Joe Bonamassa shows off "Lazarus"

Joe Bonamassa shows off "Lazarus"

A historic piece of art resurrected

In November 2019, the guitar legend (and collector) Joe Bonamassa got his hands on a historic '59 Gibson Les Paul Standard - The "Holy Grail" of Les Pauls according to many. There was something awkward about this guitar though. The previous owner apparently didn't like the factory sunburst and decided to do a refinish and had the beautiful burst painted "Candy Apple Red".

Of course, back in the days, this Les Paul was just another guitar, so painting it would not have been considered strange by anyone. Besides, even Eric Clapton and George Harrison once owned a refinished red Les Paul ("Lucy"), which was originally a goldtop that got its red refinish at the Gibson factory by the previous owner Rick Derringer. Lucy was used to record Clapton's main solo in the legendary song "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", so this might have inspired the owner to start spraying their own Les Paul.

Joe didn't say where he picked up this guitar, but he is famous for his so called "Guitar Safaris", where he would walk into a guitar store, ask for vintage guitars and amps, and walk out the door with 3-4 cases in his hands 15 minutes later. I would not be surprised if he stumbled upon "Lazarus" this way. He does mention the guitar having been in the same family since 1963, indicating it has not had many owners. Also, Joe says the guitar was 99% original, with only the switch tip and poker chip that have ever been replaced.

Joe posted photos of the guitar to his Instagram asking his followers "Ok all you vintage Les Paul experts.. Tell me what you see here..". Many were clueless, some though it was a Les Paul Studio, few recognized it as being a '59 with a repaint. It looks like Joe initially took the guitar to Neely guitars in Los Angeles to have it restored, who posted pictures of a red Les Paul restoration job on their Instagram. Although Joe is not mentioned in their post, it looks like they decided to outsource the job to Historic Makeovers, a company specialized in restoring historic guitars. While they were working their magic on the guitar, Joe regularly posted some pics to his Instagram to show the progress to his followers.

As always, Joe had to come up with an appropriate name for this new asset, first referred to the guitar as "The Red Redemption Burst" aka "The Red Thing" in another Instagram post. Someone in the comments then says "that is breath taking almost biblical" (damiantiedye), maybe already setting the stage for a different name. In a following post about the guitar Joe calls the guitar "The Red Redemption" again, but then 1 day later, after stringing it suddenly posts: " “Lazarus” has strings and has risen!" - named after the man that was resurrected from the dead by Jesus Christ - "Lazarus". A very striking name if you ask us! Joe took the guitar with him to record his new album at Abbey Road studios, so if you want to hear what the guitar sounds like - the album "Royal Tead" will be released October this year (2020). Two songs of the album have been released already: "When One Door Opens" and "Why Does It Take So Long To Say Goodbye".

September 2021 update

Joe recently posted a story on Instagram that indicated he will be talking about Lazarus in an interview with Guitar World, more info will follow soon...

Instagram posts

Neely guitars posting about a red '59 Les Paul restoration project in November 2019:

Joe Bonamassa's first post about the guitar in December 2019:

Joe reporting the on restoration progress in January 2020:

Joe initially naming the guitar "The Red Redemption Burst":

Historic Makeovers posting about the guitar's restoration in January 2020:

Lazarus at Abbey Road studios for the recording the album "Royal Tea":

Joe playing Lazarus on Valentines Day 2020:

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