
In 1967, Richard Head bought his dream guitar for $350 and went on a decades-long musical journey with his prized possession. Now, he’s selling it to raise money for injured veterans.
In Joe Bonamassa’s latest Rig Rundown, filmed in early 2022, Bonamassa showed us a beautiful, faded sunburst 1960 Gibson Les Paul Standard with a history. This guitar was slated to be sold for charity, with 100 percent of the proceeds going to Homes for Our Troops, a nonprofit organization that builds specially adapted custom homes and donates them to severely injured post-9/11 veterans. (HFOT has built 350 homes to date, with another 71 projects underway nationwide.)
I forgot about the guitar and the auction until 11 months later, when I emceed Joe Robinson’s Rig Rundown. Robinson had the same Les Paul. Yesterday, when I returned to the Ryman for a Rundown with Kenny Wayne Shepherd, I saw this special burst again, as Shepherd planned to play it during his set. As I was leaving the venue, I met Richard Head, the owner and donor of this amazing guitar. It occurred to me that my column was due tomorrow, so maybe I could Tom Sawyer him into writing it for me. Luckily, Richard fell for it and sent me the story of the Blessing Burst.
“My higher self knows that you don’t own your favorite possessions—they own you. Essentially, it’s been my burden to buy, repair, protect, and worry about this wire and wood that I’m so obsessed with.”
In 1967, Head, an aspiring musician in Northern Ohio, found a 1960 Les Paul “Burst” Serial #01945 at Elyria Music in Elyria, Ohio. Its cherry sunburst finish had already faded from being displayed in store windows, and it had a repaired neck break. But it was all original with PAF humbuckers and a slim, comfortable 1960s neck profile. Best of all, Richard could afford the purchase price of $350, so he pulled the trigger and never looked back.
This burst, which he nicknamed Blessing, was Richard’s main electric guitar from then on. Blessing was with him during hundreds of hours of gigs, to an audition for Edgar Winter in New York in 1969, then to Criteria Studios in Miami when his band landed a record deal in the ’70s, then more gigs as Richard and Blessing played the club circuit. In 1991, Richard took a job at Gibson where he worked as the marketing director for the electric guitar division. When Gibson created the Custom Shop Historic Collection, Richard loaned his burst Les Paul to Gibson for the purpose of measuring and comparing all of its attributes to ensure that the 1960 Les Paul Reissue, offered as part of the Historic Collection, would be as true to the original as possible. Blessing was featured in the Gibson Historic Collection catalog of 1994, emphasizing the validity of the 1960 Les Paul Reissue model.
Joe Bonamassa took the 1960 Blessing burst on a worldwide tour.
Photo by Rick Gould
In 2020, Richard turned 70 and decided he wanted his Blessing Burst to be a blessing to others by providing mortgage-free homes to extremely injured veterans. Richard contacted his old friend and coworker at Gibson, Walter Carter of Carter Vintage Guitars, who put him in touch with Bonamassa. Bonamassa was happy to help the cause and took the Blessing Burst on tour, spreading awareness about HFOT’s mission.
After a year of touring that took Blessing to the Royal Albert Hall, Red Rocks, and beyond, the guitar is now located at Nashville’s Carter Vintage, where it’s been played by Marcus King, Tommy Emmanuel, John Osborne, Joe Robinson, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, and more. Updates will be posted on the Carter Vintage website as well as Blessing’s Instagram page @Blessingburst.
I just finished a painful, runaway-budget remodel at my home, essentially to accommodate my gluttonous gear consumption. During the process, I found guitars that I’ve not seen in years. I moved piles of old amplifiers that I’ve been lugging around for decades; schlepping them endlessly from my different homes to gigs ad nauseam. I felt like Scrooge’s partner, Marley, who was doomed to drag the chains of his treasure for all eternity.
My higher self knows that you don’t own your favorite possessions—they own you. Essentially, it’s been my burden to buy, repair, protect, and worry about this wire and wood that I’m so obsessed with. It’s a bit of a curse to be owned by your obsessions. It occurred to me that Richard Head is onto something. He found his dream guitar. This Les Paul was with him for a musical odyssey that lasted over half a century. Now the guitar will join another player on their own musical odyssey and the profits from the sale will house people that gave a lot and now need help: Truly that is a blessing. That being said, if I had the dough re mi, I would definitely buy this Blessing Burst and drag it around for the rest of my life and, if possible, I would happily take it with me after I die and lug it through eternity.
- Vintage Vault: 1956 Gibson Les Paul ›
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- Rocking to Remember Military Veterans: Guitars for Vets - Premier Guitar ›
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Watch the official video documenting the sold-out event at House of Blues in Anaheim. Join Paul Reed Smith and special guests as they toast to quality and excellence in guitar craftsmanship.
PRS Guitars today released the official video documenting the full night of performances at their 40th Anniversary celebration, held January 24th in conjunction with the 2025 NAMM (The National Association of Music Merchants) Show. The sold-out, private event took place at House of Blues in Anaheim, California and featured performances by PRS artists Randy Bowland, Curt Chambers, David Grissom, Jon Jourdan, Howard Leese, Mark Lettieri Group, Herman Li, John Mayer, Orianthi, Tim Pierce, Noah Robertson, Shantaia, Philip Sayce, and Dany Villarreal, along with Paul Reed Smith and his Eightlock band.
“What a night! Big thanks to everyone who came out to support us: retailers, distributors, vendors, content creators, industry friends, and especially the artists. I loved every second. We are so pleased to share the whole night now on this video,” said Paul Reed Smith, Founder & Managing General Partner of PRS Guitars. “I couldn’t be more proud to still be here 40 years later.”
With nearly 1,400 of the who’s who in the musical instrument industry in attendance, the night ended with a thoughtful toast from PRS Signature Artist John Mayer, who reflected on 40 years of PRS Guitars and the quality that sets the brand apart. “The guitars are great. You can’t last 40 years if the guitars aren’t great,” said Mayer. “Many of you started hearing about PRS the same way I did, which is you would talk about PRS and someone would say ‘They’re too nice.’ What’s too nice for a guitar? What, you want that special vibe that only tuning every song can give you on stage? You want that grit just like your heroes … bad intonation? The product is incredible.”
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When the first Moog synthesizer appeared, it freaked out a lot of musicians—not least for the way it blurred the divisions between instruments and their roles. Was it percussion? A keyboard? A reed instrument? Many effects makers build from this philosophical foundation. The Latvian company Gamechanger often seems to revel in it—an attitude that’s manifest in the company’s Auto Series pedals, which includes the Auto Reverb.
There’s no reason you can’t use the Auto Reverb in a very straightforward fashion. The plate, spring, and hall settings are all very nice digital representations of their analog inspirations—and I’d be perfectly happy playing an instrumental surf set with the spring mode, for instance. But because you can control the parameters like the reverb’s level, decay, tone, and the filter with changes in pitch and dynamics, the Auto Reverb can function in highly orchestral ways, transforming itself from subtle to outlandish as a musical piece shifts in intensity or rises from low to high keys toward a blurred, hyper-spacious climax. While these attributes make the Auto Reverb a great fit for prepared guitar and conceptual pieces—and invites many themes and compositional ideas within those forms—it can just as easily be configured to create an especially dynamic and dramatic pop song arrangement on stage or in the studio that might otherwise be relegated to automations within a DAW. It’s fun to use, if not always intuitive. But knowing its ways can expand your musical options significantly.
Black Sabbath to Reunite for First Time in 20 Years—Ozzy Osbourne’s Final Performance
The original Sabbath lineup will reunite on July 5 in Birmingham, England, and be joined by Metallica, Pantera, Slayer, and more.
The concert will feature founding members Tony Iommi on guitar, bassist Geezer Butler, drummer Bill Ward, and singer Ozzy Osbourne. Profits from the show, called "Back to the Beginning," will be donated to charities including Cure Parkinson's.
On future Black Sabbath plans, Ozzy's wife, music manager, and TV personality Sharon Osbourne had this to say (via Reuters) about Ozzy: “While other bandmembers might continue to make records and perform, Black Sabbath's gig at the birthplace of the band will certainly be the 76-year-old's final performance.
"For Ozzy right now, it's definitely: 'I love you and good night'," she said.