Petergrifindor
Senior Member
- Joined
- Mar 29, 2015
- Messages
- 566
- Reaction score
- 892
I have been a Buckethead fan for years, and I have always thought that his Les Paul is one of the coolest models ever. But when Gibson released it I didn´t have the money to afford it. 
Now they are very difficult to find, and when one pops up it is usually very expensive and the guitar is on the other side of the world. Although I wanted one badly my religion forbids me to spend so much money on a guitar that I haven´t tried before. I contemplated going to a luthier to build me one, but that option seemed to have the same problem: very expensive and I wouldn´t try it until it´s done. So I thought it was one of those things that wasn´t meant to happen.
Until Epiphone announced the Tommy Thayer (god bless his soul) White Lightning. "Oh my God, that´s it, that´s my Buckethead LP!!!!!"
I tried three of them, bought the best for my taste and started looking for all the parts. It wasn´t as easy as I thought it would be: people doesn´t seem to like white and red plastic for guitars. The toogle switch, the pickup rings and the backplates were all a pain in the ass to find...
But the most difficult part were the pickups. Buckethead model mounts a pair of Gibson 500T and 496R in double white. Good luck finding them, since Gibson only produces them in black and zebra to sell apart, and the double whites are reserverd to be mounted on a couple of special guitar designs. I was looking for alternatives for a couple of months, when a pair from one of those all white baritones Gibson SG was put on sale on Ebay. Untouched, 100% new.
I blow up the auction.
So finally here it is: my Buckethead White Lightning.
With new bridge, new electronics (bridge pickup splitted), Sanwa killswitches, white backplates, red toogle switch, white pickup rings, locking tuners, a pair of Gibson 500t and 496R pickups, and mother pearl dots to cover the pickguard holes.
I f*****g love it, and wouldn´t trade it for a Gibson one.
The pros:
-Coolest white color ever, and since it is a poly finished guitar it will stay white. ++++++
-Regular sized. Buckethead may be a giant, but I´m a regular guy and the normal Les Paul fits me like a glove. +++++++
-Fretboard inlays. That was the part I liked the less about the Gibson model. I like my inlays, ++++++
So so happy.
Now they are very difficult to find, and when one pops up it is usually very expensive and the guitar is on the other side of the world. Although I wanted one badly my religion forbids me to spend so much money on a guitar that I haven´t tried before. I contemplated going to a luthier to build me one, but that option seemed to have the same problem: very expensive and I wouldn´t try it until it´s done. So I thought it was one of those things that wasn´t meant to happen.
Until Epiphone announced the Tommy Thayer (god bless his soul) White Lightning. "Oh my God, that´s it, that´s my Buckethead LP!!!!!"
I tried three of them, bought the best for my taste and started looking for all the parts. It wasn´t as easy as I thought it would be: people doesn´t seem to like white and red plastic for guitars. The toogle switch, the pickup rings and the backplates were all a pain in the ass to find...
But the most difficult part were the pickups. Buckethead model mounts a pair of Gibson 500T and 496R in double white. Good luck finding them, since Gibson only produces them in black and zebra to sell apart, and the double whites are reserverd to be mounted on a couple of special guitar designs. I was looking for alternatives for a couple of months, when a pair from one of those all white baritones Gibson SG was put on sale on Ebay. Untouched, 100% new.
I blow up the auction.
So finally here it is: my Buckethead White Lightning.
With new bridge, new electronics (bridge pickup splitted), Sanwa killswitches, white backplates, red toogle switch, white pickup rings, locking tuners, a pair of Gibson 500t and 496R pickups, and mother pearl dots to cover the pickguard holes.
I f*****g love it, and wouldn´t trade it for a Gibson one.
The pros:
-Coolest white color ever, and since it is a poly finished guitar it will stay white. ++++++
-Regular sized. Buckethead may be a giant, but I´m a regular guy and the normal Les Paul fits me like a glove. +++++++
-Fretboard inlays. That was the part I liked the less about the Gibson model. I like my inlays,
++++++So so happy.
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