Epiphone Joe Bonamassa Lazarus 1959 Les Paul Standard - new JB signature guitar

[frehley76]

In this market who knows how much they'll bring. The problem is when is it too much?

Right

 

[darkvoice]

tracking in hand for my custom inlay model. should deliver thursday! fook!!

Mine is arriving tomorrow

 

[Seven]

tracking in hand for my custom inlay model. should deliver thursday! fook!!

Hope you get a sweet top

 

[darkvoice]

In this market who knows how much they'll bring. The problem is when is it too much?

When decent Gibson Les Paul starts at $2,300 and good ones going for $3,000 and up, a $900 Epiphone LP looks like a bargain.

 

[rjwilson37]

These are going to sell for $1100-$1200 Minimum Used once there are no more for sale new. If it has a super sweet top, it will easily sell for $1400-$1500 for those that want a beautiful piece of history.

 

[rjwilson37]

You know what, Joe has a huge collection of historical Les Paul's that are rare and wonderful guitars. I am pretty sure he will not run out, since he probably uses the money he makes from getting these Epiphones out to us in a Limited run fashion every year at a reasonable price to help him purchase more. This is definitely a win/win situation for Epiphone, Joe and all of us, to claim something special from history. I know that the 58 BB last year and the 59 Standard this year are fantastic guitars and ones I wanted in my own collection. Some of the ones in the past, I was not really interested, but I am looking forward to next years and year after that, etc....

The 59 Standard 'Lazarus' for this year. I am not sure if the Poly/Aged Gloss finish will let the guitar breath the same as the Gibson Lazarus for the fantastic tone he gets from it, but I can't wait until my guitar comes tomorrow and find out.

How about everyone so far that has gotten there's, what kind of tone are you getting from your Lazarus? I will try and do a video to compare my 58 BB from last year to this years 59 Standard and see if we can hear the tonal differences.

 

[Blazerscope]

Yep, exactly. I like the idea of epi doing recreations of actual guitars. I also like having gibson pickups in them. I would like to see a great version of a 61 SG with burstbuckers. Kind of reminds me of the gibson collectors choice guitars, only in a version that average folks can afford.

 

[efstop]

Bonaphone. Has a nice ring to it, don't you think?

 

[elephantrider]

I am not sure if the Poly/Aged Gloss finish will let the guitar breath the same as the Gibson Lazarus for the fantastic tone he gets from it...

I thought there was a video of joeB playing the epi. the poly didn't seem to bother his sound.

 

[rjwilson37]

I did not see a video with Joe playing one then the other to really hear how much they sound the same. I like the video from last year, where he was playing his Gibson 58 BB and then playing the Epiphone 58 BB, they sounded pretty much identical and fantastic. I also want to compare the difference between a 58 BB with the thicker neck to the 59 Standard that has a thinner neck and see if we can hear that difference in the tone, with the 59 being brighter.

 

[mjbarefo]

I hadn't seen anyone take a stab at polishing Lazarus yet, so figured I would give it a go last night and am super happy with how it looks now - the satin on the back and neck feels great, but the polish just makes Lazarus looks more similar to a true VOS finish.

I also have a Lemon Honeyburst 1959 that I polished and thought it was a good comparison with how big of a difference visually the AAAA wide grain veneer makes versus the AAA veneer. I'm not sure if it's the case for others that also have a 1959 to compare to, but Lazarus seems to be higher quality overall. The neck profile is just a tad bit slimmer than the 1959 and it is a touch lighter.

Will make an individual post with a bigger photo dump if there is interest!

 

[rjwilson37]

Those look great and the Joe Lazarus looks nice all shiny. I know that I like the more used/aged look that it comes with for sure, but those both look really sweet.

We are always interested in a Photo dump, I think a new Thread with both of your guitars would be of great interest for all of us.

 

[mjbarefo]

New thread with more photos posted here!

 

[rjwilson37]

Ok, I have been looking into the 59 a lot the past few days and found some interesting information I am posting below.

In 1961 Gibson made 1700 Les Paul's and these Les Paul's were considered to be too heavy and old-fashioned, which guitarists just didn't want. So Gibson stopped making the Les Paul guitar after this, which was from 62-68 where Gibson did stop making the traditional Les Paul. They switched over to a redesign of a lighter guitar later called the SG. After Eric Clapton played his 1960 Les Paul Burst with a 100w Marshall Amp on the Beano Album, after the Album was released in 1966, that was the sound that all rock guitarist wanted. Of course Gibson was no longer making that Les Paul model, so everyone was looking around for a 58-60 Les Paul because they wanted that tone that Eric Clapton had found with a Humbucker Les Paul through a 100w Marshall Amp. I read somewhere that most found they favored the 59, said it had the right feel/tone that they loved. But of course you couldn't go wrong with a 58 or 60, depending on the neck profile you liked best, because essentially they were all the same besides neck and some cosmetic differences. Of course also, since the guitars were hand made, all these guitars whether a 58, 59, or 60, even the same year guitar from one another did have a different feel/tone to them. Some were even lemon's that felt horrible and were unplayable so to speak.

I read an article where whether you play a 58-60 Les Paul or a 2019 Les Paul, you have the tone you're looking for. The Article said that if Eric Clapton had a 2019 Les Paul and made the Beano Album today, it would sound the same. I am not sure about this in my mind though, since some 58-60 Les Paul's are just that perfect combination of wood and electronics with a great feel and marvelous tone.

 

[gibsonroxs524]

Mine just arrived today!

 

[rjwilson37]

Oh yea... That's what I'm talking about, the dirty Lemon Burst aged on that one is totally sweet. I love the Aged look on that one, it is a ting of beauty!

 

[rjwilson37]

I feel bad for this guy though, I wonder who he purchased his guitar through. The neck pickup is low and loose and the input jack would not accept a cord into it. What a bummer when your guitar first arrives. The top is nice though.

(24) Epiphone Joe Bonamassa Lazarus 1959 les Paul standard pt1 (unboxing) - YouTube

 

[Blazerscope]

I hadn't seen anyone take a stab at polishing Lazarus yet, so figured I would give it a go last night and am super happy with how it looks now - the satin on the back and neck feels great, but the polish just makes Lazarus looks more similar to a true VOS finish.

View attachment 565541

I also have a Lemon Honeyburst 1959 that I polished and thought it was a good comparison with how big of a difference visually the AAAA wide grain veneer makes versus the AAA veneer. I'm not sure if it's the case for others that also have a 1959 to compare to, but Lazarus seems to be higher quality overall. The neck profile is just a tad bit slimmer than the 1959 and it is a touch lighter.

View attachment 565542

Will make an individual post with a bigger photo dump if there is interest!

What did you polish it with?

 

[darkvoice]

Mine just arrived today!

View attachment 565561

WOW, just WOW - wood texture on top looks perfect!

Enjoy your new guitar!

 

[darkvoice]

I checked eBay and there are 30 Lazarus guitars available, most of them from sellers in Japan. How did they get these guitars so fast and so many if each store gets only one? Did they buy them locally in Japan or from abroad?