NGD - Epiphone Les Paul Custom Joe Bonamassa Black Beauty

[cerasgrgag]

There is another shipment coming in Jan 2021 to Andertons UK, I guess that is the last batch they got? Anyone know how many of these that would get made in a given year? A few hundred maybe? It's not like they simple enough to make thousands.

 

[rjwilson37]

Wow, it didn't say limited run or anything like that. I know the Joe Bonamassa signature on the fretboard ones were limited, but I thought the block inlay ones would be available for a while. So glad I got one. I will definitely have to make sure I keep the tuning keys safe somewhere when I take them off.

 

[rjwilson37]

Boy, I can tell you this guitar is a joy to play, very smooth with a great feel to it. I like it just as much as my Gibson Custom, which is very smooth with a great feel. They both feel really close to one another, even though the price between them is huge.

Way to go Epiphone, you knocked it out of the park with this one.

 

[DeafDumbBlind Kid]

I would bet that any further shipments are from orders taken now, and will probably be the last of them. I won't be surprised if they stop making them by the end of the year.

 

[rjwilson37]

Sweetwater took it down from there site, you can only find the information page by a web search for the guitar and the Sweetwater link shows up telling you it is no longer available and that the page is still available only for informational purposes.

You can pre-order still from GC and MusicZoo, but that's about it. I wonder what's going on?

 

[cain]

I ordered one from the JB site a couple weeks ago and just got tracking, it will be here this weekend. I’m cautiously optimistic!

 

[rjwilson37]

The Hipshot Grip-Lock Gold Keystone tuners came, I ended up screwing them in, because they are a little bit short and using the brackets made them a little bit to short for my liking. Plus... using the brackets so you don't have to screw into the wood, the tuners are not as straight as I would like them to be. I lined them up nicely and screwed them in, oh well, so I can see the screw holes from the tuners that it came with. I never look back there anyway. Love these Hipshot locking tuners, they work really well.

 

[tonyj]

I am so happy as I wake up this morning, having picked my own JB Black Beauty yesterday afternoon.

She really is quite the guitar, and apart from the scare of reading that the guitar was now no longer available I am so happy to have ordered one when I did.

This guitar is a keeper, and will join a small group of other Epiphone guitars that I own including a recently acquired fifties LP Standard, another superb and ' inspired by Gibson' offering from the Epiphone people. They join my Elitist Casino, and a '57 Epi Korina LP Junior; all guitars that are better than average IMHO.

I also have a 2009 Epi Custom Shop Black Beauty that was my very first guitar purchase here in Canada. For obvious reasons, other than sentimentality, this one is another keeper.

 

[DeafDumbBlind Kid]

Congrats @tonyj

 

[Phatal]

Hey everyone. New to this forum. Just received the Bonamassa Epiphone Black Beauty. Purchased from the Joe Bonamassa Store.
Overall I really like it. It's a well made Epiphone. I have a question about the volume pots. When I have the toggle in the Treble position I expect only the lower volume pot to control the volume (bridge pickup only). However, if I turn the top volume pot (neck) all the way down to 0 I lose all volume. It seems it also has control over the volume and thus the tone of the guitar when the toggle is in the Treble position.
Putting the toggle in the Rhythm position works as I expected and the lower volume pot doesn't cut out the volume when set to 0.

Is this how yours are working or is my wiring messed up?

Thanks!

 

[questionman]

When did you order yours from Sweetwater?

I ordered mine 3 weeks ago, got the notice and everything, heard from my sales guy then all the sudden nothing. I am assuming its a first come first serve basis and seeing that it went out of stock a day or 2 after I ordered it probably means I was one of the last people to get one

 

[rjwilson37]

I got mine the next week, I ordered on Thursday the 8th when they came in and it shipped out late Friday. It didn't really leave Sweetwater until Monday and I got it on Wednesday via Fedex.

 

[DeafDumbBlind Kid]

@questionman, did you ever get your JB Black Beauty?

 

[questionman]

@questionman, did you ever get your JB Black Beauty?

Nope, not a single word from SW since I placed the order

 

[cain]

Mine got here yesterday from the JB store. Came in crazy big box with an small Epiphone guitar box inside. It’s a much better guitar than I was expecting. Frets are great, no issues at all with them. Had to file the nut slots quite a bit though. Cranked through a good amp it sounds pretty good. I’m sure the pickups can be improved upon though.
The bridge and tailpiece are pretty weird. I hate that they drill those huge holes for that bridge with the big lip over the bushing. I use .011’s so I looked around for a backup bridge that will fit as I’m thinking this one my give after a short while. Found these Epiphone bridge and tailpiece sets with the bushings included for less than $14. Crazy cheap, makes me wonder what they‘re made of.
All this said, I dig the guitar and will hang on to it. The wiring on mine actually looked a bit better than most of the pics I’ve seen poster. The wires were mostly trimmed to reasonable length and not all over the cavity.
Next string change I’ll try better pickups, rewire the whole thing and see if I can fit a tailpiece that isn’t made pot metal on it. It’s an awesome project guitar at a ridiculous price.

 

[DeafDumbBlind Kid]

I ordered mine from MF on the 11th around 7 PM, got a confirmation. 8:45 I went to the site to get their pictures and saw the notice they were out of stock. It was delivered on the 15th.

 

[Sp8ctre]

Good video here of this new BB, not me...

 

[rjwilson37]

Still Love the guitar, she plays/feels and sounds great. She replaced the spot on my wall for the Gibson Custom right now, and I am not sure if I am going to keep the Gibson Custom or not. Anyway, she is still heavy compared to my Gibson Studio HP, which is super light compared to the Epiphone Custom.

 

[Bluesky]

I just played one of these the other day......and I was kind of blown away by the fit /finish/ quality control. Killer neck......binding aging was spot on. Great guitar for not the money........just a great guitar period!! Its on my future want list for sure. Epi keeps this up WHY buy Gibson? Congrats.

 

[JayPDizzle]

Mine is due next week. I'm hoping to be able to tune it down to E flat and have a blues machine. I'll probably make a post comparing it to my 2019 Standard '50s. I also have an 05 Epi Custom which is in with my tech getting a full refrett, custom wound pickups here in Belfast and a setup. It will be cool to compare them all.