NGD - Joe Bonamassa '58 Black Beauty

[CB91710]

She's here.
9 pounds.
Will get the neck measurements next weekend when I change the strings and do a setup after she acclimates.

Plugged it into my Fly-3, sound from the pickups has a consistent volume in all positions, except for a slight drop in the bridge/middle OOP position.
As others have observed, the volume goes from 0-10 all within the 7-10 range on the knobs... A bit annoying at bedroom volume, but I think it would probably be fine blasting through a tube amp, and offer a good amount of control with the gain backed off.
The OOP tone is growing on me.

Overall impressions:

The case is OK. It seems solid, but it's not as "puffy" as my Gibson cases. The covering is basic vinyl, with plastic banding.
The interior is nice, but there is only one neck support, at the body end.
One of the latches is locking.
There's absolutely nothing wrong with the case... but it's not the same quality that you get with Gibson USA.

The guitar actually arrived pretty close to being in tune... it was just a hair sharp. Plays nice... fat neck, will wait a few days for it to acclimate and then do a setup and change strings to my usual DR 9-46 set, but the setup is not bad at all.
The nut slots are a little deep, with the strings completely buried.

Weight on mine is 9lbs.

 

[shupe13]

Congrats homie!!

 

[CRobbins]

Congrats.

 

[smk506]

Very cool! I thought these just got announced, didn’t realize they were released yet.

Any info on the tuners? Love the way the housing looks and the button shape is definitely unique. They kind of remind me of some of the old Italian tuners from the 60’s/70’s

 

[CB91710]

Very cool! I thought these just got announced, didn’t realize they were released yet.

Any info on the tuners? Love the way the housing looks and the button shape is definitely unique. They kind of remind me of some of the old Italian tuners from the 60’s/70’s

They actually announced much earlier in the year, but it seems that people have been preoccupied
Last month, when Mark Agnesi interviewed Joe at his TN condo, Joe played the '58, and mentioned that Epiphone had done a great job on the reproduction... That kinda' resparked interest... obviously carefully timed by Gibson and Joe to have that video hit YT shortly before the release, which also coincides with his new "Royal Tea" album.

I bought a Royal Tea pick tin and lapel pin and dropped them in the case with the COA.

The tuners are nice. The low-E is a little stiff, but overall they feel smooth and work well.
As mentioned, this is a repro of Joe's '58, which was fitted with these tuners from the factory... Giben apparently had no problem subbing parts when short on inventory. These "tulip" tuners were generally found on jazz boxes.

 

[smk506]

Very cool!

They were out of the regular open gear tuners in Kalamazoo the day they made my Olympic special in 1965.

Finding the short lived ‘butterfly plate’ replacements at less than 1/2 what I have in the guitar has been fun but fruitless. Maybe I should sell a couple million albums and get epiphone to reissue them

 

[rjwilson37]

Congrats, very nice!

How was the setup right out of the box?

 

[dc007]

Beautiful guitar. Demo I heard sounded great. Of course Joe B was playing it.

I do see what you mean about those nut slots. I would get those fixed.
Enjoy!!!

 

[Sp8ctre]

Congrats! I love mine, no issues at all other than the B string coming unwound off the post. They didn't use the lock method of stringing...

 

[CB91710]

Congrats, very nice!

How was the setup right out of the box?

Setup is decent. Probably have a little over 45 minutes on her and I'm very happy.
I'll go over everything to see how far I can push it, but right now, I don't feel that anything *needs* to be changed.... other than the strings.
And honestly, these don't really feel like 10s, but I've just been noodling with chording and some Kashmir in DADGAD to see if there are any rattles or if it dislikes dropped tuning.
So far, so good.

I did pop the strings out of the nut and take neck measurements:
1st Fret = 0.885
12th Fret = 1.018
Fret height = 0.440"

Comparison on the rest of my Gibby's:

2020 SG Standard - Depth @ 1st 0.8500", depth @ 12th 0.9875"
2019 LP Standard '60s - Depth @ 1st 0.8055", depth @ 12th 0.8970"
2019 Flying V - Depth @ 1st 0.8115", depth @ 12th 0.8605"

 

[rjwilson37]

Yep, kind of funny... but they don't feel like 10's to me either.

 

[Standard 64]

Congrats!

 

[gibsonofabitch]

I did pop the strings out of the nut and take neck measurements:
1st Fret = 0.885
12th Fret = 1.018
Fret height = 0.440"

Comparison on the rest of my Gibby's:

2020 SG Standard - Depth @ 1st 0.8500", depth @ 12th 0.9875"
2019 LP Standard '60s - Depth @ 1st 0.8055", depth @ 12th 0.8970"
2019 Flying V - Depth @ 1st 0.8115", depth @ 12th 0.8605"

YES! thank you! Just for your consideration: https://www.mylespaul.com/threads/1st-fret-neck-depth-a-neck-thickness-thread.446208/#post-9703120

 

[Torshalla]

Congrats! Looks like a grear guitar!

 

[christopherJ]

Although I have not measured the neck, my example is just like what is posted here. Maybe I will get out the calipers and contour gauge today.

I am very happy with my purchase!

 

[christopherJ]

Love that Joe B video. When talking about why he likes the 60's LP's and the short neck tenon vs 59's,

"They trend to be biters, not moaners"

Classic

 

[musicmaniac]

Cool congrats!

 

[pondcaster]

Wow, that's simply one of the classiest looking guitars I've ever seen.

If it plays two-thirds as nice as it looks it's a straight up winner.

Congratulations!

 

[CB91710]

Wow, that's simply one of the classiest looking guitars I've ever seen.

If it plays two-thirds as nice as it looks it's a straight up winner.

Congratulations!

Very very happy with it.

The neck profile is interesting. Though it is a hair thicker than my 2020 SG, it feels thinner. It's more of a "D" profile than a "C", the SG is a bit more comfortable.
I don't dislike this neck... it's simply different. My preference trends toward the Clapton type deep-V, so I like it a bit thicker, but more narrow near the edges.

 

[2Muchgear]

Nice! Congrats -

acclimated? Call me crazy, but unless it’s a Sahara to Tundra transfer, it’s already acclimated!