Eric Clapton's long lost Les Paul guitar "Beano," may have been found. The classic Gibson instrument was a mainstay for Slow Hand in the 1960s and has been long thought lost or destroyed. Now blues guitarist Joe Bonamassa tells guitarworld.com it not only exists but he knows where.
"It's a '59, not a '60, it's got double-white [humbucker] in the front and it's got a double-black [in the bridge]," Bonamassa said, challenging the widespread belief that it was a '60 model. "It has a pretty plain top and it is in a collection on the East Coast of America. That's all I can tell you—and that's all I will say. It still exists and I haven't seen it, but I have it on good authority from people who have. And it's got the little 'fingerprint' by the pots and they can trace it back."
He adds, "I don't know if Clapton would even want it back at this point," Bonamassa said. "Truth be told, would he even recognize it 50 years on? I guess so. Maybe it'd be different if he'd scratched his name on the back of the headstock or had recorded the serial number. But then Jimmy Page has got back his Custom three-pickup that he played in the Albert Hall in 1969."
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