One of Joe Bonamassa’s favorite guitars and main guitar for the Black Country Communion project. Joe played this guitar on countless occasions both live and recorded work. He modified also slightly the guitar, among others he put grovers tuners on it.
Joe Bonamassa about the guitar in a Joe Bosso interview in 2011:
Tell us about the Gary Rossington Les Paul you've been using lately.
"I bought that guitar when it wasn't even fashionable to do so. I got it at the Guitar Center in LA in 2004 for something like $2000, and now these guitars are worth over $7000. It's a great guitar for BCC because it's got a really rich mid-range sound and it's very aggressive. You can really manhandle it. It doesn't work so much for my solo stuff, but for BCC, it's basically my main guitar. It's got that right amount of meaty tone."
The guitar is featured in the video: Black Country Communion - Live over Europe 2011.
And here is what Gibson said when the issued the guitar back in 2002:
Gary Rossington, original guitarist for Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Gibsons Custom, Art & Historic division are teaming up to produce the Limited Edition Gary Rossington Les Paul. The signature guitar celebrates Rossingtons pioneering spirit and the enduring musical legacy of his hard-driving, Southern Rock sound.
The finish on the Rossington Les Paul is aged and well-worn to replicate Rossingtons instrument, which he acquired from a woman whose boyfriend had abandoned her, leaving behind only his guitar. At one point Rossington broke the headstock and used a pair of small screws to repair it. While the new model replicates the screws, it does not replicate the break.
Other features of the Rossington Les Paul include a figured maple top with one-piece mahogany back and Rossington sunburst finish, nickel-plated 57 Classic pickups, aged nickel hardware, a 59 Les Paul neck, rosewood fingerboard with trapezoid inlays and cream pickguard.
The limited edition model only 250 will be produced comes with a Les Paul reissue case, Skynyrd Certificate of Authenticity, wall-hanging display case with photo backdrop, Custom care kit and Gibson/Skynyrd grease monkey shirt.
As a member of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Rossington helped define Southern Rock music with memorable guitar work on such classics as Free Bird and Sweet Home Alabama. Three of the bandmembers, including lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, died in a plane crash in 1977 and guitarist Allen Collins died in 1986 from complications after a 1982 car crash. The band will celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2003.
