The guitars are designed to be era accurate recreations of the two epochal 1980s guitars, designed by Epiphone and overseen by Frampton in Nashville. Both the Les Paul and Texan acoustic guitars are paired with hand signed certificates of authenticity, as well as a premium hard case in an extremely limited release, with only 200 and 100 made of each respectively. Guitar only versions of each are limited to runs of 900 and 500 respectively.
Frampton said in a press release that the Les Paul was “as close as possible” to the original “Phenix” Les Paul, famously seen on the front cover of 1976 live album Frampton Comes Alive!. The Phenix was a 1954 Les Paul which became associated with Frampton during his explosively popular ’70s peak, before being presumed lost in 1980 in a Venezuelan plane crash and then miraculously found again in 2012.
The new Les Pauls both feature ProBucker and CeramicPRO Open-Coil humbuckers as well as a gorgeous ebony fretboard and gold Grover Rotomatic machine heads. Meanwhile, the Limited Edition Peter Frampton “1964” Texan Premium Outfit boasts a solid spruce top and Schaller M6 machine heads.
Epiphone is distributed in Australia via Australian Musical Imports.
