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Billie Joe's leopard skin-lined case has as much wow factor as his new guitar

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Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong has always been a great songwriter, but it wasn't until 2004's American Idiot album that he became a bona fide rock 'n' roll icon.
His main instrument soon acquired star status too - a 1956 Gibson Les Paul Junior affectionately reffered to as 'Floyd'. Never one to miss a marketing opportunity, Gibson soon suggested a signature axe based on Floyd. Two years on, the Billie Joe Armstrong Les Paul Junior arrived.

When Gibson introduced the Junior in 1954, the basic concept was to sell a simple and cheap variation of the Les Paul to the student market. Back then the Junior retailed for just $99. Half a century later, it's ballooned to a grand and a half.
So yes, this is a big investment (especially when you consider that the Epiphone Juniors start at £139) for a 'simple' electric, but it still costs less than the Custom Shop '57 and '58 reissues that are currently the only Gibson-made alternatives. Back in 2004, Armstrong said that if he did endorse a guitar, "it would be simple - one pickup, no switches, just one thing where you could crank it and it would be loud." And we're pleased to say that he's been true to his word.

The body

Although Gibson launched double cutaway Juniors in 1958, the Green Day man reckons they "don't sound as good as the single cutaway" and has plumped for the original as the base of his signature model. The body couldn't be simpler; a slice of mahogany that looks like a Les Paul on the Atkins Diet. No contours. No maple caps. No embellishments. Nothing to interrupt the virginal white surface bar a black pickguard and master volume/tone pots. Whether this is minimalist or just plain boring, it's totally your call.

If you have ever seen Armstrong up close, you'll understand why he's strayed from the blueprint when it comes to the Junior's set mahogany neck. "This guitar is pretty much like Floyd," he points out on the Gibson website, "apart from the neck. This is more of a '60s neck so it's easier to play and get your hands around, whereas the '50s necks were a bit thicker."

The Billie Joe Junior is available in three different finishes and it's a more important decision than you might think. Here on our Classic White Junior you get an ebony fingerboard (both the Vintage Sunburst and Ebony versions use the more run-of-the-mill rosewood). At the same time there is the slight drawback that we're lumbered with black volume pots (the others have cooler amber control knobs). Ultimately, whichever finish you choose you get the same nickel hardware (like the original Juniors, the hardware consists of a wraparound bridge and white-buttoned tuners) and a cool leopardskin-lined hard case.

As is signature model protocol, Armstrong has scrawled his signature on the back of the headstock, which is the only obvious Day reference point. So it's good for non-Green Day fans, too.