Gibson Les Paul Junior Billy Joe Armstrong Signature (Vintage Sunburst)

The Billie Joe Armstrong Les Paul Junior combines the best features of a vintage Junior with some modern twists.

Gibson is proud to introduce the Billie Joe Armstrong Les Paul Junior. Designed in close cooperation with Billie Joe, the signature guitar is modeled closely after “Floyd,” Billie Joe’s original 1956 Les Paul Junior. With a solid mahogany body and neck and nickel hardware, the Billie Joe Armstrong Les Paul Junior combines the best features of a vintage Junior with some modern twists.

Special H-90 Pickup

Gibson’s H-90 stacked double coil pickup is the result of a close collaboration with Billie Joe Armstrong. It offers the snarl and punch of a classic, vintage P-90, but with none of the 60-cycle hum that usually plagues traditional singlecoil pickups. This was accomplished by simply taking two singlecoils and stacking them on top of each other, resulting in the hum cancellation effect that occurs in a regular humbucker. With a few adjustments, Gibson’s engineers were then able to secure the vintage sonic characteristics of the singlecoil, making the H-90 another example of Gibson’s drive to stay one step ahead.

’60s Slim-Taper Neck Profile

No guitar neck profiles are more distinguishable than the neck profiles employed on the Gibson models of today. The ’60s neck profile on the Billie Joe Armstrong Signature Les Paul Junior is the more modern, slim-tapered neck most commonly associated with the Les Paul and SG models of the early 1960s. As with all Gibson necks, it is machined in Gibson’s rough mill using wood shapers to make the initial cuts. Once the rosewood fingerboard gets glued on, the rest—including the final sanding—is done by hand. That means there are no two necks with the exact same dimensions. So while it still has the basic characteristics of the ’60s slim-taper profile, each neck will be slightly different, with a distinct but traditional feel.

Solid Mahogany Body and Set-Neck Construction

Two of the most central features of the Billie Joe Armstrong Signature Les Paul Junior are its solid mahogany body, and its set-neck construction, or glued neck joint. Like the majority of Gibson’s classic guitars, the neck of the Billie Joe Armstrong Signature Les Paul Junior is set into the body’s neck cavity using glue, which ensures a “wood-to-wood” contact, no air space in the neck cavity, and maximum contact between the neck and the body, thus allowing the neck and body to function as a single unit. The result? Better tone, better sustain, and no loose or misaligned necks. As with all Gibson woods, the regimen involved in selecting the right body wood and the formula to dry it out is extensive. First, the wood is personally inspected and qualified by Gibson’s team of skilled wood experts before it enters the Gibson factories. These onsite inspectors also ensure that the plain maple comes from corporations adhering to the forest-saving standards of the Rainforest Alliance, of which Gibson is a proud member and sponsor. Inside the Gibson factories, humidity is maintained at 45 percent, and the temperature at 70 degrees. This ensures all woods are dried to a level of “equilibrium,” where the moisture content does not change during the manufacturing process. This guarantees tight-fitting joints and no expansion, and controls the shrinkage and warping of the woods, in addition to reducing the weight. It also improves the woods’ machinability and finishing properties, and adherence to glue. Consistent moisture content means that a Billie Joe Armstrong Signature Les Paul Junior will respond evenly to temperature and humidity changes long after it leaves the factory.

Wraparound Tailpiece

A classic piece of hardware, the non-compensated wraparound bridge/tailpiece on the Billie Joe Armstrong Signature Les Paul Junior offers a simplicity and functionality that is hard to match. It provides a firm seating for the strings, and allows the player to adjust intonation and string height as needed. It also yields a great union between the strings and body, which results in excellent tone and sustain.

Nitrocellulose Finish

Applying a satin nitrocellulose finish to any Gibson guitar—including the Billie Joe Armstrong Signature Les Paul Junior—is one of the most labor-intensive elements of the guitar-making process. A properly applied nitro finish requires extensive man hours, several evenly applied coats, and an exorbitant amount of drying time. But this fact has never swayed Gibson into changing this time-tested method, employed ever since the first guitar was swathed with lacquer back in 1894. Why? For starters, a nitro finish dries to a much thinner coat than a polyurethane finish, which means there is less interference with the natural vibration of the instrument, allowing for a purer tone. A nitro finish is also a softer finish, which makes it easily repairable. You can touch up a scratch or ding on a nitro finish, but you can’t do the same on a poly finish. In addition, a nitro finish is very porous in nature, and actually gets thinner over time. It does not “seal” wood in an airtight shell—as a poly finish does—and allows the wood to breathe and age properly.

Gibson Les Paul Junior Billy Joe Armstrong Signature (Vintage Sunburst) @ Electro Music.
Price: £979.00.

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