I saw the Lighting Hopkins poster over his shoulder & knew i'd like this guitarist. Good video!

Hi JJ thanks for the info and your take on this guitar. Awesome job and cool style you have developed!

Love that tune from the gig and your slide playing 👍🏼

Great review and demo! Just subscribed

I’m considering this guitar. Thanks for the review.

Excellent video, love how you presented this entire thing

You're a talented guy JJ. What a great review with real world context.

I have the Epi 59 darkburst and it definitely doesnt have a veneer on the back, it also has an obvious two piece body that is however, well book matched.

that color from SWEETWATER and the lemon burst JB are my favorite colors ever

You should have bought the dark burst, I did. I polished the top on mine and now it looks more like an Iced Tea Burst and the flame top really stands out, now (lots of movement). I also swapped out the pickups for a set of Custom Buckers, for a R9 (bought from the Gibson Custom Shop). Now it looks, feels and sounds like my real R9 for 1/4 of the price... as it should. Dare to be different... polish that top, I guarantee that you will love the result... it should tone down the orange and bring out the flame top.

I lucked out in 2009 and got an Epiphone 50th Anniversary 1959 Burst. Those were limited to 1959 guitars, and there was a Gibson version with the same amount being made. Mine came with the Burstbucker 2 and 3 pickups and the same wiring as the Gibson version. Mine cost $1,000 and the Gibson version was $10,000. I have used this guitar a lot through the years and while I have Gibson Les Pauls in my collection, this is one I always KNOW will bring what I need. I no longer play out, and recently found my absolute Les Paul (since I can't afford a real 59) in a 79 Les Paul Custom that weighs in at over 10 pounds. Like you, I think Epiphone guitars with good pickups and wiring are well worth the money and will bring it time after time!! Nice video!!

Nice video. I am in the UK and a store here called Andertons have a similar deal to the Sweetwater one you mentioned with an exclusive (in the UK) Honey/Lemon-burst Epiphone '59 Les Paul. Like you, I watched numerous reviews of the '59 reissues but didn't want the dark-burst or the rather bright cherry-burst all the stores are offering. I picked mine up yesterday and am absolutely delighted by the feel, sound and look of this guitar - amazing value for money. I used to be very anti these Chinese made "copies", but Gibson with these new Epiphones and Fender with th latest Squires really so seem to have nailed putting out well priced, affordable copies of their main USA brand instruments.

Thank you. I enjoyed the honest, workman-like review of your Epi Les Paul custom shop, although not so mad on the orange finish, personal opinion mind. From someone in England across the pond, but deep into guitars, I like your Southern style, the way you come across, plus your music. The fingers and slide technique you play also sounds great, along with the vocal (and the percussion!). I'm a pick and fingers man, but do play acoustic and reso slide. I recently bought a well used Korean early 2000 LP custom and I'm really wowed by it, the incredible burst finish, sound, playability, manufacturing quality, tuners, the lot. As I'm also a bluegrass banjo player the heavy weight doesn't bother me at all, esp when it delivers great sustain the way it does. It just feels quality. TBH, all these years I've never been an LP player (once had a Studio-didn't like the neck and stripped down vibe), more into blackguard and thinline Tele's, but this Epi LP custom has completely swung my opinion. For me a guitar has got to start off looking good to really grab me, like a woman, and this Epi more than does it. How d'you like your Blues Junior/LP combination? Does it break up a little without going too loud, need any compression? I stay mainly clean with just a little compression from a pedal. Cheers.

Good review man. Great playing too. I've got the Epiphone '59 Les Paul from A.M.S. in the Southern Fade finish. Mine has a 2 piece body, no veneer on the back. Maybe it's a Sweetwater thing........

Thsi was a good review, felt very honest. Thanks!

I just bought the Epiphone Les Paul Modern. I wanted the split coil and phase switching but can't justify spending almost $3k on the Gibson version. I played this with my band last night for the first time and really like how it plays and sounds. The guitar came with absolutely no quality issues. Like you I like my guitars set up a certain way which only took me about 20 minutes to do. So far I am very happy with the Epiphone.

nice guitar, sounds good. i've got the 50's model and the 59 should be here tomorrow. alabama mississippi and florida are the golden triangle of the blues.

Great review, sorry you feel so badly about Epiphone making their guitars in China. If you look and find a used Epiphone Joe Bonamassa Lazarus 59 Les Paul Standard, they do come with a 1-piece neck, but everything else is like your new 59. The Lazarus I have is a fantastic guitar, definitely one of my favorite Epiphone Les Paul's I have ever purchased.

Very cool. great playing. great video

Hey love your style man 🤘

Nice playing at the end!

Love this video. Great review. Have you got a guide to your slide playing; I would really like to learn your style of playing. I am bored with using a pick and have loved American Blues since I was a child; now in my 50s. I need some guidance on guitar tuning for slide, and your finger style; what fingers for what strings etc Absolutely great work; video will be saved to my favourites.

I bought the Epiphone Slash Les Paul goldtop that a local store had as used last year. At the time it was a steal of a deal but now, with the prices so high, it was an incredible deal. I swapped the pickups for Gibson Burstbuckers 2 and 3 set that I had. I also reworded the pots in the 50s style wiring. Kept the pots and orange drops that came in it. The guitar is incredible. The neck is the best neck I’ve ever felt on any Epiphone and the back does not have that ugly veneer. I agree with you telling Epiphone to stop that. It’s counterproductive. The build quality is fantastic. The guitar should come with Seymour Duncan Slash pickups but for some ridiculous reason, it doesn’t. HUGE MISTAKE BY EPIPHONE. Charge another $100 and put Slash pickups in the Slash guitar. Great review of the ‘59. I agree those guitars are a great buy and worthy of gigging.

Great video liked and subscribed.

By the way, I just got into all the Possum Records dudes, and they are fantastic! Your style is so great

The fact you have an RL Burnside poster on the way makes me very happy 👍

Now that Epiphone has released a new version of these with a 1pc neck and “open book” head stock are you aiming to do a follow up at some point? Cheers.

Nice quitar, I bought the cherry burst and like everything about it. It is a great guitar and the price isn't going to break the bank.

These are good guitars , if you don't care for what it says on the headstock it works and sounds the same. Made in China don't make a pinch of difference in craftsmanship quality. Price is fair for what it puts out. Nice review.

You showed the secret settings of the Blues Jr.... Master all the way up and adjust the loudness with the volume. Bass ackwrds, I know because the volume is really "gain", adjusting the preamp and the Master the power amp. Another tip is to swap out the 12AX7 tube with a 12AY7 for more overhead before breakup. No more "boxy" tone that you get when you use the Master for how loud it should be. The manual sort of alludes to the counter-intuitive setting and is easily overlooked.

Great job 👍

I now see why you like the 58's so much! I finally got a 2016 Historic R8 Lemonburst VOS and wow! The Neck is killer! People saying these are too fat or thick confuse me? I mean maybe compared to a super strat shred neck the R8 neck may be a bit thick but compared to a R9 it is not that far off? I would say it is thinner than my 57 goldtop neck. Anyway the Custombuckers are stellar and the ring and power of these R8's unplugged is insane! Loud acoustically! Can only imagine what owning one from 1958 would be like!

Cool style and sound man 👍🏼

I Just got a Honey Burst last week. I really like it.

New sub here. Do you get the pickups almost right on the strings to get that chewy tone? I have the 59' dark burst 2020 model, and that's what I do to get that classic les Paul tone . Nice playing 👍 👍

😊there great I have epiphone Les Paul left handed 50s also over 12 years still sounds great

Beautiful looking thing!

Thanks for the video, you showed pictures of yourself playing your expensive Gibson, ya gotta grow them side burns back !!! hehe. Rock the side burns bro ;-) Thanks again for the video.

For an inexpensive Chinese made guitar this gets you remarkably close to that classic 50's LP sound.

I think the colour is great😊👍

I've got the Epiphone "Inspired By Gibson" Les Paul Standard 50's in both Metallic Gold and Sweetwater's Exclusive Lemonburst. Both are stock from the factory and both will hold their own against my Gibson 2014 R8. Epiphone are really making some excellent guitars now.

I picked one of these up about a year ago. It's absolutely fantastic. A whole lot of bang for your buck.

I have 2 gibson vos 58 lea Paul's one with the stock custombuckers and in the other I switched out the custombuckers in the other for a set of Duncan whole lotta humbuckers I had laying around as I found that particular set of CBs to be really scooped in the low mids and they have alot of upper mids and treble so they are very bright and I ended up putting the custombuckers in an epi 59 which is a very bass heavy and low mid heavy guitar so is kind of dark sounding and the upper frequencies were being overpowered and those CBs sound incredible in the epi 59 and brightened it up . I have 3 epi 59s and they sound daln near as good as my 2 58s.

Wow ... Was that a song from Junior Kimbrough that you played live ? You're good on stage , you play the music that I' m crazy for .

holy hell 12's and a medium high action. ive used 11-48 a while but i find my preference is 9-42 lowest action just above fret buzzing out because im a bend heavy playing style so i tailor mine to be easy to bend and not have to fight it but for slide it makes since to have higher action

Anyone else hear Aldo Raine here? Lol Just kidding, mate. Great honest review! I'm considering one of these 59's as well.

I noticed the Danelectro had that old style bridge. Is that an original 50s/60s Danelectro?

I researched into these Epiphone 59's a good bit and found out that although they do indeed use CTS pot's they are not the highest grade ones by CTS. One 1959 owner had his complete harness replaced with a more vintage correct harness and said the Epiphone sounded even better? It would make sense Epiphone would not use the highest cost pots by CTS. Many also seem to need a fret dressing out of the box if one plays with a lower action.

I have the dark cherry burst and it’s killer. There’s no way that they used a veneer on the back. Mine is definitely a two piece mahogany body.

I have the lemon burst Epiphone 1959 Les Paul Standard limited edition with that badge metal over the pickup selector cavity. The body is two peace mahogany an African grade mahogany. There is no veneer on the back the body is book Matched very well. There is a plain Maple top and then there is a triple grade book Matched veneer on the plane Maple top. The neck is two piece with a scarf joint which makes it stronger than the one piece knit at Gibson uses on their vintage instruments and VOS reissues. If you remove the pickups from the guitar you will see the mahogany body the plain Maple cap and the triple grade book Matched veneer and most of all the Deep neck tendon. By the way nice slide playing.

WHAT FENDER AMPS WOULD YOU RECOMMEND FOR THIS GUITAR VERY IMPORTANT TO ME MY FRIEND

Great playing! I'd feel better if these were made in Korea,like some others. Owell, I got the aged lemon burst coz I like it

Nice playing.

Similar story to me, been lugging a v,nice custom shop 2012 but itvstarted getting banged up so I looked for a less pretty and less expensive traveling Guitar, I too have need of a fat neck and after trying almost 50 Guitars I took home a "Gibson, les paul special tribute black" nice fat 50s neck , 2 p90s, lightweight USA made. Changed the bridge for a decent aluminium wrap around and put a treble bleed in the treble pu control. A through a 20watt Fender deluxe and it can get any sound needed. Never ever let me down in 4 years. I feel the same, I just want the real thing even if is a "Stripped down" no frills plank designed for students. Love that Gibson made those "Tributes". With decent padded gigbag £800 GBP. Bargain, just change the bridge and its as close as you will get to a 50s for a real world price and sounds very different to the copies, even the expensive Epiphones. Thankyou ideas Person at Gibson.

I ordered 2 Bonamassa Lazarus 59 LP Standard and 2 of the of the Satin regular Epiphone 59’s Epi’s one tabacco burst and the Limited Aged cherry burst. My 2 Lazarus were perfect as far as the Maple wide Flame but couldn’t hold a candle to the Regular other 2 which were basically the exact same guitars. I couldn’t believe both the Lazarus were just not even close as far as playability,build,and neck. I wanted the Lazarus LP’s really bad for looks and collecting. I had to give both Lazarus guitars back and the Epiphone 59’s both were beyond perfect and kept them both. I think they may of pushed out the Lazarus to quickly to meet demand and a lot of us got a Lemon or 2. Put real Klusons on the Reg 59’s and they are right there with my many Gibson LP’s. I find myself playing the Epiphone’s which surprises me still. Just feels better. Indonesia could pull off these guitars and leave the China era behind. It bothers me even-loving the guitars. My Lee Malia LP came from Indonesia and wow that came perfect. Ordered a second and no luck. Still rather take off Indonesia sticker.

The flame maple veener top is REAL wood...Its a thin cut taken from selecr pieces of flame maple and heat and pressure glued onto a plain maple cap. It is cost reducing while giving the aesthetics of flammed maple because it IS. Also, the back on thise guitars is plain mahogany with no ribbon mahogany veneer over it. Two piece and three piece bodies are irrelevant in function. One is neither better or worse than the other tangibly. These are fantastic guitars at a great price. Great review no less !!!

Sounds good for Duane Allman/Dickey Betts tones!

Your the first review to say it has a veneer on the back, most I have seen said the body was two pieces.

Those don’t have a veneer back. It does have the top veneer. I have three and they all have a two piece back. The normal epiphone Les Paul’s do have a veneer back though

Are there big differences between this and the epiphone 50s les paul standard?

I have 3 epj 59s and none of mine have a mahagony veneer on the back. All 3 have a 2 piece mahagony back none of these guitars are supposed to have a veneer on the back .

I have four guitars all left handed last guitar I bought was epiphone acoustic the guitar before that was a gretsch streamliner the only guitar I have left from the four is a Ventura Barney Kessel that guitar is right handed I have my strings set up left handed that guitar needs new pickups I been singing and playing over 50 years I know how to fix them also

Definitely NO veneer on the back. It's solid mahogany in 2 pieces & very well matched.

59 came in and I love it. same color from sweetwater. both the 59 and 50's play better than any gibson I've ever owned at 1/4 the price. gibson needs to get inthe game.

the Epi '59's don't have a veneer on the back. Most are two piece bodies.

IF your ever in the clarksdale Mississippi area hollar at me.

Interested: what’s your beef with China?

What color is that?

Played most the video at 2 x speed and for the most part it was better.

If anyone doesn't want to buy a guitar made in China take a look at the Gibson Tribute. The Tribute has a 50's style neck, equipped with 490R & 490T which I think sound great.

Look more closely, brother; that's a two piece body, no veneer covering on back.

You Play blues and Cajun.

Just got my aged honey burst in today. I have to say yours is very dark orange which would annoy me as well and is very noticeable outside.

Love mine....and totally agree with the China thing.

Fake sounds a little harsh. I refer to Gibson's as grossly overpriced Epiphones. I've owned both for years and have found Epiphones more consistently playable. Of course I'm referring to the non custom shop variety of Gibson as I have never owned one.

100% agreed, heck id even pay 200 more for it to be made anywhere else other than china. Guitars are works of art as well as tools and I want my artwork to come from a country that isn't modern day Nazi Germay. I wanna feel proud of my instruments and I just can't feel proud of one if it came from a country that is responsible for 5 million deaths and counting, amidst so many other crimes.

You have a thousand items in your house/apartment right now . 975 of them are made in China . 🤷‍♂

People complain about guitars made in China as they're driving to Walmart to pick up a new microwave which was made in china. I'm sorry but I just don't get it.

Methinks someone should read the specs... 🤔🤔🤔

Blablabla

Get the Real Gibson

Excuse me while I laugh haha haha ha this guitar is a joke.

LOL Save up for the real thing. Gibson. There is no substitute.

Stop complaining about China when you buy their product. Go spend the extra 2000 bucks on domestic product. Or buy an old Korean made and mod it. Still be cheaper.

You're wrong about the veneer on the back. They are 2 piece mahogany back. That's one of the specs that make it an upgrade from the 50s std.

Epiphone have really stepped it up, at this point Gibson seems to be more of a collectors brand than anything else, I have a Gibson Les Paul tribute and a recent Epi joe bonamassa 59 and the epi really is a better guitar, I’ll always love the Gibson since it was my first guitar but I can’t deny the fact that why would you ever spend 2k+ on a Gibson when Epiphone can be had for a third of the price