A faithful recreation of Bonamassa’s legendary “Black Beauty” is now available
Epiphone is proud to continue its decades-long signature relationship with blues-rock legend Joe Bonamassa. Epiphone has released an attainable version of Bonamassa’s pristine and rare, vintage 1959 Black Beauty Les Paul Custom, bringing this remarkable instrument—offering vintage tone, elegant craftsmanship, and the unmistakable spirit of Bonamassa in a guitar built to inspire—to a wider audience. The Epiphone Joe Bonamassa ’59 Les Paul Custom is a limited-edition model now available worldwide at authorized dealers, Gibson Garage locations, and online.
Bonamassa is widely renowned for his guitar-playing prowess and as a world-class guitar collector. One prized gem in his collection is his 1959 Gibson Les Paul Custom. The original Les Paul Custom became known as the “Black Beauty,” and examples from the late 50s are highly sought after, but this particular guitar is unique. Joe’s guitar is a rare custom order with two pickups instead of the standard three-pickup configuration. Adding to its allure, it also sports Grover Imperial tuners and a Bigsby vibrato tailpiece.
Designed to be faithful and accessible, the Epiphone Joe Bonamassa ’59 Les Paul Custom features an Antique Ebony finish over a solid mahogany body, accented by aged multi-ply binding on the top and back. The mahogany neck sports a 1959 Rounded Medium C profile and is topped with a bound ebony fretboard, complete with 22 medium jumbo frets and dressed up with pearloid block inlays. The multi-ply bound 60s Kalamazoo-style headstock features the Epiphone logo and the iconic Custom Split Diamond inlay in mother-of-pearl and is outfitted with a low-friction Graph Tech nut for excellent tuning stability.
The Joe Bonamassa ’59 Les Paul Custom is powered by a pair of punchy-sounding Epiphone ProBucker Custom pickups, which are wired to individual volume and tone controls using high-quality CTS potentiometers for outstanding tonal versatility and reliability. As is fitting for a Les Paul Custom, the hardware is gold, including a LockTone Tune-O-Matic bridge, the Grover tuners, and the Bigsby B70 vibrato tailpiece. The combination of these elements creates an instrument that is not only visually stunning but also remarkably versatile in its sound. The Epiphone Joe Bonamassa ’59 Les Paul Custom comes with a certificate of authenticity and a hardshell case with “Nerdville” graphics. This limited-edition Epiphone Joe Bonamassa ’59 Les Paul Custom is a tribute to a legendary guitarist and an iconic guitar. It represents both a lasting investment and excellence in musical instrument craftsmanship. This release will be available in a limited quantity of one thousand exclusively through Epiphone, the Gibson Garage, and authorized Epiphone dealers. In addition, a limited run of 300, with an exclusive custom inlay on the fretboard, will be available via the Joe Bonamassa webstore.
Blues-rock superstar Joe Bonamassa is one of the most celebrated performing musicians of today. As a four-time Grammy-nominated artist and 15-time Blues Music Award nominee, he recently notched his 29th No. 1 album on the Billboard Blues Chart with his latest studio release, Breakthrough, hailed as his most adventurous and genre-defying album to date. Live at the Hollywood Bowl With Orchestra became his 28th No. 1. Bonamassa has become a living legend with an astounding multi-genre catalog, releasing more than 50 albums, including studio and live recordings, as well as collaborative projects like Black Country Communion and Rock Candy Funk Party.
Recently, Bonamassa released Blues Summit 100, a massive 32-track project featuring multiple artists paying tribute to B.B. King.
