Billie Joe Armstrong’s 1956 Gibson Les Paul Junior “Floyd”

Billie Joe Armstrong bought his 1956 Gibson Les Paul Junior sometime in 2000, just before Green Day went into the studio to record Warning. He found it at a guitar show in San Rafael, California, and immediately felt it was unlike any of the Fenders he had been playing up to that point.

I bought my 1956 Jr. Floyd in 2000 right before we started recording Warning. I picked it up at a guitar show in San Rafael. I could tell right away it was special. At the time I was playing mostly Fenders and this Jr. was a completely different guitar from anything I had played before.

Billie Joe Armstrong – Gibson.com Interview

The guitar became known as “Floyd,” though Billie has never publicly explained the nickname.

Specs and Initial State

As a mid-50s Junior, Floyd features a solid mahogany single-cutaway body finished in dark sunburst, a set mahogany neck with a rosewood fretboard, and a single dog-ear P-90 pickup in the bridge position. The controls are minimal – one volume and one tone – and the bridge is the standard wraparound tailpiece used on Juniors of this period.

Usage

Billie began playing Floyd almost immediately after buying it. While it’s unclear how much it was used during the Warning sessions, by his own account, the guitar became the foundation of his tone in the following years.

The single cut ’50s Les Paul Jr has been the root of my guitar tone for over 20 years… since I bought ‘Floyd’ … It’s a simple, raw, and powerful guitar that has a sound that just can’t be beat! Plug it straight into any tube amp, crank it and it will roar!

Billie Joe Armstrong, Gibson interview

By the American Idiot era, Billie was strongly associated with Les Paul Juniors, and Floyd served as the tonal reference point, even if other guitars were rotated in for live work.

Current Status

In recent years, Floyd appears to have been retired from touring. While Billie hasn’t given a formal reason, the guitar’s age, value, and personal importance likely make it too precious to risk on the road. It remains one of the most recognizable and enduring instruments in his collection, and the one he points to when describing his ideal sound.