The blues rock titan’s latest Epi model is an impressively spec’d, highly affordable offering
JoBo keepsonrolling with new product, and now the electric guitarist – who you just ranked the best blues guitarist in the world today – has collaborated with Epiphone on the limited-edition Joe Bonamassa 1960 Les Paul Standard 'Norm Burst', his seventh (yes, seventh) model with the company.
Designed after the pristine 1960 Les Paul that Bonamassa discovered at Norman’s Rare Guitars in Tarzana, California, the 'Norm Burst' boasts a mahogany body with a maple cap AA flame veneer and a special 'Norm Burst' finish, a Sixties Slim Taper mahogany neck and an Indian laurel fingerboard.
Said Bonamassa about the original guitar, “Norm took ownership of it in the 1980s and his staff nicknamed it the ‘Norm Burst.’ It’s the cleanest vintage Les Paul Standard I’ve ever seen. It’s so new that the nickel pickup covers look chrome. Even the original hang tags were still there.
“Acoustically, the first sample that Epiphone sent me sounded like the original. Once again, Epiphone has made a great guitar that I’m proud to have my name on.”
Other features on the 'Norm Burst' include ProBucker humbuckers with '50s-style wiring, a Lock Tone stop bar tailpiece and Lock Tone ABR bridge and Epiphone Deluxe Tulip Key tuners.
Additionally, there’s a Joe Bonamassa signature in gold silkscreen on the back of the headstock, and the guitar comes in a 'Lifton'-style case.
The Epiphone Joe Bonamassa 1960 Les Paul Standard 'Norm Burst' is available at authorized Epiphone dealers worldwide for $699, with a limited-edition signature inlay version ($799) for sale exclusively at Bonamassa’s official store.
Get The Pick Newsletter
All the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!
Rich is the co-author of the best-selling Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion. He is also a recording and performing musician, and a former editor of Guitar World magazine and executive editor of Guitar Aficionado magazine. He has authored several additional books, among them Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, the companion to the documentary of the same name.