Introducing the Joe Bonamassa ’59 Les Paul Custom, a faithful recreation of his legendary ‘Black Beauty’—a rare 1959 Les Paul Custom guitar

Article Contributed by PRIME PR Group | Published on Thursday, October 9, 2025

Epiphone is proud to continue its decades-long signature relationship with blues-rock legend Joe Bonamassa. Today, 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 on www.epiphone.com.

Joe 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 quite 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.

Epiphone Joe Bonamassa ’59 Les Paul Custom

Designed to be both 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.

Watch the interview and demo with Joe Bonamassa re his Epiphone ’59 Les Paul Custom: HERE.

Take a masterclass with Joe Bonamassa and Dinesh Lekhraj on the Gibson Gear Guide today as Joe shares his advice on continually growing as a musician and shows off the tips and tricks that shape his live sound, dive in HERE.

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 1,000 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,

Joe Bonamassa with his new Epiphone ’59 Les Paul Custom

Blues-rock superstar Joe Bonamassa is one of the most celebrated performing musicians of today. As a 4X GRAMMY®-nominated artist and 15x Blues Music Award Nominee (4X winner), 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; listen HERE. Bonamassa returns to the road this fall and will continue through his spring 2026 tour, dates below and HERE.


Catch Joe Bonamassa on tour in the following cities:

U.S. FALL TOUR 2025
November 3 – Columbus, OH – Palace Theatre
November 5 – Toronto, ON – The Theatre at Great Canadian Toronto
November 7 – Detroit, MI – Fox Theatre
November 8 – Fort Wayne, IN – Embassy Theatre
November 10 – Rockford, IL – Coronado Theatre
November 11 – Kansas City, MO – The Midland Theatre
November 14 – Durant, OK – Choctaw Grand Theater
November 15 – Houston, TX – Hobby Center
November 18 – Corpus Christi, TX – American Bank Center Selena Auditorium
November 19 – Abilene, TX – Abilene Auditorium
November 21 – Midland, TX – Wagner Noël Performing Arts Center
November 22 – Austin, TX – ACL Live at The Moody Theater
November 23 – Shreveport, LA – Shreveport Municipal Auditorium
November 25 – Fayetteville, AR – Walton Arts Center
November 26 – St. Louis, MO – Stifel Theatre
November 29 – New Orleans, LA – Saenger Theatre
November 30 – Montgomery, AL – Montgomery Performing Arts Centre
December 2 – Savannah, GA – Johnny Mercer Theatre
December 3 – Sarasota, FL – Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall
December 5 – Estero, FL – Hertz Arena
December 6 – Hollywood, FL – Hard Rock Live

U.S. SPRING TOUR 2026
February 21 – South Bend, IN – The Morris Performing Arts Center
February 23 – Cedar Rapids, IA – Paramount Theatre
February 25 – Madison, WI – Overture Center for the Arts
February 27 – Peoria, IL – Prairie Home Alliance Theater
February 28 – Cincinnati, OH – Taft Theatre
March 2 – Wilkes-Barre, PA – F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts
March 4 – Springfield, MA – Springfield Symphony Hall
March 6 – Westbury, NY – Flagstar at Westbury Music Fair
March 7 – Pittsburgh, PA – Benedum Center
March 8 – Red Bank, NJ – Count Basie Center for the Arts
March 10 – Reading, PA – Santander Performing Arts Center
March 11 – Virginia Beach, VA – Sandler Center
March 13 – Durham, NC – DPAC
March 14 – Greenville, SC – Bon Secours Wellness Arena
March 17 – Knoxville, TN – Knoxville Civic Auditorium
March 19 – Huntsville, AL – VBC Mark C. Smith Concert Hall
March 20 – Macon, GA – Atrium Health Amphitheater
March 21 – Clearwater, FL – The BayCare Sound
March 25-29, 2026 – Miami, FL – Keeping The Blues Alive at Sea XI +
April 10-12, 2026 – Miramar Beach, FL – Sound Wave Beach Weekend +
+Sold Out

EU TOUR 2026
April 22 – Hamburg, DE – Barclays Arena
April 24 – Rotterdam, NL – Rotterdam Rtm Stage
April 25 – Paris, FR – La Seine Musicale
April 27 – Esch-sur-Alzette, LU – Luxembourg Rockhal
April 29 – Mannheim, DE – SAP Arena
May 1 – Chemnitz, DE – Stadthalle Chemnitz
May 2 – Nürnberg, DE – Psd Bank Nürnberg Arena
May 3 – Zürich, CH – Hallenstadion
May 6 – London, UK – Royal Albert Hall
May 7 – London, UK – Royal Albert Hall
October 21 – Helsinki, FL – Veikkaus Arena
October 23 – Stockholm, SE – Stockholm Avicii Arena
October 24 – Oslo, NO – Oslo Spektrum
October 25 – Gothenburg, SE – Göteborg Partille Arena
October 27 – Copenhagen, DK – K.B. Hallen København
October 29 – Rostock, DE – Stadthalle Rostock
October 30 – Berlin, DE – Uber Arena
October 31 – Dortmund, DE – Westfalenhalle
November 4 – Milan, IT – Unipol Forum
November 6 – Toulouse, FR – Zénith Toulouse Métropole
November 7 – Barcelona, ES – Barcelona Sant Jordi Club

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