Joe Bonamassa’s legendary 1959 “Black Beauty” Les Paul Custom is now available as a sub-$1,000 Epiphone model
Joe Bonamassa’s gear collection is quite something; it even warrants two museum locations – Nerdville East and West – in Nashville and Los Angeles, respectively.
One highlight of his collection – of which there are obviously many – is his 1959 Gibson “Black Beauty” Les Paul Custom. As the story goes, the guitar is one of only a “handful” made – “maybe 20 or less in existence,” Bonamassa says.
“My one came from a little old lady in Pennsylvania,” he says. “The family didn’t realise it was a very special, rare variant.”
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JoBo’s “Black Beauty” Les Paul Custom was rare at the time of production for its two-humbucker configuration and Bigsby vibrato, and now it’s been recreated as an Epiphone signature model.
Designed to be “both faithful and accessible”, the Epiphone Joe Bonamassa ‘59 Les Paul Custom sports a solid mahogany body with an Antique Ebony finish, accented by aged multi-ply binding on the top and back.
Its mahogany neck features a 1959 Rounded Medium C profile, and is topped with a bound 22-fret ebony fingerboard and pearloid block inlays.
Elsewhere, the guitar features a multi-ply bound ‘60s Kalamazoo-style headstock with the Epiphone logo and the classic Custom Split Diamond inlay in mother-of-pearl, while there’s also a low-friction Graph Tech nut for tuning stability.
True to the Black Beauty, the Epiphone recreation also features a Bigsby tailpiece. The run of 1959 Gibson Les Paul Customs featured some with Bigsbys and some with Stop Bar tailpieces.
“Bigsbys are great because they have their own unique sound. They’re not like Floyd Roses or Fender trems,” Bonamassa says. “They’re a little brighter; it’s a little more hi-fi, but it will rock.”
The guitar also boasts Grover Imperial tuners – the same that decorate JoBo’s original Black Beauty Les Paul. “The Grover Imperial tuners came stock on my guitar, so they come stock on yours as well,” he explains. “So it gives it a fancier look.”
Credit: Epiphone
In terms of electronics, the Joe Bonamassa ‘59 Les Paul Custom features a pair of Epiphone ProBucker Custom pickups, wired to individual volume and tone controls using high-quality CTS potentiometers for “outstanding tonal versatility and reliability”.
Completing the faithful look is a run of gold hardware, including the guitar’s Tune-O-Matic bridge, Grover tuners and Bigsby B70 tailpiece.
Each Joe Bonamassa ‘59 Les Paul Custom comes with both a certificate of authenticity and a hardshell case with “Nerdville” graphics.
The guitar is limited in an initial run to 1,000 units – available via Epiphone, the Gibson Garage and authorised Epiphone dealers. A run of 300 with an exclusive custom fretboard inlay will also be available via Joe Bonamassa’s webstore.
The Joe Bonamassa ‘59 Les Paul Custom is priced at £949 / $999. For more info, head to Epiphone.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
