DETAILS:
- I am not certain on the vintage of this Gibson Les Paul Custom but judging by
it's custom finish, it might be from the 1996-1997 era or perhaps a re-finished older model.
- The finish on this guitar is quite interesting. It appears to be like a metallic hologram type finish.
Perhaps it was to be the counterpart to The Edge's mirror-ball finish Gibson Les Paul Custom?
- STAGE: As for live use, Bono played this guitar for "Last Night On Earth" at various shows during
the 1997-98 PopMart tour, this photo (left) being from the Kansas City PopMart show. The Edmonton YouTube footage (left)
also shows him playing this guitar. And I've heard that it was used for "Last Night On Earth" at the Rotterdam show, opening
night of the European Pop Mart tour. Bono was also using his black Les Paul Custom during the opening shows of PopMart.
Whether it was the weight of the guitar or merely preference of tone, both Les Paul's seemed to be set aside in favor
of his Gretch Tennessean and the two sparkle finish ES-175's.
Perhaps the Les Paul's were being used because the ES-175's hadn't arrived from the Gibson Custom Shop yet? Or merely
experiementation that led him from the Les Pauls to the Tennessean, blue Gibson ES-175 and red Gibson ES175.
- STUDIO: As for recordings, I do not presently have any information confirming any
use of this guitar on U2 recordings.
