Adam Jones Rig

A vintage 1979 Silverburst Custom and an original blueface Diezel VH4 are collector pieces, not a starter rig. The Tool guitar sound is a hot Les Paul, midrange-forward EQ, and two different high-gain amps blended together — you can get most of that without the museum guitar.

• Vintage 1979 Gibson Les Paul Custom Silverburst: Epiphone Adam Jones 1979 Les Paul Custom because it copies the Antique Silverburst, ebony board, Custombucker neck and Seymour Duncan Distortion bridge; you lose Norlin-era weight and nitro.
• Gibson Custom Shop 1979 replica: Gibson USA Adam Jones Les Paul Standard Antique Silverburst because it is the current production signature (~$3k) with a BurstBucker 1 neck and DC High-Gain bridge.
• Diezel VH4 blueface: Diezel VH4-2 pedal into a cheaper high-gain head, or a used Mesa Dual Rectifier, because Channel 3 of the VH4 is the grind and the Rectifier was actually his third amp.
• 1976 Marshall Super Bass: a used Marshall JCM800 2203 because the jumpered Super Bass is a mid-forward British roar, not a scooped metal amp.
• Boss BF-2 Flanger and Boss DD-3: still cheap used and are the actual flanger and delay on Stinkfist and the atmospheric parts.
• Dunlop Heil Talk Box: keep this (and a small practice amp to drive it) if you want the Jambi solo; it is already one of the more affordable pieces in the real rig.