In almost every respect, the Gary Moore Signature Les Paul BFG is not an ordinary Les Paul — including the surface and texture of the body and neck. The most powerful, radical Les Paul needed a raw look, so Gibson’s designers decided to leave the surface carving marks on the solid maple top and mahogany body—exactly as they appear when they emerge from the rough mill. The body of the Gary Moore Signature Les Paul BFG is then given a Lemon Burst finish that closely resembles the finish on Moore’s historic, original Les Pauls. The neck is also given its initial finish, then hand-sanded to yield its own unique worn appearance. A smooth coat of satin nitrocellulose is then applied over the entire guitar, insuring less interference with the natural vibration of the instrument—producing a purer tone—and allowing the wood to breathe and age naturally and properly over the course of its life.

Gibson’s Burstbucker 3 and P-90

The Gary Moore Signature Les Paul BFG demanded a pickup configuration as radical as the man himself, and the pairing of Gibson’s Burstbucker 3 with the classic P-90 is as intense as it gets. The Burstbucker 3 arrived on the scene in 1990, and—like the Burstbucker 1 and 2—represents Gibson’s drive to capture and recreate the characteristics of the vintage “Patent Applied For” humbuckers of the late 1950s. On the shop floor of the original Gibson plant in Kalamazoo, Michigan, the earliest Gibson PAF humbuckers were wound using imprecise machines, resulting in pickups with varying degrees of output and tone. The Burstbucker line represents those variations, but with some modern appointments. The Burstbucker 3 provides historically accurate PAF tone with two slightly overwound coils, creating a raw, airy tone packed with enough punch to cut through any mix. The legendary P-90 black soapbar, introduced in the early 1950s, Gibson’s truly legendary singlecoil pickup, and offers the soulful, classic tone that only a P-90 can. It delivers more warmth than a standard singlecoil pickup, for high output and sweet treble response. Together, they are one of the most powerful pickup combinations on any Les Paul.

Gibson’s ’50s Rounded Neck Profile

No guitar neck profiles are more distinguishable than the neck profiles employed on the Gibson models of today. The more traditional ’50s neck profile — which is found on the Gary Moore Signature Les Paul BFG — is the thicker, rounder profile, emulating the same neck shapes found on Moore’s personal and original Les Paul Standards from the late 1950s. The neck is machined in Gibson’s rough mill using wood shapers to make the initial cuts. But once the fingerboard gets glued on, the rest—including the final sanding—is done by hand. That means there are no two necks with the exact same dimensions. So while it still has the basic characteristics of its respective profile, each neck will be slightly different, with a distinct but traditional feel.

Chambered Body

There’s something about playing a guitar with raw, powerful tone, balance, and weight. One of the ways the expert craftsmen at Gibson USA achieve this equilibrium is by carving carefully mapped-out chambers in the Les Paul’s solid mahogany back using a Computer Numeric Controlled (CNC) router before the maple top is glued on. The positioning of the routes was established after careful examination of the resonant characteristics of the Les Paul. Gibson approached this process with the awareness that every change to the formula would have repercussions on the instrument’s sound. So, in addition to relieving the stress on a player’s back and shoulder, these lighter Gibson guitars also enhance the tone palette in a manner unique only to these guitars. The results are comfortable, lightweight guitars that are acoustically louder, with increased sustain and resonance.