Epiphone Releases Pirates of the Carribean Les Paul Guitar

Imagine my surprise when, thumbing through today’s edition of the Musicians’ Friend catalog, I came across the Epiphone Limited Edition Pirates of the Caribbean Les Paul Studio Electric Guitar.

Now, I am no stranger to the branded guitar phenomenon . . . last Christmas I found a Fender Badtz-Maru Bronco Bass under the tree. And I’ve been amused to see the number of cross-branded Epiphones lately, including the Collegiate Limited Editions (the graphics on the Missouri version are actually quite nice). But to the best of my knowledge, this is Disney’s first foray into the branded electric guitar venue, with the possible exception of the Disney Princess Styling Guitar.

(Now c’mon people, if the little girl in your life is at least 6 years old, don’t buy her that — get her a Daisy Rock instead! The Cheetah Heartbreaker model is even prettier, and will let her rock for real!)

You won’t see me picking up the POTC Les Paul. My main squeeze is a vintage Kramer guitar, which I love enough that I carry its picture in my Palm Pilot (but not enough to play it as well as it probably deserves). And I question whether the POTC Les Paul will meet with much success . . . those collegiate Epiphones are always on clearance, and the POTC will probably meet a similar fate. But somewhere out there there’s someone geeky enough to love it as much as I love my Badtz Bronco, and I hope Santa gets it to her.