Epiphone Matt Heafy Les Paul signature guitar on the way

Trivium frontman Matt Heafy has revealed to TG that he is working with Gibson on an Epiphone Matt Heafy Les Paul signature model.

"We met a guy in Germany who works for Gibson and he said to us, 'We know about the presence you have and we'd love to have you onboard'," Matt tells TG in our brand new cover feature.

"I'm starting with an Epiphone signature. I've got to work my way up, starting with an Epiphone and then a Gibson USA and then a Gibson Custom."

However, it's still early days and Matt is keeping the fans (and their wallets) in mind:

"The thing is if I do a Custom Signature, then kids would be paying like six grand [US dollars] for it, and they can't afford that. I want to make the same thing that I'll be playing live for kids to play and I want to make it affordable."

Meanwhile, as TG first reported last year, Corey Beaulieu has also been busy working on a signature Jackson King V and he appears to have come to a decision over the guitar's key features.

"There's some new Seymour Duncan Blackout pickups on there - I'm the first one to get them," says Corey. "They're black chrome with a gloss, so the pickups really match the guitar's paint job."

In addition, Corey says that the guitar will feature custom inlays, an unfinished neck and will be available in both six and seven-string models.

Pick up Total Guitar issue 219, which features 18 pages of Trivium content, including an eight-page interview and a full tab of 'Caustic Are The Ties That Bind' from new album 'In Waves'.

Matthew Parker

Matt is a freelance journalist who has spent the last decade interviewing musicians for the likes of Total Guitar, Guitarist, Guitar World, MusicRadar, NME.com, DJ Mag and Electronic Sound. In 2020, he launched CreativeMoney.co.uk, which aims to share the ideas that make creative lifestyles more sustainable. He plays guitar, but should not be allowed near your delay pedals.