Why No Neal Schon Guitars?

[chongo]

What with the resurgence of Journey over the past year and Neal's use of several of his signature guitars -- he used the cherry sunburst one on a lot of the tour and Gary Brawer gave him back the black prototype at the September 27th concert in Mountain View after a refret -- I'd have guessed that there'd be some interest in his sig guitars from the Custom Shop.

 

His guitars were the impetus for the Axcess guitars which have the Floyd and the smooth neck heel, but, sadly, have the traditional Les Paul knob arrangement rather than the Schon guitar's more functional (IMHO, of course -- YMMV) arrangement, and which lack both the sustainer and the variable mid cut arrangement. I guess it would be possible to build a replica from an Axcess, but that Axcess ancient knob arrangement doesn't lend itself to the kind of Master Volume or Sustainer Intensity setup that Neal has on his sig guitars. That knob arrangement, you realize, is a leftover design from when all LPs had pickguards -- Neal's Master Volume location would interfere with a standard pickguard, but since his guitars come without...

 

I'd definitely like to see those produced (with some nice tops and some nicer colors available beyond black, gold and white) again. That guitar, unlike most of the rest of the sig guitars, is more than a mere paint job, tacked-on pickup or logo tweak; it's really a great modification of the Les Paul to bring it into the twentieth century (okay, I know we're up to the twenty-first, so you get my meaning, right?) and give it some capabilities that have been lacking. I'm much more interested in a guitar like this from Gibson than in the traditionalist cork-sniffing bird-dogging of a fifty-year-old mummified version that featured a painful neck heel, a difficult knob layout, a paint job that faded badly and odd bits of cheap plastic that turned brown, shriveled and broke. And please spare me from the dork fire version with the robo-tuner, the cheezy "carbon fiber look" inlays and pickup covers and the amazingly hokey bright white case with the "limited edition first run" kaka stenciled on. Oh, and the finish on the back and neck that's SO pretentiously unsanded that you feel as if you're going to get a splinter in thumb or belly button before you can put it back down. Someone send Gibson some sealer, please? Who comes up with these "ideas?"

 

Find a way to bring us a Neal Schon version again, will ya? It's impossible to find them used -- no one really wants to let one go; leastways no one who bought the guitar to play it. Just...no white cases, please.

[Wondo]

I want one as well!!!!! I have an Axcess and I find it to be a great guitar. But, I would like a Les Paul with a Sustainer and I am actually discussing with my Luthier putting one in my Axcess, but I would much rather it be done at the factory and would much rather it be done in a Schon design. I agree it is a great guitar and I would really like to get one, but the Admin will not answer this or a post I asked about. Come on, it could not be that hard to run some more off. I bet they would sell no problem. One thing that is nice about the Neal Schon is it does not say Neal Schon any where it is just a great guitar whether you like Schon or not.