Fifty years later, and just weeks after the death of the man from whom it takes its name, only 1959 of these limited edition guitars are available to buy. The Epiphone 1959 Les Paul Standard Limited Edition features an authentic 1950s rounded neck profile. Nick-named ‘the baseball bat’ this neck, according to Epiphone ‘feels beefy yet comfortable in your hands while adding warmth and sustain with it’s greater mass.’

The solid mahogany neck is hand-fitted to the body with a deep-set long neck tenon which ‘extends well into the neck pickup cavity creating even more tone and sustain.’ The body itself is solid mahogany, with a carved hard maple cap and AAA grade flame maple veneer on top. One look at the pictures and you can see just what a stunning guitar this is.

The Gibson BurstBucker pick-ups have unpolished magnets and non-potted coils and are designed to recreate the sound of the Gibson humbucker pick-ups on the orginal ‘59 Les Paul. Those pick-ups had coils with a different number of turns which gave the sound more ‘bite.’

There’s a Switchcraft toggle switch, Mallory-150 tone capacitors with metal pointers, nickel hardware, and a blank trussrod cover. The serial number is stamped on the back of the headstock.

The Epiphone 1959 Les Paul Limited Edition comes with a replica brown Lifton-style case with pink interior and a certificate of authenticity. It’s available in two finishes; Faded Cherryburst and Faded Iced Tea.

Here are some tributes:

Joe Satriani: ‘Les Paul set a standard for musicianship and innovation that remains unsurpassed.’

Slash: ‘Les Paul was a shining example of how full one’s life can be. He was so vibrant and full of positive energy. I’m honoured and humbled to have known and played with him over the years.’

Joan Jett: ‘He was a genius inventor, musical innovator and a wonderful person. Without the advances he pioneered, the recording sciences and the electric guitar would have been left years behind. I will miss him so much.’

Billy Gibbons: ‘Les Paul was an innovator, a groundbreaker, a risk taker, a mentor and a friend. Try to imagine what we’d be doing if he hadn’t come along and changed the world. There will always be more Les to come. That’s certified.’

Commenting on claims in a book written by former Hendrix roadie, James ‘Tappy’ Wright, that Hendrix had been murdered on the orders of his manager, Mike Jeffrey, Dr John Bannister said that ‘medical evidence was consistent with claims in a book that Hendrix was killed on the orders of his manager.’

Mysteriouser and mysteriouser.

(Via The Times.)

Three things strike me about this claim:

1. Wright has a book to sell and nothing sells books like a controversial claim about a well-known and much-loved figure, particularly when it involves a conspiracy theory about that person’s death.

2. Jeffrey is dead and therefore can’t defend himself or be libelled.

3. Hendrix’s death has, despite the official verdict that he choked on his own vomit after consuming alcohol and barbituates, long been shrouded in mystery.

Seems to me that if this were true, Wright would have mentioned it before now. He could have made a fortune by writing on it and appearing on TV shows to talk about it, yet he chose to wait nearly 40 years before telling anyone. It may be true, but I have my doubts.

If you’re interested in reading Wright’s book, you can find it on Amazon by clicking the book picture below.

In the clip below, Joe discusses his slide technique and how corny eighties movie Crossroads, and specifically the Ry Cooder soundtrack piqued his interest in slide guitar. Watch as Joe discusses his slide technique:

Also present and correct are the ubiquitous humbuckers, chrome bridge and stopbar tailpiece, and trapezoid fretboard inlays. The set mahogany neck, rosewood fretboard, and mahogany body are all authentic Les Paul.

The Epiphone Les Paul Standard Plus Top is available in Honey Burst, Heritage Cherry Sunburst, Trans Amber, Trans Blue, and Vintage Sunburst. And there’s a left-handed model.

In 2008, Epiphone released the Slash Les Paul Standard Plus Top, a special edition which had features specified by Slash himself, such as a long tenon neck and LockTone stopbar.

Reviewing the original Epiphone Les Paul Standard Plus Top back in 2004, Maximum Guitar Magazine’s Nick Bowcott said “Ultimately, what we have here is a well-made, eye-catching instrument that plays like a dream, sounds as good as it looks and wont drain your bank account. If you’re looking for a Les Paul but don’t have the funds, this affordable Epiphone axe is highly recommended.”

If you’re interested in purchasing an one of these great guitars, you can find them here on Amazon.

The 1962 Wilshire Custom Historic USA is based on the 162 Wilshire SB-432 and comes in Cherry Red. It has a Peruvian Mahogany body and glued-in set neck. Its rosewood fretboard has 22 frets with pearloid dot inlays, and the headstock is set at 17 degrees with three Vintage Kluson machine heads on each side.

The pick-ups are soapbar P-90s with adjustable pole pieces and there’s a three-way selector switch with volume and tone controls for each pick-up.

Only 100 of these special issue WIlshires will be made and each includes an original style hard case, cerstificate of authenticity, vintage coiled guitar lead, a 1962-leather strap and commerative picks and a t-shirt.

The 1962 Wilshire is very different to later models, such as the one on which this Wilshire was based, which had humbuckers and a ‘bat wing’ headstock.

Jimi Hendrix and Roger Daltrey are among the musicians to have played original Epiphone Wilshire models.

As its name suggests, the Riviera P93 features three ‘dog-ear’ single coil P-90 pick-ups. It also has a gorgeous Bigsby trem and tailpiece. The Bigsby, along with the polyurethane finish and gold hardware make this one good-looking guitar.

The Riviera P93 has a laminated maple body and top, glued-in mahogany neck with rosewood fretboard and trapezoid inlays. The Tune-O-Matic bridge complements the Bigsby perfectly.

In addition the, head features Grover tuners and the body, a 3-way pick-up slector and tone and volume controls for the neck and bridge pick-ups.

While the P-90s give that extra crunch for rockabilly and blues, the Riviera P93 is also very well-suited to jazz, and the Bigsby makes it perfect for country playing.

Reviews so far seem to be very positive. Over on Guitar Center, cguitarist929 said ‘This guitar is AMAZING for the price! My brother just got it yesterday and I never thought epiphone would make such a nice guitar. This guitar has a thick warm tone on clean, great for blues. But when distorted, it can play from classic rock to punk.‘

And on the Musicians Friend, Sgtpeppere64 said ‘It’s got that woody tone that threatens to retire my Fender 72 deluxe,American Mahogany HSS,Variax 700 and Nashville Tele. I road tested it for days, on a Vox DA5 practice amp, and was mesmerized!! I don’t know how to describe the experience thru my Mesa Boogie!‘

The Joe Pass Emperor features a distinctive trapeze tailpiece, twin humbuckers, and a laminated maple body with spruce top. All the hardware, including tailpiece and pick-up covers is gold. The 3-piece set maple neck has a rosewood fretboard with block inlays, and the tortoiseshell pickguard has a reproduction of Joe Pass’ signature. The guitar is available in antique natural or vintage sunburst.

According to Wikipedia “Joe Pass previously had a relationship with the Ibanez guitar company, but in the late 1990’s Epiphone released the Emperor II, claiming Pass had a hand in the design of the guitar. Epiphone had previously issued the guitar as just the Emperor and with Pass’s endorsement some subtle changes to the guitar were made (such as moving the pickup selector switch). While Pass endorsed the Epiphone he was more commonly seen with a Gibson ES-175?

It’s certainly true that Pass was more often seen playing an ES-175, but the Joe Pass Emperor has more in common with the Epiphone Broadway than it does with the other Emperor in Epiphone’s range, the Emperor Regent, which features a single mini-Humbucker. Both the Broadway and the Emperor Regent have Frequensator tailpieces, while the Joe Pass Empereror 2 has a trapeze tailpiece, similar to the one on the Nick Valensi Rivieria P94.

In the words of one proud owner the Joe Pass Emperor II is a “warm, smooth and silky affordable Archtop that delivers rich, smokey tones from jazz to blues.”

Click here to shop for Joe Pass Emperor II guitars on Amazon.

MF describes the new Wilshire as ‘Perfect for anyone who wants to stand out or already has an SG and LP’

It has a Mahogany set neck, Alnico humbuckers, solid mahogany body, and is finished in white. The Wilshire also has a rosewood fretboard with block inlays, chrome hardware, ‘bat wing’ headstock, and inline Grover Mini-Rotomatic tuners.

The chrome bridge and stop tailpiece complete the look and there’s a pick-up selector and volume and tone controls for each of the humbuckers.

The original Wilshire was made between 1959 and 1970 and originally featured two P-90 pick-ups and dot inlays, along with a Tune-o-matic bridge and stop tailpiece. In 1962, the P-90s were replaced with mini-humbuckers.

Checkout the Epiphone Limited Edition Wilshire Pro Electric Guitar Alpine White at Amazon.com.