Sometimes Joe Bonamassa’s gear purchases make headlines. Remember his successful 15-year mission to track down and buy Lowell George's Dumble Overdrive Special? How about the time he held a séance with the late Tommy Bolin seeking permission to take ownership of his Les Paul?
Here's a much lower-profile purchase of his that you may not know about: his mint-condition Royal Albert Gibson Les Paul. The guitar came under Bonamassa's care after it spent half a century collecting dust beneath a staircase. Discovered by Mike Long at ATB Guitars, the axe has become one of Bonamassa's most cherished and intriguing buys.
And as you might expect; he's been playing the hell out of it.
“The story was that the [original owner] saw Cream in 1967, and wanted a Les Paul,” Bonamassa explains. “He found one for sale in the classified section of Melody Maker and bought it for about £50.”
It stayed with its owner for the rest of his life and upon his death went to his family. As it happened, they inherited quite the heirloom.
“Hs family brought it to Mike thinking it could be worth as much as £5,000 [about $6,800]. He was the one to tell them that, ‘No, it’s actually worth more than that.’
“It’s an early 1960, what they call a double-O because it still has the fat neck and the long neck tenon, like a ’59,” Bonamassa explains. “But they were made in 1960, and, generally, in that era, you see double whites and zebras [pickup bobbins]." Gibson had run out of black plastic in 1959, resulting in some guitars with two white bobbins and others with a mix of black and white, or "zebra.”
"So it makes sense,” Bonamassa says.
A 1960 Les Paul in such a pristine state meant the owner’s family was sitting on a goldmine.
But what really makes it rare is a modification that — unlike most — has increased its value.
As Bonamassa explains, the mod — an additional switch that's now disconnected — left him scratching his head.
“It was probably a phase switch, because they ran the wires through the pickup ring into the channel route and then to a volume pot,” he guesses, believing it could have been employed to channel the tonal quirks of Peter Green.
“I don’t think they knew what [a coil-tap] was back then,” he says with a laugh. “But it’s the original pickguard, and that switch has been on there for a long time. You can tell that.”
Astute readers may be left questioning the timeline at play here. If it was bought in 1967 and left neglected for 50 years after, the owner likely didn’t get much time to strum this six-string. Bonamassa reveals that Mike Long had come across it in 2022, some 55 years after its owner purchased it.
There are conflicting reports, it must be added, that the electric guitar faced a 25-year exile — half the figure bandied about by Bonamassa — which makes for a more convincing timeline.
But the essence of the story remains the same, and even if it had been hidden away for just five years, it’s a rare, exciting find.
I don’t think they knew what a coil-tap was back then
Joe Bonamassa
When the guitar was brought to Long in 2022, he quickly met up with Bonamassa backstage at London’s Royal Albert Hall, where he played two nights in early May. After casting his gaze upon the quirky guitar, he snapped it up for a reported $190,000. Since then, it has, quite understandably, become one of JoBo’s most-prized and most-played Les Pauls.
It has, however, gone under the scalpel. The Bigsby was replaced with a more traditional TOM-style bridge, no doubt strung "the Jimmy Page" way, and he’s opted for some period-sensitive zebra humbuckers for good measure.
Yet, right now, Les Pauls are likely to be one of the last guitars on Bonamassa's mind. He’s currently in Ireland on the eve of three Rory Gallagher tribute shows in the late guitar hero’s hometown of Cork.
He may have called the shows “the biggest challenge of my musical life,” but he’s managed to sneak in some sightseeing – and gear buying – along the way. He’s visited the store where Rory Gallagher bought his $1.16 million Strat in 1963. He walked out with a sunburst Strat of his own, and he may yet play it while honoring Gallagher’s superlative talents. Time will tell.
