“I’ve always wanted to buy a sunburst Stratocaster from Crowley’s”: Joe Bonamassa visits the store that sold Rory Gallagher his iconic ’61 Strat – and buys his own to mark the occasion

Joe Bonamassa has repeated history by buying a sunburst Fender Stratocaster from Crowley’s Music Store – the guitar gear retailer that famously sold Rory Gallagher his now-legendary 1961 Strat back in 1963.

Gallagher originally bought his 1961 Sunburst Strat from the same store in Cork, Ireland, for £100 in 1963. At the time, the blues rock ace may have been unaware of the things he would achieve with the instrument, but it quickly became his go-to guitar.

Fast forward a few years and the Strat’s finish had almost completely worn away owing to the sheer amount of action it saw in the hands of Gallagher, with the guitar itself becoming synonymous with the legendary blues rock virtuoso.

As last year’s auction drama proved – when petitions and politicians moved to keep it in Gallagher’s home country – it stands as one of the most recognisable electric guitars in rock history. In Cork, especially, the sentimentality around the instrument is massive.

Indeed, it was Sheena Crowley, the daughter of the man who sold Gallagher the Strat all those years ago, who launched the petition. She aimed to raise $1 million to buy the guitar and have it as a centerpiece at a new museum in the town. Bonamassa himself was a keen supporter of the campaign, pledging a chunk of cash for the cause.

The guitar was a history-maker before it even reached Gallagher’s fingertips. It was the first Fender Stratocaster to ever reach Irish shores, but quickly ended up for re-sale after the original purchaser had accidentally ordered the wrong color. Gallagher, via a finance deal, was quick to capitalize on that other player’s error. Until he died in 1995, the guitar never left his side.

Now, on the eve of three tribute shows in the town where Gallagher first started making his name, Bonamassa headed to Crowley’s to pickup a sunburst Stat of his own, from Sheena Crowley no less.

“I've always wanted to buy a sunburst Fender Stratocaster from Crowley’s Music Centre in Cork,” he says via Instagram. “Today I did. Big thanks to Sheena and all the great folks I met today.”

Bonamassa, a blues rock icon with a similarly weighty reputation, says the upcoming Gallagher tribute shows, where he will tip his hat and crank his Dumble amp to his earliest guitar hero, represent “the biggest challenge of my musical life.”

He’s already been gifted Gallagher’s Number 1 Range Master treble booster, a quintessential part of his sound, after the pedal bypassed October’s auction – and this new Crowley Strat, which we imagine will see some action during the shows, will make a fine addition to his collection.

And while Gallagher’s Strat sold for a sizable $1.16 million and was donated to the National Museum of Ireland, Sheena Crowley’s campaign raised over €75,000 (approx $86,400) that was spent at the same auction.

Speaking to Cork Independent, she revealed that several other lots from the sale of Gallagher’s gear, which included guitars, amplifiers, and pedals, have been bought and are now on display at a new permanent exhibition in Collins Barracks in Cork.

Joe Bonamassa’s latest cash splashing comes just weeks after he announced the acquisition of his ninth Dumble.