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

[rjwilson37]

I was playing My Lazarus this morning for a little bit, and I am still in the wow factor, she feels/plays so smooth. I love to do my practicing on My Lazarus, because the neck is a little bit bigger than all my other guitars and it really gives me a nice workout for my fingers. Plus, the Burstbucker 2/3 pickups are fantastic, they have such a nice Clear, Warm and smooth tone to them. The Probuckers are kind of close, but not as warm and smooth. I think that the Probuckers sound closer to 57 Classics than Burstbuckers. I am so glad they put BB 2/3's on Lazarus and the Epiphone 59 Standards, definitely a good move. But I do like the Standard 60's necks better, just a very nice fit for my hands.

But... I can tell you that I was playing My Lazarus this morning, and after just a little bit of playing, the neck size difference goes away for the most part. I only notice it every now and then with some finger stretches, but I can deal with it and love the workout as I stated above.

 

[Lineosight]

@rjwilson37 - I hear you! As I've mentioned before, my Lazarus is the first guitar I've bought since the late '80s, and despite my lack of meaningful playing skills, that guitar keeps pulling me back to play (or try and play)... at some point I'll just have to get a YouTube channel so at least I can say "No, I'm not a guitarist, but I have played one online".

The sound is, just right. Warm and deep, but if I spin up the volume and tone she growls properly! My amp leaves much to be desired, but then... a better amp would leave me fewer things to blame for the sound of my playing!

I'm very happy with this epiphone!

 

[rbraad68]

I just got mine yesterday YAY !!! Mine came without a bridge and tail piece so I had to throw some bridge pieces on it out of my parts box. First impressions are that the guitar looks good the neck seems a little diff from my 59's and it's deff lighter. Plus the top deff is going to get polished. I wanted to leave that alone but it's just way too flat looking hope that polishing it will bring it out a little. Other than that she's a good addition to my 59 collection....

 

[rjwilson37]

Is the neck bigger or smaller than your other 59's? Who did you purchase it from that it came with no bridge or tail piece?

 

[rbraad68]

Is the neck bigger or smaller than your other 59's? Who did you purchase it from that it came with no bridge or tail piece?

Im going to say that it's a little bit thinner at the first fret. My southern fade has the smallest profile of my 3 59's and this JB really really close to it... I bought the guitar off a friend of mine she's a member here as well. She had put the conversion studs and ABR-1 bridge on it when she had it. When she told me she was taking the pieces off she offered me the stock bridge pieces but i have a box full of them from the 8 or 9 epi's ive gotten over the past 2 yrs so i just told her to keep them. I had no use for them and within a month i'll have a Faber setup on it anyways... Guitar is nice i ain't going to lie but i'm not going to say that it's nicer than my 59's if anything they are real close. As far as tone goes I haven't had much of a chance to play the guitar... Going to mess with it more this weekend.

 

[Old Crow]

New owner ! So far I’m really impressed and have a question or 2.
Is the stock tailpiece zink ?
what is the clear coat. ?

 

[rbraad68]

New owner ! So far I’m really impressed and have a question or 2.
Is the stock tailpiece zink ?
what is the clear coat. ?

Yes I believe they are zink. Not sure what the clear coat is. Epiphone uses the same hardware on most of their guitars. congrats on your new guitar man they are sweet guitars indeed....

 

[Old Crow]

Thanks. I believe there was some discussion many moons ago on
the “other” LP forum about zinc vs aluminum tailpieces.
I was planning to put the Fabre kit on, but I’m not sure if aluminum
will be an improvement. ? But, I do like aged nickel.

 

[fordfanjpn]

New owner ! So far I’m really impressed and have a question or 2.
Is the stock tailpiece zink ?
what is the clear coat. ?

I replaced the bridge, thumbwheels, tailpiece and studs with aged nickel Faber parts. I much prefer the look and I like the Faber parts. I have them on all my guitars now. I believe the finish is a matte poly finish. Some people polish it to get more of a gloss, but I like the matte look. Enjoy your new guitar.

 

[Old Crow]

I just checked the bushings and I don’t think they’re steel.
id have to pull the bridge and tailpiece to make sure,
but I don’t think they are steel. Very strange !

 

[rbraad68]

I just checked the bushings and I don’t think they’re steel.
id have to pull the bridge and tailpiece to make sure,
but I don’t think they are steel. Very strange !

If you are talking about your factory bridge pieces bushings and studs they are crap pot metal. the bushing are crap all of it is crap the bridge is zmack only god knows what the tail pieces is made out of. Like the other guy above mentioned I too use faber parts on most all of my guitars.... Farberusa.com check the site out man you can find what you need....

 

[Old Crow]

Thanks man. Didn’t realize it was such crap. I had a few old Lester’s and I just can’t believe how good it sounds though !
Ill get the kit, including bushings. This git is definitely worth it.
8.0 Lbs gorgeous harmonics and sustain.

 

[rbraad68]

It's not crap it's just the same cheap parts they use on all their guitars. The bridge system on your guitar will last you many years. I personally don't like them and use other bridge pieces faber being one of them.. Good luck to you man post pics of your new bridge pieces when you get them...

 

[Jim85IROC]

As rbraad68 said, the stock hardware is fine. I replaced mine with Gotoh because I like the look of nickel, and the aluminum tailpiece saves a few ounces, but I had no such delusions that it was going to change my sound, and it didn't. The stock epi hardware is perfectly serviceable.

 

[Old Crow]

I hear ya Jim. I’m a big nickel fan too, can’t stand chrome.
Im just afraid I’ll loose the excellent sound I now have.
Most LP owners agree on steel bushings too, so I think
changing those is a given.
Ill get the “ full meal deal”. Then if it isn’t to my liking I’ll
swap one piece at a time.
btw, the biggest improvement in my Casino Worn, was
a Callaham steel abr.

 

[FrankClarke]

 

[noodlingguitars]

You're on a roll, but you might want to fix that loose neck pickup

 

[rbraad68]

As rbraad68 said, the stock hardware is fine. I replaced mine with Gotoh because I like the look of nickel, and the aluminum tailpiece saves a few ounces, but I had no such delusions that it was going to change my sound, and it didn't. The stock epi hardware is perfectly serviceable.

So you went with Gotoh bridge pieces? Not a bad choice man and deff cheaper than the tone pro's .. When I do one of my epi's latley I have been using Faber kits. The faber e-serts convert the bridge system over to the ABR set up Gibson uses .For me the e-serts are a must you can always pair them up with any ABR bridge.... Bellow is a pic of me installing the e-serts. This will give you an idea how solid these things fit into your guitar.

 

[FrankClarke]

You're on a roll, but you might want to fix that loose neck pickup

That is hard to understand. Were they smuggling something in the neck pockets?
edit: Oh well...

Anyhoo, someone wanted to see the pocket:

I was looking at the Faber #3060-0 ABRM Bridge “Plus” Gloss Nickel, that would be the only thing I would want to upgrade. It is an excellent guitar, I'm impressed.

 

[heartburn]

just a head's-up as bridge/tailpiece discussions are going on Faber Memorial Day sale, 20% off. It may be a good time to upgrade your Epi's.

Considering pulling the trigger to upgrade my 59, but I just received a new amp yesterday and kind of on wallet-lock at the moment.