In pictures: 17 stunningly decorated Gibson Les Pauls, designed for superstar guitarists

You’ve seen one-off Les Pauls before, but not quite like this: VH1 Save The Music Foundation has partnered with the Gibson Foundation to produce a host of guitars that pair a superstar musician with a visual artist to create one unique piece.

The guitars will be auctioned off to raise funds for musical instruments for a dozen schools - many of the guitars are set to go under the hammer at Julien’s Auctions Rock N Roll Icons (opens in new tab) collection on 4 November.

Until then, have a scroll through our gallery and take in the sheer craft, with comments from the artists themselves…

Musician: Mark Ronson

Design inspiration: "My work is inspired by music and people who not only think outside of the box, but redefine what the box is.

"Working on this guitar for Mark Ronson was a perfect fit for my work because he creates a bridge between underground culture and mainstream."

Musician: Gary Clark Jr

Design inspiration: "The design of this guitar is based on the creative energy transfer that Gary Clark Jr. exudes to his audience during the height of his live music performances.

"There is an exact moment when Gary’s strumming hand becomes a blur, the atmosphere becomes electric, and the audience truly lets their “everyday” guard down in order to become one with the music. It's a beautiful thing.

"The multitude of colors is as much a tribute to psychedelic guitar rock as it is to the concept of visualizing music notes as swatches or feelings of color. The exposed wood on various parts of the guitar mimic the organicness of where the whole creation of music originates from."

Musician: Vivian Campbell

Design inspiration: "Inclusivity and love were key elements in the creation of the custom Gibson guitar.

"Vivian Campbell penned the words and I integrated them into the guitar along with graphics and sketches of immigrants passing through Ellis Island in the early 20th century (based on photographs by Augustus Sherman)."

Musician: Wayne Kramer

Design inspiration: "The Gods of the Motor City spoke to me and said 'Hudson, put Cadillac bullets and chrome all over Wayne's Les Paul.' And I did."

Musician: Slash

Design inspiration: "I decided to do a scorpion protecting the pick as only Slash is allowed to play this guitar - the scorpion is making sure that's the case. I wanted to make it really bold and gnarly so it stuck out and was easily seen and understood.

"I was quite aware of visuals that are used a lot with Guns N' Roses and Slash in general, so I tried to keep away from the obvious. Drawing directly onto a guitar is tough for illustrators for obvious reasons, so I tried to used the shape to my advantage and emphasize the awesome shape of the guitar.

"It was a real privilege not only to design a piece for Slash, but to do it directly onto a brand new Gibson."

Musician: The Roots

Design inspiration: "Being a musician (drummer) myself, I always draw inspiration from the world of music. I try to portray the sounds as I visualize them as characters that live in my universe, my Bluniverse.

"Since the Gibson guitar was a joint effort between myself and THE ROOTS, the inspiration behind it came from their musical repertoire and the bandmates themselves! I drew the inspiration from the groove of their music and translated that flow from the stage right onto my canvas... and the rest is history!"

Musician: Rick Nielsen

Design inspiration: "The Checkered Past Les Paul is an ode to Rick's lighthearted personality and his ongoing love of checkers, on his clothing and guitars, throughout his career."

Musician: J Balvin

Design inspiration: "Every stroke of paint and every moving line when added together, like DNA, creates a life form."

Musician: Chris Stapleton

Design inspiration: "As far as inspiration, as you know, Chris and Morgane (his wife) are long time friends. A couple years back they took a trip west to dig deep while their first record was in the works.

"As an artist, I am drawn to realism along with traditional style. I love the nostalgia of traditional western art. That being said, I drew inspiration from my appreciation for that style of art, and paired it with Chris's outlaw country image which eventually spawned the bronco enclosed in the minimalist landscape."

Musician: Miley Cyrus

Design inspiration: "I wanted to tie in something organic with the instrument… so much music is created on the computer, I thought this would remind folks of music's natural roots."

Musician: Corey Taylor

Design inspiration: "I aimed to make a conceptual portrait of Corey Taylor when I painted the Gibson Les Paul for VH1 Save the Music Foundation this year.

"While I've done scores of likenesses throughout my professional life, even the exaggerated images have been fairly straightforward. Corey is a uniquely-versatile, multi-discipline artist of great energy so anything fairly straightforward would do him an injustice in my view, so I did my best to cut loose."

Musician and visual artist: Patti Smith

Design inspiration: Patti Smith penned the lyrics to her song, "People Have The Power," on the Gibsonguitar she designed for this project.

Musician: Wyclef

Design inspiration: "This guitar is a representation of freedom, and so is Wyclef.

"I was listening to his music when the song 'Lady Haiti' came on, and it just hit me. '1804 you made my people free'… I wanted to take that feeling of freedom and unity and express it through my art."

Musician and visual artist: Robert Longo

Biography: Robert Longo is an internationally recognized visual artist known for his large-scale works in various media: drawing, sculpture, film, performance and music.

Longo is also a member and co-founder of the art-rock band Barbara Sukowa and the X-Patsys, in which he plays the electric guitar.

Musician: Robby Krieger

Biography: Australian husband-and-wife visual artists, DABSMYLA, employ a shared design language that dictates subject matter, positioning, color theory and perspective.

With this established framework and unspoken set of rules - strengthened by over a decade of working together simultaneously - their singular goal is to tell an expansive story that is wholly unique to their own experiences.  

Musician: Shawn Mendes

Biography: Domingo Zapata is a Spanish-American Artist born in Palma de Mallorca, Spain.

Currently, Zapata maintains studios in his Gramercy Park townhouse in New York City, the Design District in Miami, and Hollywood. In these private ateliers he produces Neo-Expressionist paintings as well as sculpture. He paints in both oil and acrylic, often incorporating mixed-media, collage and graffiti.

Musician: Warren Haynes

Biography: Sean Vranizan is a multidisciplinary artist born and raised in San Francisco who uses a multitude of mediums to create, spanning from logo branding to photographing with nontraditional cameras.

He brings his unique typographic sensibility in the form of hand painted murals, custom font designs, and vintage signage photography.