When did this relationship with Adam begin? Who approached whom?

We connected about a year and a half ago. It was his tour manager, Wes, who suggested that we connect. He suggested it to Adam and then he reached out to us.

Adam and I started talking with Peter Leinheiser from my entertainment relations team. Peter worked with Adam on a day-to-day basis, but for me because I’m so passionate about Tool and their music, I took it personally.

I got involved in the project directly. …We were very conscious of making Adam feel like he was Gibson family.

It’s great to see the enthusiasm from both sides. This has certainly been years in the making. Adam has always played this guitar, but to make it official with Gibson after so many years must have been a big moment.

It is. I’m humbled by his humbleness.

He kept thanking me for [having] us working with him. I kept saying, ‘Well, we are the ones thanking you for working with us!’ We’ve never lost that [mutual admiration].

I love how gracious and humble he is. Adam is one of the biggest guitar influencers of all-time. All of the artists we work with are like that, otherwise we wouldn’t be working with them. I love that theme, whether it’s Slash, or Adam, or Billy Gibbons, or Sheryl Crow, or a young artist like Orianthi. That makes it very special.

Adam even composed a new piece of music and created an animated short film to celebrate this run of limited-edition guitars: "The Witness." What's it like to have that level of creative investment from Adam?

It is totally epic. And it’s an epic song that works perfectly with the concept of the animated short film ... how that character comes to Earth and where he lands and how it develops into what it develops into. How the soul of it basically enters the guitar. The song builds up to tell that story through the music and the video.

One thing I love about this story is that Adam bought this guitar with his own money as a teenager or young adult. It became famous in his hands, and now you have this relationship that celebrates the endurance of that instrument, this company and the music it all contributed to.

You’re right. And to your earlier point, the fact that the silverburst is so closely associated with Adam. This is a guitar that means a lot to him; it’s been with him since then. It’s been on every tour with him. It’s what everybody says, 'If my house is on fire and I have to grab one thing...' this is the one thing Adam is going to take with him, in addition to his wife and the kids.

To me it’s paying tribute to him, saying ‘Thank you, Adam.’ For everything he’s done for music, for Gibson and for the silverburst. I think the relationship is one that I cherish very much. It’s an amazing opportunity to be working with him.

Will there eventually be a production line version of this Adam Jones Signature guitar?

All of it is in the cards. We’re working on all of that right now. These projects take time as we work on prototypes, we work on the ideas, we come up with the concepts and Adam tries them. It’s all in motion and has been for a few months. We also layer into that the unique, cool factors we want to bring in.

I work with Adam and let him have full creative freedom with that, just like you saw with “The Witness,” and across all brands. So I’ll leave you with the fact that it’s going to be across brands.

How about a Gibson TV appearance for Adam?

I like to work with Adam at Adam’s pace. He loves designing and creating and doing what we did with “The Witness.” I am never going to ask Adam to get on camera for Gibson TV, it’s going to be when Adam says he’s ready.

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