Epiphone Joe Bonamassa 'Lazarus' 59 Les Paul Standard Owners Thread

[rjwilson37]

I was playing my Lazarus today for a couple of hours, wow... wow... wow... what a fantastic guitar. Feels/plays so smooth and sounds so great. Just as sweet as anyone of my current and previous top notch Gibson Les Paul's at 1/3 to 1/4 of the price.

Definitely a Dream Guitar for looks, playability and tone.

 

[LuthierVandross]

Can someone with a Laz please measure the post distance on the bridge?? I’m parts shopping before the damn thing gets here

 

[elephantrider]

 

[LuthierVandross]

View attachment 569726View attachment 569727

Thank you!!

 

[Blakem 2]

Can we get a comparison between the two, Which one does what better ?

 

[rjwilson37]

Seems like when I try to upload my pictures of Lazarus it always says my files too big anyone know how to change that?

Just right click on the picture and choose Open With (Paint). Then choose resize, select Pixels and make it 800x600 or 600x800 depending on portrait or landscape picture orientation and then save it. then it will load with no problem and even look a little better because it's pixels are smaller and tighter for a clearer picture.

 

[fordfanjpn]

Can someone with a Laz please measure the post distance on the bridge?? I’m parts shopping before the damn thing gets here

FWIW, I ordered Epiphone replacement parts (bridge, tailpiece, studs and posts) from Faber and they fit perfectly.

 

[LuthierVandross]

FWIW, I ordered Epiphone replacement parts (bridge, tailpiece, studs and posts) from Faber and they fit perfectly.

Import size?

 

[DrBGood]

Hey thanks for that Mike ! Nice harem you got there and good chops. The Epiphone sure hold their own in there.

One ... or two suggestions if I may.
1 - When recording with a cell phone, try lowering the volume to 1 for recording, I find it renders the tone of the guitar better.
2 - On the Lazarus, I think your neck pickup might be too high, as middle position sounds pretty similar to neck by itself. You might be missing on a great middle tone. I usually keep my neck humbuckers at ring level, or even lower depending.

PS. After you hit the bedpost with the Epiphone, man I got stressed out the rest of the video when you moved the Gibsons around

 

[fordfanjpn]

Import size?

Yes. On the Faber US site they're listed as specifically being for the Epiphone guitars. They're metric size.

 

[Blakem 2]

Hey thanks for that Mike ! Nice harem you got there and good chops. The Epiphone sure hold their own in there.

One ... or two suggestions if I may.
1 - When recording with a cell phone, try lowering the volume to 1 for recording, I find it renders the tone of the guitar better.
2 - On the Lazarus, I think your neck pickup might be too high, as middle position sounds pretty similar to neck by itself. You might be missing on a great middle tone. I usually keep my neck humbuckers at ring level, or even lower depending.

PS. After you hit the bedpost with the Epiphone, man I got stressed out the rest of the video when you moved the Gibsons around

Maybe I’ll do another video and delete that one to try to get a better tone and I’ll try to lower the pickup and see if what you’re saying is true.

 

[DrBGood]

Maybe I’ll do another video and delete that one to try to get a better tone and I’ll try to lower the pickup and see if what you’re saying is true.

Before deleting that one, maybe first try a 30 second music and talking test ?

 

[LuthierVandross]

View attachment 569862

Ying & Yang

We are gonna need a thread dedicated to pics of these two…

 

[LuthierVandross]

The Custom Inlay is really one step ahead to the Standard I have here.

Look at the fretboard. It's darker and more even grain. Looks and feels smooth right out of the box. Same for fret ends which are not sharp as on my Standard. The flames are more intense as well and the cherry is slightly darker (looks more like my Gibson in Heritage Cherry). And last but not least the neck shape is ever so slightly smaller compared to my Standard and now has the perfect fit to my hands and playing.

Maybe it's only psychological or a matter of luck but these findings bring me to the assumption the JB Store Guitars run through a higher quality check/selection cycle before leaving the factory.

If I want to find issues I can name two: nut is too high (even higher as the Standard), one very small dent in the back of the neck that probably happened before spraying the lacquer.

Anyways, I searched for a Les Paul for many years now. All of them went on or returned to the stores. Mostly as of build quality at Gibson or as of neck profiles.
The Custom Inlay is now finally ending my search. The neck is perfect to me and the build quality is much better then most Gibsons I've had here. I'm finally super happy, will add my mods (which I would do anyways) and never thaught I will find this at Epiphone. Very cool!

Did you get both of these from JB’s site?

 

[omm]

Maybe it's only psychological or a matter of luck but these findings bring me to the assumption the JB Store Guitars run through a higher quality check/selection cycle before leaving the factory.

It's the former.

 

[fordfanjpn]

I'm planning with Faber parts as well. Absolutely like the locking HYBRIDge and aluminum tailpiece. Have you used the eSert to replace Bridge studs? How about the tailpiece studs? I consider keeping them in and simply use the metric Tone Lock screws fornthe tailpiece. What was your solution?

I used the ESWKIT-NA bridge adapter and also replaced the studs for the tailpiece. I wanted aged parts so I replaced everything except the parts that are installed into the body. I may replace those too at some point.

 

[LuthierVandross]

It's the former.

Would you sell yours?

 

[omm]

Would you sell yours?

If the next tech can't fix it - yes.

 

[LuthierVandross]

If the next tech can't fix it - yes.

DM sent

 

[LuthierVandross]

Anyone tried to fit other pickup rings? Will the hole pattern of an Epiphone work with some other aftermarkets? I like the ratio slightly better on the Historics.

watch this