Gibson Custom Johnny A. Spruce Prototype Bonamassa
Gibson Custom Johnny A. Spruce Prototype Bonamassa
This guitar is one of the rare examples of a double signature model, a rarity that brings together Johnny A., session guitarist and current member of the Yardbirds, and blues prodigy Joe Bonamassa. Johnny A. has had his signature model with Gibson since 2003—a radical design that remains to this day one of the most interesting and inventive guitars to come out of the Nashville factory since the 1970s.
It’s a thinline semi-hollow (like an ES-335) but in a smaller format (similar to an ES-339), with distinctive f-holes reminiscent of Rickenbacker, a Bigsby, and most notably a double Florentine cutaway (like an SG). Even the pickguard is more angular than usual, echoing the sharp cutaways. The mix works beautifully, resulting in a characterful instrument that looks vintage without actually being vintage.
Joe Bonamassa entered the picture in 2017, when the idea emerged to create a solid body version of the Johnny A., with a carved spruce top—the same wood used on ES-335s and the brand’s acoustic guitars. The pickguard became more traditional, and the bridge was made fixed. Although introduced at NAMM, the Johnny A. Spruce Bonamassa remained a very limited edition with parallelogram inlays. On this prototype, you can spot the fingerboard logo that already adorned Joe’s personal models like the Bonabyrd or the Blackburst, a guarantee that this guitar indeed comes from his collection. A Johnny A. Spruce would already be a rare bird, but this prototype is absolutely one of a kind.
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Joe Bonamassa
(1977)
Main guitar: Gibson Les Paul Standard 1959
Must-hear track: Sloe Gin
It's not easy to reinvent yourself as an adult artist when you were a child prodigy. Joe was a student of Danny Gatton and a protégé of B.B. King before he was even old enough to drive, and he was touring with the band Bloodline (alongside other prodigies, children of stars like Miles Davis or Robby Krieger) before he could vote. But everything could have ended just as quickly—and in fact, the other members of Bloodline all vanished into the show business ether. But Bonamassa always had an unstoppable work ethic, and by relentlessly touring, he eventually carved out his own sound and solo discography.
It all started in 2000 with A New Day Yesterday, a solid blues album featuring guests like Leslie West, Gregg Allman, and Rick Derringer who endorsed the young musician. At the time, Bonamassa played Strats and Teles, and the influence of Stevie Ray Vaughan could still be heard in many of his phrases. Gradually, though, he found his own path when he switched to Les Pauls and combined his Marshall Silver Jubilee amps with boutique heads for a tone that was as bluesy as it was fat and organic. This was also when producer Kevin Shirley began collaborating with Bonamassa—a partnership that began with You & Me (2006) and continues to this day. Sloe Gin (2007) and The Ballad of John Henry (2009) were big hits that solidified Joe’s reputation as the savior of the blues—the future of a genre once thought to belong only to baby boomers nearing retirement.
Since then, Bonamassa hasn’t slowed down his touring schedule and keeps finding new ways to make his shows unique—whether it’s a tribute concert to Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf, a tour honoring the Three Kings of Blues, or the British Blues Boom. He also records albums with singer Beth Hart and plays in bands like Black Country Communion (alongside bassist-singer Glenn Hughes) and Rock Candy Funk Party. At the same time, the gear obsession of someone born into guitars (his father ran a guitar shop) has only intensified to the point where he owns about ten Bursts, two Korina Flying Vs, and a mind-blowing number of rare instruments. That said, these guitars aren’t kept in storage—they hit the road with Joe. After all, that’s what they were made for.
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