Richie with Gibson or Fender?

I read somewhere that Richie is no longer with Fender and that he is with Gibson now. Does anybody know anything about this? It doesn't seem like it would be likely, since about the only Gibson's he plays are the vintage flying v and that horrible sounding casio-like (could have been an ES-335) guitar he had at the Times Square show. Every once in a while he plays a Les-Paul. In an interview i read it said he used mostly Telecasters and the Flying V on Bounce, but he rarely plays telecasters live. he normally plays Strats (and he sounds the best when playing them) Also, does anybody know anything recent about the Signature Richie guitar from Fender Japan?

Yes, he is finished with Fender. He says he just wanted to move on and he says that he still has a great relationship with the company. I think it is cool that he is being endorsed by Gibson, just something a little different. I love Fender and Gibson, so I look forward to seeing his new guitar when it is available.

yeah in a guitar mag this month he was saying about all the vintage guitars he collects. Even though he has switched from fender they have released a new model of his signature strat, a mexican strat with a humbucker and 2 single coils, check it out on fender.com