Gibson subsidiary Epiphone has announced the debut signature model from current Def Leppard shredder and early Dio guitarist Vivian Campbell, the "Holy Diver" Les Paul.

Modeled after the guitarist's first Les Paul he purchased as a teen in Belfast, Ireland, the signature model was designed by the artist along with Epiphone's team of luthiers in Nashville. The original "Holy Diver" became Campbell's primary recording and touring instrument when he joined Dio in the early '80s. Watch a video of Campbell using his new guitar down toward the bottom of this post.

"First of all, I'm flattered that Epiphone would do this for me," Campbell said in a press release. "It's a quality guitar. Over the decades I've amassed a lot of guitars, but my original Les Paul is certainly the most valuable. It's been quite a journey that we've been on. I hope the Epiphone 'Holy Diver' means as much to some young guitar player as my own heroes did to me back in the day."

The guitar, a classic Les Paul profile carved from mahogany with a maple cap, comes in a Black Aged Gloss finish. It connects to a 3-piece maple neck with volute, Indian Laurel fingerboard and medium jumbo frets. Its power comes from Campbell's choice of DiMarzio X2N humbuckers with "wide bar pole pieces that produce a powerful magnetic field to easily push your amp into overdrive," Epiphone's details of the instrument illustrate.

Other features include a brass nut and output jack, ABR-1 LockTone bridge and stopbar tailpiece. An EpiLite guitar case is also included. Further, the guitar — which will be available via authorized Epiphone dealers starting this fall — comes with a signed certificate of authenticity signed by the artist.

Read an exclusive Epiphone interview with Campbell about his signature guitar here, and get purchasing info and other details here. Def Leppard are currently on tour in the U.S. — see the dates here.

Epiphone