Epiphone unveils Ltd Ed Lee Malia Explorer Custom Artisan guitar

Regardless of whether you're a fan of Bring Me The Horizon or not, Lee Malia's Les Paul Custom was an absolute blinder of a signature model - and now he's got another Epiphone to his name, the Explorer Custom Artisan.

Boasting Malia's fave Walnut finish on the classic Explorer outline, the Custom Artisan packs Gibson USA P-94 single coil and 84T-LM humbucker pickups, along with vintage-style Artisan inlays.

In between the two pickups, beneath the pickguard, is a Dummy Coil that cancels 'hum' when in single-coil mode, while the bridge volume control can be used to split the humbucker's coils.

Elsewhere, the guitar's packing a maple-topped mahogany body with 1959 rounded C profile mahogany neck, plus a torrefied composite fingerboard - the latter of which is likely Epi's response to the recently introduced CITES regulations.

Finally, the gold hardware comprises 14:1 ratio die-cast machine heads with 'tulip' buttons, Epiphone straplocks, as well as a LockTone Tune-O-Matic bridge and stopbar tailpiece.

There's no word on RRP yet, but based on Malia's last signature model, we'd expect around £600-£700, complete with custom gigbag and Certificate of Authenticity hand-signed by the man himself.

Head over to Epiphone for more info.

Michael Astley-Brown

Mike is Editor-in-Chief of GuitarWorld.com, in addition to being an offset fiend and recovering pedal addict. He has a master's degree in journalism, and has spent the past decade writing and editing for guitar publications including MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitarist, as well as a decade-and-a-half performing in bands of variable genre (and quality). In his free time, you'll find him making progressive instrumental rock under the nom de plume Maebe.