Kabuki getup, I'll note), but they're made from vintage arcade-machine buttons. Rad! Oh, and they're kill-switches, one for each pickup. Double-rad!

For5 electronics, the Buckethead LP is outfitted with two, custom-wound, ceramic humbuckers: a 496R in the neck, and a hot 500T in the bridge. These pickups offer super-hot output for huge metal sustain and effortless two-hand tapping. There's a single volume control for easy swells no matter what position the three-position pickup selector is in, and the tone control houses a push-pull pot for coil-tapping the bridge pickup.

So that's what the Gibson Buckethead Signature Les Paul looks like. If you want to see what Buckethead's actual signature looks like, check this out:

ASCII art found at CodeIsMyLife.com.