By now, “Joe Bonamassa buys interesting piece of vintage gear” isn’t exactly breaking news. After all, the bluesman arguably owns the biggest cache of vintage gear gems out there – but his latest acquisition is worthy of the headlines.
His latest coup, unveiled via a fresh Instagram post, has seen him take custody of Rory Gallagher’s Number 1 Rangemaster treble booster. Gifted to him by the late guitarist’s family – who, until last year, had been charged with the safekeeping of his iconic 1961 Strat – Bonamassa says he’s “beyond blown away” by the gesture.
Some of Bonamassa’s buys have come under challenging circumstances – he underwent a tireless 15-year search for Lowell George’s Dumble Super Overdive Special – so it’s nice to hear that this one was more of a saunter in the park.
“There are moments in my life when I need to step back and pinch myself,” Bonamassa reflects in the post. “Tonight before our show @beacontheatre in New York, my friend Daniel Gallagher, with his father Donal's blessing, gifted me Rory's number 1 Rangemaster.”
Ever the eagle-eyed gear boffin, Bonamassa had spotted the booster box went walkabout ahead of the recent mass auction of Gallagher’s gear. His relic’d Fender Stratocaster headlined the collection and faced backlash as a result, but this equally crucial part of the late guitar great’s rig didn’t feature. It turns out the Gallaghers had a different plan for it.
“I had noticed it had gone missing from the auction a few months back, and I am beyond blown away that this is now in my possession,” he continues. “We plugged it in, and it turned that tweed Vibrolux into [Gallagher’s live album] ‘Irish Tour 74’. I am so honored; you will see it onstage again in Cork! Humbled and blessed.”
For the uninitiated, the Rangemaster is a treble booster that, when paired with a Vox AC30 amp, became a crucial part of Gallagher's envy-generating guitar tone. It’s also believed that this is the exact pedal that prompted Brian May to employ the same setup – one he has since become even more synonymous with.
A young May had snuck into London’s famous Marquee Club venue after Gallagher’s show with Taste, where he was able to ask the guitarist how he got his guitar to sound so good.
“He said, ‘Well, it’s easy, I have the AC30 and this little box, and I turn it up and it sings for me,’” May reported. “The next day, I went to a guitar shop and found two secondhand AC30s for £30 each.”
The rest, as they say, is history, as May’s tonal trio of his Red Special guitar – which is in line for a Gibson reissue – a Vox AC30, and a treble booster, has underpinned Queen’s entire discography.
Bonamassa, meanwhile, is set to play a series of special Rory Gallagher tribute shows in Cork, Ireland, this summer. He has called it “the biggest challenge of my musical life”.
Before the blockbuster Gallagher auction, Bonamassa had the chance to play some of his other guitars – a Fender Esquire and his ‘other Strat’ – and expressed his hopes for the future of Gallagher’s beloved gear.
“The worst-case scenario,” he had said, “is if you just hang the guitar on the wall and brag to your rich buddies that you bought it. These things are tools to make music.”
After pledging his support for the 1961 Strat to remain in Ireland after its sale, Bonamssa was front in line to celebrate when, after selling for a staggering $1.16m, it was revealed that it was to be donated to the National Museum of Ireland.
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