Epiphone launches Joe Bonamassa “Black Beauty” Les Paul Custom

Joe Bonamassa has teamed up with Epiphone on a new signature model based on his 1958 Gibson “Black Beauty” Les Paul Custom.

The Epiphone Joe Bonamassa “Black Beauty” Les Paul Custom goes for period-accuracy, featuring a 50s-style neck profile and Antique ivory binding throughout to give the guitar an authentic vintage look, tone and feel. “I made it a super playable instrument, throaty but clean, and the lead pickup just barks,” he said in a statement.

The guitar features a solid mahogany body and neck – finished in gloss ebony – as well as an ebony fingerboard with 22 medium jumbo frets. Pearloid block inlays complete the Les Paul’s look.

One of the Black Beauty’s most iconic features is its three humbuckers, and Epiphone’s take on the instrument stays true to this with three ProBuckers. These are voiced to sound as close to the original PAF humbuckers designed by Seth Lover, and feature alnico II magnets and nickel silver unit bases and covers.

The humbuckers are routed to two pairs of volume and tone controls – equipped with CTS potentiometers and Orange Drop capacitors – and a three-way toggle switch.

As for hardware, there’s a LockTone Tune-O-Matic bridge, Epiphone Historic tuning machines – both are finished in gold – and black top hat knobs.

The Joe Bonamassa “Black Beauty” Les Paul Custom is available now for $799 and comes with its own hard case and certificate of authenticity.

In other Bonamassa news, the bluesman recently showed us a few gems from his vintage guitar collection for Guitar.com Live, including a Tommy Bolin Les Paul and a 1951 Nocaster. Watch the tour here:

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