Me and my guitar interview with Joe Bonamassa / Bernie Marsden's '59 Gibson Les Paul 'The Beast 

Old vid, but I love the advice he gives about "leave it alone"

I've never really been into Joe's music but he's a good player and I'm aways interested in his advise on guitars and playing. He comes across as the ultimate guitar geek, someone who's goal in life is just to play, and thats very admirable to me.

The more I listen to what this bloke has to say regarding the nuts and bolts of guitar-playing, the more I respect him. With his level of skill he could very easily just fall in love with his own hands. Instead he makes it his job to really know the tool he is using. Not only that, he then imparts his knowledge to us lesser enthusiasts. Top shelf he is.

As an Englishman myself I find it really strange to hear an American use terms like “Fiver” and “20 quid” 😂 oh I love this guy.

I saw him in concert last April and it was well worth the price of admission. One of the best concerts I’ve ever seen. One thing I like about him, aside from his abilities, is that he’s very approachable and has a great personality. He doesn’t take himself too seriously. That’s one thing I’ve tried to emphasize with my son, who is a touring musician. Don’t forget where you came from and make time for your crowd. They are the reason you tour and play.

Just saw Joe for the third time and it was breathtaking as always. If you never saw him live , you're missing out.

Love you Joe B. Despite all the haters, you have certainly changed my life. keep it up and keep them videos coming. We guitar geeks know you are the real deal.

Joe is a great guitarist but Bernie is a different breed and is a huge influence on my playing. His blues playing is absolutely on the money and he can rock out. Bernie is a great ambassador for the guitar.

Seems like a good guy to me. Knows his stuff.

I have had the honor of playing this guitar. It's a beautiful instrument.

He's talking British slang I love this

Such a great player (seen him a couple of times at Brighton), and such a grounded normal bloke; not a ounce of conceit or arrogance in his nature; top bloke!

Looking out for others with very good advice. Thank you so very much Joe. When he talks I listen for sure. Thank you! 🌠🌌

i'm sure glad there is a guy like joe playing les pauls out there love Joes passion for guitar. been playing over 40 years my main guitar is 1982 Les Paul Deluxe goldtop love this guitar i know barry Bailey from atlanta rhythm section played a LP deluxe i say thanks Joe you give me hope the heart felt music can survive Take Care Tom Sylow Guitarist

Love the blues and Joe is one my favorite blues guitar players.

The Beast is the best sounding guitar on the planet that I've heard, IMO. That overwound neck p/u is the tone I hear in my head before I pick up my guitar...then I hear my Gibson burst buckers and think "I have to get better pups!!"

The only Joe, YOU NEED TO KNOW ! Joe Bonamassa in the house, keepin' it real ! Love this guy's musicianship !

Absolutely the best and most honest words about the true essence of guitars!

Love him or hate him this is the best practical advice ever spoken about intonation.

Joe Bonamassa is a very down to earth guy who enjoys playing guitar and is very knowledgeable when it comes to guitars and amps 😊🎸😊

What great clear information. Thank you very much. David 70 this year still playing Rock n Roll and Jazz. Thank you again.

I use a bit of coconut oil on a q-tip on my nuts. Never used nut sauce. I'm going to experiment on my Les Paul standard this weekend and give it a top wrap for the first time. Well see how it goes.

I love this guy. A true guitar man. Great voice also. Thanks Joe.

Poor guy spent so much money on guitars, he cant afford furniture :(

The Beast was originally a cherry sunburst that has faded, Bernie did an interview for Andertons where he took the pickup selector switch apart to take the plastic surround off and show the original cherry red, if you want to know more about it go to The Captain Meets Bernie Marsden and the Again video.

I know nothing of guitars, I know a bit more now, thanks Joe! Enjoyed the commentary even though not a single note was played. Thank you for taking the time,

Joe is such genius.....NUT SAUCE...indeed! Appling now to my new 2016 Les Paul Standard!

He's such a nice guy, would love to meet him one day. Cheers for this video!

great little yt gem..cheers Joe....9 years late...haha and rip Bernie...and cheers forlending Joe your guitar...i wonder if he bought it....

Beautiful guitar, Joe makes excellent points here. Cheers

He nailed every single aspect of a great playing guitar. The top wrap, the Big Bend Nut Sauce, the action...brilliant. And the most important element...fresh strings. To add to what Joe said, buy a device called a Stretcha. It is a stick with a hook and heel that grabs each string and stretches it, only 10x better than you can with your fingers. Try this: Put on a new string, tune it to pitch, use the Stretcha and then check your tuning. It will be a full step lower! Then it is stable and will stay in perfect tune. It only cost like $10 US and will make your setup so much more stable.

dont know much about this guy but he seems like a nice guy. i enjoyed that video.

Big Bends is a good product. The tube I have does not contain graphite. It works well but I am unconvinced that it works any better than the plain old Chap Stick I used for years before that. One thing he did not mention is making sure the nut slots are clean and smooth. I have found that this is incredibly valuable and helps a guitar stay in tune. Add a bit of lubricant and you are good to go. I like his "if it is not broken don't fix it" model and also his advice to play and evaluate first before making changes. Good stuff.

I was considering of purchasing a 7 string and replacing the pickups along with a few other things immediately. Guess I'll have to reconsider everything. Great advice & rundown.

Old strings do not intonate properly as you go up the neck, because they have a bunch of flat spots on them due to being played, which changes the ellipsis, or the way the string vibrates. Absolutely correct on lubing that nut. I use Renee Martinez' brand. Well done, Joe.

Tweed Fender amp, es 125td , Clapton spec Es 335, a hummingbird, and a 59 burst? Who needs furniture?

seems like you trained me...love Big Bends...I do setups , repair...you are my favorite guitar player. Backwoods uses Big Bends on every setup!

I saw Bernie join Joe on stage at the Royal Albert! Very cool!

I detect a hint of Gregory Kochery in Joe's presentation. I like it. Probably the most laid back I've ever seen Joe.

If my guitar was a 59 burst I definitely would not change anything. However my Greco LP once i changed the pots and dropped some antiquitys in there became the best guitar i have ever had. So changing the pickups and pots even on new Gibsons (because Gibson skimps on everything) is the absolute best thing you can do to a guitar IMO. Good pots and caps plus good pickups opens up so many sounds just be rolling the volume and tone controls.

Awesome advice from an awesome guitarist and seems to be an awesome guy. Thanks so very much.

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it" Great advice...

Heard this guitar live three times. Twice with Bernie playing when he was in Whitesnake back in the day and once with Joe playing when he toured a few years ago with Beth Hart. Three of the best gigs I've ever been to. How much The Beast had to do with that, who can say?

JB is an awesomely cool dude. Great information here

Thank you Joe, that is excellent advice for both new and more seasoned players.

Thanks Joe, I keep learning from you man!!! on and off stage

So simple but one of the best advice I ever heard

Great advice! Seems like a down to earth guy.

Wow, a Joe Bonamassa video I really liked.

+1 for Nut Sauce - especially Gibson with the sharp break angle of the D and G strings.

Joe seems a very decent guy, and went to the trouble of changing $ to £ 's for UK peeps.

Thanks Joe. I'm hopeful that eventually all the major guitar mfg's will use a compensated net - like Ernie Ball Music Man guitars use.

I know what he means though my guitar (a les paul ) It my be bottom end 60s studio tribute but she speaks to me.

"Big Bends Nut Juice" Thanks Joe!...I have a '64 ES125TDC with Bigsby which I love but as to be expected had return tuning issues. Nut Juice fixed it.

There you have it 👍😃 the best advice JB could give you all Guitar players 🤟🤟

One hell of a room.

I totally agree about if the guitar sounds great, leave it alone...I have a 2001 Les Paul Standard previously owned by my friend Victor Griffin of Pentagram. My guitar is totally stock, and sounds fantastic...clean or overdriven...Even some of my colleagues who hate Les Pauls love mine and used it on their records.. I was tempted to put some new stuff on it, change pickups etc, but after waiting a few weeks, I said to myself, gee, this sounds good...why bother changing it?

Just Raise the stud . Works wonderfully ...

I like his outlook. A lot of people really do immediately load up their guitars with "every aftermarket part known to man". If it ain't broke don't fix it is exactly right.

That was all very good advice. Over past 30 years used just 2 electric guitars (ok, ok I recently acquired a third) - but point is you don’t need to chop and change and have 50 guitars.

RIP Bernie, I hope that Guitar goes to someone for an insane amount of money and that they can play it the way it should.

Thank you

Very good advice from 1 of the Top Gun in the music industry👍

Just my 2cents from maintaining about 50 guitars I've accumulated. Nut sauce is good stuff but imo you do not get very much and it goes fast. Pro is that it goes on easier with the applicator. I prefer Guitar Grease thats is a graphite/wax that comes in a round red plastic container from Stew Mac. You just dig a little out and smear it on the nut grooves and saddles. Last forever and you get a whole lot more uses. I have been using the same small container for a year and 1/2.

Good advice - play and practice first. If you are an experimenter - The possible after market upgrades can result in a much better guitar, but don't bother if you haven't played the guitar enough first to truly asses it.

People are acting like what Joe said is fact and not just his personal opinion. The part about leaving guitars alone? Les Paul and Eddie Van Halen probably wouldn't advise that. The part about changing strings? Brian May never changes his strings unless they break. The part about changing pickups? Pickups are easy to swap, if you didn't like the sound of the new ones all you have to do is put the old ones back. I like changing things on my guitars, just for the hell of it. I have a Jet King and the plastic pickguard/control cavity cover it comes with was cheesy so my cousin and I made an aluminum one for it, it actually affected the guitars sound, the aluminum pickguard vibrates along with the guitar and the guitar, IMO, sounds better. Some of the most famous guitar sounds in rock have been created by someone messing with a guitar. Look at Neil Young's LP or EVH or "Greeny".

Hey Joe, excellent playing just wanted to let you know I have managed to replicate your sound. I’ve only been playing for 40 years never made it as a rockstar, but certainly did plenty of gigs in my life and had a lot of teaching skills and manage to graduate from Berkeley I thought great accomplishments either way as my time is fading I only have a few months left to live. I am almost 49 years old. I am totally blind and I’ve been playing guitar, since I was just a kid as a matter fact, I don’t remember not there being a Guitar somewhere around either way I just wanted to let you know I had replicated your sound with a guitar and I’m really happy with the results. Your damn pick ups are so hard to get my friend. I have a pair from back when they first came out. However I should’ve bought more. I’ve been offered $1000 for that pair but I will tell you I found a wonder who makes a pick up that I was so blown away by the same collector that liked those custom shop. SD pick ups of yours the Amos version fell in love With my 1961 LP, which has the WCR Jim Wagner cherry buckers and I gotta say they grab your sound man and burn it up as well as you know giving a good cost soft sound with your guitar does take care brother and see you on the other side man Keep strumming though been watching you since you started big fan I don’t really have heroes, but I do believe in people that are naturally gifted and you certainly are. God bless you man thanks for the blues I’ve been living up my whole life and truly, I never reached a pinnacle, but certainly always strive to be the best I could. 4:44 4:44

Best guitar video I have ever seen.

Joe, you are so right about leaving the guitar as original as possible. But. and this is a big but. That's only the case if you can afford a top brand guitar. Believe me, if you buy a cheaper brand like Squier, you do wanna change the Pups and pots. The most of them are pretty good guitars, just need a little work like electronics, the nut and sometimes another bridge. Then you'll have a guitar you wanna keep for life.

Just great guitar tech tipps! Thank you!

Mr. Bonamassa, sound solid advice as always, The Beast is well named, its Savage, as for John Henry (Doc Holiday) TB killed him if it was the other John Henry (rail-line worker) that Legend is still laying tracks......so I`ve heard..

What a nice guy, no bullshit.

'Twenty quid' + 'a fiver' :-)

The man is the best !!!

Well, Joe, you have a chance to own this guitar now. Talk to Bernie.

Great Tips, Thanks.

Sound advice from the master

Love this guys approach :))

wise words!

What a cool guy

Very good advice.

bernie said joe plays “The Beast” more than him. he also said it belonged to clapton then kossoff before he bought it in 74 i believe.

I love this man

look at the flame on that one! just listen to that sustain....just listen!

Way cool but i would have preferred Joe talk about the 335 Gibson lingering in the distance.

My dream guitar :)

Joe is a good dude in a great guitar player maybe not the best but still a great guitar player.

After seeing this n hearing Joes view on intonation Id love to hear his opinion on the Evertune system

Ha I get a pass, I swapped out standard SD '59s for Custom Shop Skinner Bursts almost immediately after getting my new guitar.

Tried one time the wrap over string set, no difference at all ! That's just if you want to do like Jo and ruin your stop bar. I play 11-52 cause I want strong strings. It fits with my guitars and my play. If you want less tension put some lower strings ;)=

a great informative video by a master craftsman.

Ernie Ball strings? Never bought a set of those without one from every setup breaking. High E? Pop! G? Pop! D'addario? Elixirs? Hulkbuster strong. Remember that.

epic guitar

Legend !!!

Sage advice from one cool dude 😎

just found out bernie pass away on the 24 08 2023 . RIP bernie

Excuse me sir, did you just say “Nut sauce?”

Awesome

One of the best guitarist out there. He’s got 200,000 to 300,000 sitting on his lap. Would love to own a 59’ someday.

All due respect, Joe---but I would argue it's the break angle over the bridge. Now, I've never been lucky enough to play a '59 (well . . . maybe once) but every Les Paul I've owned (that would be 4) had the low E, A and D strings break on the bridge before the actual bridge piece (I screw the tailpiece all the way down). This messed up the intonation. Once I started wrapping over the tailpiece . . . all my problems disappeared.