“The fantastic, the mythological, and the spiritual”: Epiphone’s latest Adam Jones Les Paul Custom Art very much gives a Fuchs

Matt Parker
·2 min read
1
Epiphone Adam Jones Ernst Fuchs Anti-Laokoon 1965 Les Paul Custom Art.
Epiphone Adam Jones Ernst Fuchs Anti-Laokoon 1965 Les Paul Custom Art.

Epiphone has debuted the sixth limited edition electric guitar in Tool guitarist Adam Jones’ Les Paul Custom Art range. This time, it comes adorned with an artwork by 20th century Fantastic Realist Ernst Fuchs: Anti-Laokoon 1965.

The signature guitar is the penultimate release in the series, with the seventh and final instrument coming later this year.

We’ll be sad to see it all come to an end – and one of the reasons for that is we will stop getting press releases from a guitar company that read more like gallery captions.

“Ernst Fuchs (1930-2015) was one of the founders of the Vienna School of Fantastic Realism,” says Epiphone.

“His work blended the fantastic, the mythological, and the spiritual, rendered in a naturalistic style. This notable work by Fuchs revives an ancient myth with a modern twist.”

Fuchs’ painting Anti-Laokoon 1965  is inspired by a classical Greek epic tale – covered in Virgil's Aeneid, among other places – of the Trojan priest Laocoön and his two sons.

Epiphone Adam Jones Ernst Fuchs Anti-Laokoon 1965 Les Paul Custom Art
Epiphone Adam Jones Ernst Fuchs Anti-Laokoon 1965 Les Paul Custom Art

In the tale, the trio were attacked and killed by sea serpents sent by the vengeful god Poseidon. The myth became an epic poem, which in turn inspired a two thousand year-old Roman statue (now on display in the Vatican Museum), Fuchs’ contorted 20th century painting and, now, a limited edition Les Paul.

As with the previous models in the Custom Art range, it comes with a “marquee back plate”, which lists the name of the artist and artwork, Korin Fought’s scroll-like rear headstock design and a rock-solid Epiphone Protector hardcase.

Again, the specs of the Epiphone Adam Jones Silverburst Les Paul Custom remain unchanged, so there’s a mahogany body, maple cap, three-piece maple neck (crafted to emulate Jones’ custom profile) and an ebony fretboard.

Pickup-wise, it’s loaded with a reverse-mounted Epiphone ProBucker at the neck and a Seymour Duncan Distortion in the bridge position.

Finally, we’re thrilled that you can plug a Fuchs Les Paul into a Fuchs amp.

Like the other models – including the Veil of Bees, Berserker, Study for Self-Portrait with Rose Skirt and a Mouse, Self-Portrait as Not Dead Yet and Sensation Les Pauls – the Anti-Laokoon 1965 by Ernst Fuchs Silverburst Les Paul Custom is limited to a run of just 800 guitars and retails for $1,299.

Head to Epiphone for more information.