Working Class Hero

Flag-waving Les Paul Junior lover Billie Joe Armstrong gets a new signature in typical showman style and with a fresh pickup design that dates back to the late 50s. Let's plug in!

- David Burrluck

Can it really be 69 years ago that Gibson took the wraps off its bare‑bones Les Paul Junior? Well, it is, and while it might have been aimed at students back in the day, you don’t need us to tell you it’s powered many classic recordings to which Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong has certainly contributed. He’s been a Gibson signature artist since 2006, his latest was back in 2018, and there’s already an affordable Epiphone Billie Joe Armstrong Les Paul Junior.

Billie’s take for 2023 is as much a celebration of his style as it is a viable new addition to the oeuvre in its pink plastic Protector case with leopard print interior, a stock Vintage Ebony finish or this show‑off Silver Mist metallic. The 2018 version used a standard ’57 Classic zebra humbucker, and previous runs featured a stacked‑coil P‑90 design. Under the dog‑ear cover of this latest signature is a new humbucker created by Gibson’s Jim DeCola that’s based on the ‘sidewinder’ style Gibson actually first used on the Seth Lover‑redesigned EB‑2 bass pickup back in 1958.

Pickup and finish aside, this version also differs from the Original Series Junior with its 60s‑style Billie Joe Armstrong SlimTaper neck profile, individual Gibson Deluxe tuners and large strap buttons.

Now, if you want a perfectly finished guitar, you might need to look elsewhere. Although the top clear coat is perfectly flat and glossed, you can see the grain of the mahogany in numerous places and a rather obvious tooling mark where the neck join the body. As the neck is a full‑width tenon, there’s that body lip on the treble side that is much more square‑edged than our ’57 vintage reference.