I do not think I've ever laid hands on a more woody guitar than this!

But let me start by saying this is exactly what it should be. No vinyl, no stickers. Instead the real deal, minus the Gibson-contribution, who knows in fact what their value would be? The one they never made. And they definitely won't. Ever. Period. Or maybe they did (the Invader Designer Series, a whole nother topic, but we were too young back then). And the reason is simple: a certain historical "disagreement" went taboo-nuts for some, and Zakk... Well he was and always will be a rebel.

This stupidly faithful reproduction is based on a photo published in the November 1998 issue of a guitar magazine. It obviously isn't called "Beer Bottle Caps", but ok... And since then, of course the real one belonging to Zakk has received some extra natural relic 🍻 And it's also received some extra bottle caps.

But this guy I'm friends with, he's become a die-hard fan of Zakk's. Hence the 99.9% faithful "reissue" he's been helping me with. He also helped a lot on the one called "Pictures" - in that old version, and I have it too! Zakk played the original one (also a Gibson), together with the Rebel, back when he'd been in Pride & Glory. Talk about being a true Z.W. fan!

So this is an Orville Les Paul Custom, originally manufactured somewhere around 1989-1993. Top-wise, the finish was removed and applied a new one. The finish on the back was removed aswell, then heavily aged, even briefly set on fire to achieve this. True fans probably know that the original one belonging to Zakk had an "accident" when... a fed-up Ozzy orchestrated to set it on fire.

*And yet, the guitar even appears in Ozzy Osbourne's "No More Tears" video, where Zakk pops it from somewhere all of a sudden, among his many others.

https://youtu.be/CprfjfN5PRs?t=222

Heavy searches were conducted in order to find out which exactly are the newer/later bottle caps (not yet glued on the guitar, but will be included in the package).

Pickups are a pair of EMG 81 & 85.

Gibson themselves should have built the model, before Zakk started displaying his next LP model (the Bullseye) in almost all of his concerts. Unfortunately, or fortunately for Gibson, they never indulged in such controversial designs, and it's obvious why.

*By the way, for the "other" pics, just drop me a text.

Awesome setup and low action! And with the EMGs, sounds just perfect!

Imma just call this one a Mint, because even though being an old 90s Orville, and by the way also on the much heavier side of an LP, and also having a couple of true subtle natural scratches & dents, it's only in the spirit of being a relic'd guitar.