After working together in the mid-2000s to produce a Floyd Rose-stocked Les Paul, Gibson and Journey guitarist Neal Schon have now seemingly reunited for a new run of Supreme signature guitars, with full details expected to be announced this week.
The Les Paul Supreme made its much-anticipated return in late ‘23, two decades after it first appeared, and now the Journey man has revealed he’s been working with Gibson once more to produce a tailored take on the returning template.
Diving into Schon’s tantalizing Instagram post (below), there looks to be at least three new models that will be detailed in the upcoming announcement. Over the past few days, Schon has posted photos of a triple humbucker model with a grey burst finish, and two double 'bucker versions with either gold and uncovered pickups.
Chief among the key changes to the standard Supreme models is, of course, the appointment of that Floyd Rose bridge – a vital tool in Schon's' anthemic rock guitar style, and a core feature that set Schon's early signature Les Paul apart from the rest of Gibson's collection.
Aside from the Floyd Rose, they all boast the Supreme’s standout pearl Super Split Block inlays and dashes of gold hardware.
Schon has been teasing his rekindled relationship with Gibson for a while now, having previously posted a clip of him taking the standard Les Paul Supreme for a spin.
“Just putting some more miles on this beautiful Supreme,” he observed. “This thing is a tone machine.”
In another Instagram post that saw him playing slick leads on the ebony-finished model, he added that there's “very interesting wiring on this bad boy. Rolling [the] tone off on [the] neck pickup it goes into parallel and it’s great.”
For many guitar fans, the reunion may come as a surprise after Schon and Gibson’s initially fruitful relationship soured somewhat over the development of his heavily tweaked Les Paul.
Talking to radio station 90.3 WMSC in 2021 (via Ultimate Guitar), Schon explained, “It's unfortunate that I had a falling out with Gibson way back then. After I did all the work, they wanted to take my name off the guitar...
“Now to pour more salt in the wound, they took my guitar and put somebody else's name on it [seemingly in reference to the Alex Lifeson Axcess Les Paul],” he went on. “They changed a couple of little things on the guitar, but not a lot, so it's 'OK.' But you move on, and find other the companies that make equally good guitars, if not better.”
Schon has proven something of an innovator when it comes to guitar builds. He worked on a PRS creation last year, for example, resulting in a very Schon-esque redesign of John Mayer's signature Silver Sky guitar.
However, it seems as though Schon has patched up his Gibson-shaped wounds, with the guitarist going on to praise the direction the brand has taken under the guidance of CEO Cesar Gueikian.
“You'll be seeing a lot of these in the near future as I'm now working with them and it's actually really amazing – the team they have together under the direction of Cesar,” he said in an Instagram post.
“They are back at it on what made Gibson a household name many years ago and producing so many excellent re-issues as well going in some new places electronically.”
According to Schon, we don't have long to wait until full details concerning the Floyd Rose-equipped Supremes arrive: “Coming this week. Gibson Supremes w/ Floyd’s,” he posted last night (March 17).
Whether these will take the form of Schon signature models or super-charged versions of the standard Supreme remains to be seen. Of course, when the news lands, Guitar World will be quick to share all the no-doubt juicy details. Stay tuned.
