Posted in: Pop Culture | Tagged: adam jones, artwork, Epiphone, frank frazetta, guitar, instrument art, les paul, the berserker, tool

Adam Jones Unveils Frazetta's "The Berserker" Epiphone Les Paul

The iconic visuals from Frank Frazetta's "The Berserker" arrives in the Epiphone Adam Jones Les Paul Custom Artwork Collection.

Epiphone has announced the long-awaited Adam Jones and Epiphone partnership has now arrived with the release of the Epiphone Adam Jones Les Paul Custom Art Collection. This unprecedented, limited-edition collection blends Adam's love of fine art and music, resulting in seven, iconic and unique Les Paul Custom Silverburst masterpieces which feature the artwork of five distinguished visual artists curated by Adam Jones of TOOL.

The second model to debut in the Adam Jones Les Paul Custom Art Collection is Frank Frazetta's "The Berserker." Known as the Godfather of fantasy art, acclaimed artist Frazetta was an illustrator of comic books, movie posters and paperback book covers whose visions helped define fantasy heroes like Conan, Tarzan, John Carter of Mars, and more. This guitar displays Frazetta's masterpiece, "Berserker" on the back of the guitar, artwork on the rear headstock is designed by world-renowned artist Korin Faught. The artwork "Berserker," also known as "Conan The Conqueror," was painted by Frazetta in 1968, for the cover of the Conan The Conqueror paperback novel by author Robert E. Howard. The original artwork is currently owned by Kirk Hammett of Metallica and Conan® is a registered trademark of Conan Properties International LLC.

Frazetta was born in Brooklyn on February 9, 1928, and as a boy studied art at the Brooklyn Academy of Fine Arts. He began drawing for comic books of all stripes–westerns, mysteries, fantasies–when he was still a teenager. He was also a good enough baseball player to try out for the New York Giants. Frazetta was a versatile and prolific comic book artist who, in the 1940s and '50s, drew for comic strips like Al Capp's "Lil' Abner" and comic books like "Famous Funnies," for which he contributed a series of covers depicting the futuristic adventurer, Buck Rogers.

"My exposure to Frank Frazetta began early in my life. There's something about his artwork that has spoken to me for as long as I can remember," says Jones. "When I was very young, I would save money to buy his adult comic art and pulp novel covers without my parents' knowledge, sneaking them into the house undetected. To this day, as I work on my own projects, I'm transported back to those moments of discovery and influence. Frank's technical prowess is unmatched in his genre (I'm such a proud nerd…) and he continues to be one of my heroes. When Cesar at Gibson and I discussed a line of fine art-enhanced guitars, I hoped we would get permission to use one of Frank's images, and I am so grateful to his estate for allowing us to use 'Berserker' on this Epiphone Les Paul."

"I was 13 years old when I first heard the TOOL song 'Schism,' it immediately resonated with me on a spiritual level and I've been a fan ever since," adds Sara Frazetta, Granddaughter of Frank Frazetta. "To collaborate with Adam Jones and my Grandfather's artwork on this gorgeous new Epiphone Art Collection of guitars has been amazing and seeing the guitars, it's clear Frazetta's art was destined for guitars."

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