No contemporary guitarist has thrust scorching classic blues-rock tone into the 21st century like Joe Bonamassa. Through a fleet of uncompromising solo recordings, guest appearances, and world tours he has proved himself one of the most dynamic guitarists working today, and his iconic Les Paul Goldtop has accompanied him throughout the whirlwind journey.

“For me to be myself,?says Bonamassa, “I have to play a Les Paul. I plug it in and it sounds like me—exactly the way I’m supposed to sound. Anything else just doesn’t make sense.?Now Gibson USA gives fans of Joe’s style and tone the opportunity to acquire an authentic dose for themselves, in the form of the new Joe Bonamassa Les Paul.

The package, limited to 400 guitars, includes a meticulously crafted Les Paul Standard designed in the image of Joe’s own main squeeze, new pickups made to Joe’s specifications by Joe and Seymour Duncan, a pair of Joe’s trademark Tag Hauer? sunglasses, a signed pickguard and 14 CDs from Joe’s impressive discography, along with a Gibson hardshell case and related documentation.

The mahogany-and-maple combination has always been at the cornerstone of the classic Les Paul tone, and the Joe Bonamassa Les Paul from Gibson USA stays true to that tradition. The carved maple top contributes clarity and sustain to the overall brew, while a mahogany body—treated to Gibson’s acclaimed “modern weight relief?to lighten the load and enhance resonance—provides all the depth and sweetness for which this legendary tonewood is known.

Traditional building techniques continue with the glued-in solid mahogany neck with 17-degree back-angled headstock for optimum pressure in the PLEK-cut slots of the Corian? nut. The neck is carved to a sumptuous new asymmetrical 1960 profile for the optimum marriage of comfort and speed, and topped with a one-piece, Grade-A rosewood fingerboard with cream binding and traditional trapezoid inlays. The Joe Bonamassa Les Paul totally looks the part, too, in its classic Goldtop finish with dark ebony sides, back, and neck, all in high-gloss nitrocellulose lacquer, of course.

The package is completed by Joe’s choice of mismatched gold and amber knobs for the bridge and neck pickup controls, a black truss-rod cover hot stamped with Joe’s signature, black pickup rings, and a black five-ply pickguard.

The tone of any great guitar lives or dies by its pickups, and Joe and Seymour Duncan have teamed up to create these new pickups to Joe’s specifications. A TonePros? locking tune-o-matic bridge and tailpiece and a set of Grover? locking tuners ensure solid sustain and faultless intonation and tuning.

In addition to the form-fitting Gibson USA hardshell case, owner’s manual, adjustment literature and truss-rod wrench, the new owner of each one of these 400 limited-edition Joe Bonamassa Les Pauls will be given the number to a special call-in line to secure Joe’s discography, signed pickguard and Tag Hauer sunglasses.