Charlie Starr often uses a Les Paul Junior for studio recordings and live performances with his group Blackberry Smoke. Throughout his career, his affinity for the Les Paul Junior has contributed to his signature guitar tone and playing style, adding to the band’s unique sound. The Gibson Charlie Starr Les Paul Junior authentically reproduces Charlie’s go-to Junior. It features a mahogany neck with a 50s neck profile that was digitally scanned and replicated from Charlie's favorite Les Paul Junior, a custom-designed overwound P-90 pickup, and an adjustable Wraparound bridge with locking studs. It comes packed in a Historic Les Paul Junior “Gator Skin” hardshell case and includes a Charlie Starr Signature Ceramic Slide and Hey Ya’ll sticker, complete with Charlie's original misspelling. The Gibson Charlie Starr Les Paul Junior is available in Dark Walnut and Ebony, and only 250 guitars will be made in each color.
Photob by Gibson
Hailing from Lanett, AL, Charlie Starr, the lead vocalist, and guitarist for the Southern rock band Blackberry Smoke was born into a musical family. His grandfather was in a well-known gospel band, his grandmother played mandolin and piano and his father, an accomplished guitarist, introduced him to the instrument that would lead to his career in music.
Playing guitar became one of Starr's passions early in life, in addition to writing and singing. In December 2017, Starr was named as one of Music Radar's top 23 guitarists, a list that includes “rock guitar gods” including Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones, Slash of Guns N’ Roses, and Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, among others.
The critically acclaimed Georgia-based band Blackberry Smoke, which features Starr, Brandon Still, guitarist/vocalist Paul Jackson, bassist/vocalist Richard Turner and the late drummer Brit Turner has amassed a loyal fanbase over the past two decades. The group’s last five full-length albums have achieved great chart success, including 2021’s You Hear Georgia, which reached #1 on Billboard's Americana/Folk Albums chart.
Charlie Starr on Les Paul Juniors, Southern Rock Sound
The Charlie Starr Les Paul Junior from Gibson is now available worldwide at authorized Gibson dealers and on www.gibson.com.
![Rig Rundown: Jared James Nichols [2023]](https://www.premierguitar.com/media-library/rig-rundown-jared-james-nichols-2023.jpg?id=33032207&width=1245&height=700&quality=85&coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C0)
“I feel like a lot of people, when they see me play, they think, ‘Oh, it's going to be super aggressive, and there's a lot of shades of that,” shares Jared James Nichols. “But I'm so obsessed with the tone, the feel of it…. Growing up listening to Jeff Beck, Albert King, guys like that; the super feel stuff to me is where it's at.”
That sentiment is overwhelmingly clear when hearing just a single note of Nichols’ playing. And what makes his musicianship that much more compelling is his abandonment of the pick—most of the time, he’s not really “fingerpicking,” but he uses his fingers to shred like any picking guitarist. He explains, “I'm a lefty, so that's where it originated. I tried to use a pick, and I was really uncoordinated. I can play a lot of the same riffs that someone could do with a pick, but play ’em and they sound a lot different.”
Earlier this year, Nichols came out with his third full-length release, Jared James Nichols, which adds to his catalog 12 more dirt-covered, gritty tunes that dig in with his infectious passion and signature, glistening tone. The album comes on the heels of Nichols’ growing success, bolstered by his extensive touring and tens and thousands of new fans.
Given his commitment to Les Pauls, it’s fitting that Nichols was born in Waukesha, Wisconsin, the birthplace of the guitar’s namesake inventor. Now, Nichols is a global ambassador of Gibson Guitars, an honor shared by only four other guitarists. And, since his last Rig Rundown, he was honored with a signature Epiphone guitar. In this new look at his rig, he shares his legion of trusty Les Pauls, as well as why he prefers simplicity when it comes to amps and pedals.
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Baby Blue
The first guitar Jared shared on the Rundown was a prototype for his new Signature Epiphone “Old Glory” Les Paul Custom, in a matte Pelham blue. It features just one of his signature Seymour Duncan P-90 pickups at the bridge, and locking tuners. “For me, I love the simplicity of a dog ear because when you roll up the volume, it's just like a microphone,” he says. This and all of his guitars are strung with DR Strings, .010-.046.
The Junior
“I have rarely seen ’59 single-cuts,” Jared shares on his 1959 Les Paul Junior, “and something about this guitar is just really cool; it has a really articulate tone.” It’s been appointed with Grover tuners, which he feels gives it a different sound. He’s borrowing it from his friend, Charlie Daughtry, who runs the Les Paul forum.
Painted Red
Jared’s 1953 Les Paul goldtop was sprayed red long ago—“They just rattle-canned that thing!” But, other than the over-spray and frets, it’s all original. The thin ear wrap tailpiece indicates that it came out of Kalamazoo in late 1953. “Simply put, this is one of those ones that just inspires me to play,” Jared enthuses.
Good Vibrations
The night of this rundown, Nichols was playing this 1959 Les Paul Standard which belongs to his friend Kris Blakely, aka Fried Okra. It once was owned by Paul Kossoff of Free. On this particular model, Nichols comments, “I love the ones that vibrate against your body. And then while you're playing, it feels like it's alive.”
The Perfect Storm
This center-seamed, flamed-maple-topped Les Paul Standard goldtop was salvaged after being caught in a tornado in Peoria, Illinois in 2013. It came into Jared’s possession after someone reached out to him on Instagram—the guitar had fallen into the person’s yard after the storm. It was masterfully restored by Joel Wilkins of JW Restoration, who merged a newly built neck with the guitar’s original electronics and plastics. Its pots date to April of 1952. “From the moment I plugged it in, this guitar turned into like, my favorite Les Paul,” says Jared.
Dorothy's Damage
Here's some close-ups of the scars from Dorothy's turn with the twister.
Down and Dirty Meets the Loudmouth
On the right, Jared has put some serious mileage on his Blackstar JJN-20R MkII Signature, which came out in 2019. He runs it into a 2x12 cabinet. “This is the first one they ever sent me, and I'm still using it. I run this on the clean channel with the dirt all the way up,” he explains. Along with his JJN-20R, Nichols runs a Blackstar Artisan 100-watt into a matching 4x12 cabinet. “This thing is like cut your head off loud,” he comments, “What I'm basically using this for is a lot of the low end.”
Jared James Nichols' Pedalboard
Nichols likes to keep his pedalboard simple. He runs a cable from his guitar to his RMC Wah Pedal, which runs to a Tycobrahe Octavia Octave Fuzz, into an Ibanez TS808HW Tube Screamer, into a B.G. Harding Zonk Machine—“It’s disgusting! It’s gross!” Jared enthuses—to a Sabbadius Funky Vibe (from an Argentinian company), to an Ibanez TS808DX Tube Screamer, into a Lehle switcher that sends the signal to his amps.
Shot on location at Broken Guitars, in Oakland, CA, the clip features Gibson Generation Group player Charlotte Milstein and Michael Mininger performing Green Day's "Basket Case."
Billie Joe Armstrong Les Paul Junior
Epiphone is proud to present Billie Joe's instantly recognizable Epiphone Les Paul Junior--in the striking Classic White finish--which has shared the stage with him across the globe for decades. The Billie Joe Armstrong Les Paul Junior features a slab Mahogany body and a set neck, and Indian Laurel fretboard with 22 medium jumbo frets, a powerful PRO P-90 pickup, and master volume and tone controls with CTS potentiometers, making it rock-solid choice for pros and beginners alike. The Billie Joe Armstrong Les Paul Junior has Billie Joe's autograph as an emblem on the back of the headstock and comes with a deluxe leopard, faux fur-lined custom hardshell case.
The Les Paul Junior Player Pack version is ready to plug in and play and features the Epiphone Billie Joe Armstrong Les Paul Junior guitar with a bolt on neck, without signature, as well as a 15 watt Epiphone 15G amplifier with 2 channels (clean and overdrive), full 3-band EQ, an aux input for your phone or other media player (a headphone outlet is included for silent practice), so you can immediately play your favorite songs –or while learning with the Gibson App. The soft gig bag includes an Epiphone guitar strap, cable, electronic clip-on tuner with three Epiphone picks.
"Working with Billie Joe Armstrong over the years has been an absolute honor for our team," says Aljon Go, Epiphone Product Manager. "The new Epiphone Billie Joe Armstrong signature guitars will help inspire a whole new generation of guitarists with an accessible, quality instrument to blaze their path in making music, just as Billie has throughout his Grammy Award-winning career."