“For me to be myself, I have to play a Les Paul. I plug it in and it sounds like me—exactly the way I’m supposed to sound. Anything else just doesn’t make sense.”—Joe Bonamassa
Musicians that redefine an art form are few and far between. Yet in the span of a few years, guitarist
Joe Bonamassa has singlehandedly transformed blues rock with his own unique fusion of both old and new ideas. His distinct interpretation of the blues, and his extraordinary guitar skills, have earned him a fitting a tribute from the Gibson Custom Shop—the new
Inspired By Joe Bonamassa Aged Les Paul Goldtop.
It would be such a cliché statement for a guitarist like Bonamassa to say he was “born” with the gifted ability to play the blues—and the guitar—the way he so powerfully does. But in his case, it’s all true.
Bonamassa was born in Utica, New York on May 8, 1977—a date that ironically happens to coincide with blues icon Robert Johnson’s birthday. He played his first guitar at the age of four, and by seven he had stepped up to a full-scale model and had mastered many of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s signature licks. At the age of 10 he was playing regularly around the state of New York, garnering the attention of blues legend B.B. King. Two years later, he was opening up for King, and eventually stars like Buddy Guy, Robert Cray, Stephen Stills, Joe Cocker, Gregg Allman, and George Thorogood.
After hearing him play for the first time, King said, “This kid’s potential is unbelievable. He hasn’t even begun to scratch the surface. He’s one of a kind.”
Bonamassa has certainly lived up to King’s worthy praise, and in many ways even beyond his gracious words. With every album and every show, Bonamassa’s legend continues to grow as he continuously develops and tweaks his own style as one of contemporary music’s most profoundly gifted guitar players.
Along the way, Bonamassa has established his own identity as a guitar player and experimented with many different guitars. In defining his own style, Bonamassa was always aware of the possibility of being “labeled” and “compared” to every great blues guitar player that came before him. And while he’s had no problem paying homage to the legends he’s learned so much from on a nightly basis, Bonamassa has managed to pull away from those comparisons by casting aside all the “other” guitars in favor of his stable of Gibsons.
“One night, I was doing this classical thing I do using the volume control, and I was playing it on a Strat,” Bonamassa said. “When I finished the show someone came up to me and told that I sounded like Stevie Ray [Vaughan] playing a violin. Well, bless his heart, and God bless Stevie Ray, but it sounded nothing like Stevie Ray. And please don’t get me wrong, I was heavily influenced by Stevie, but what it showed me is that if you waltz up there with a Stratocaster and play anything remotely resembling the blues you’re going to be compared to someone else.”
Bonamassa continued, “If you play one Stratocaster, you’ve played them all. When I recorded
You and Me and
Sloe Gin I used a lot of ES-335s and Les Pauls, so slowly but surely I’ve gravitated solely to Gibsons. Electrically, I don’t use anything but my Les Pauls, my [B.B. King ES-335] Lucille, and my Blues Hawk.”
Of course, the new
Inspired By Joe Bonamassa Aged Les Paul Goldtop from the Gibson Custom Shop has also made its way into Bonamassa’s arsenal of guitars. Blending several vintage features from the legendary Les Pauls of the 1950s with a few modern appointments for versatility, the new
Inspired By Bonamassa Goldtop sports a carved maple top and two-piece light mahogany back, surrounded by single-ply cream binding. The 24¾-inch solid mahogany neck features Gibson’s traditional 1959 profile, topped with a rosewood fingerboard and adorned with acrylic trapezoid inlays. The headstock is equipped with Grover kidney tuners, and carries a special Bonamassa truss rod cover. The guitar and hardware have also been lightly aged to give the appearance of a vintage Les Paul Goldtop.
The roar of the new model comes courtesy of Gibson’s famed Burstbucker humbucker pickups; a Burstbucker 2 in the neck position, and a Burstbucker 3 in the bridge. Both pickups are bordered by black Gibson pickup rings, and a black pickguard protects the classic Gibson Antique Goldtop finish. The electronics feature CTS pots and Bumble Bee capacitors, and the knobs are Bonamassa’s personal choice of two amber Top Hat knobs for the rhythm pickup controls, and two gold Top Hat knobs for the treble pickup controls. Each guitar also comes with its own Gibson Custom Shop case and certificate of authenticity.
“You can switch guitar brands out of spite, or you can switch just for the hell of switching. But if it doesn’t make sense and the music doesn’t come off the way you want it to then its self defeating,” Bonamassa said. “The music I’ve been writing for the last several years lends itself more toward the Les Paul and the humbucker pickup. They have so much more output so you can fill up all this space with it, and you don’t have to drive the amps as hard or play as hard. The Les Paul is definitely my default setting.”
The new
Inspired By Joe Bonamassa Aged Les Paul Goldtop from the Gibson Custom Shop is a tribute to this extraordinary guitar virtuoso and his ever-growing legend. Experience the true power of this special signature Les Paul at your local authorized Gibson Custom Shop dealer.
Click here to learn more.