“You never want to pull out cases and have no recollection of when, where or how you acquired it”: Joe Bonamassa is cutting back on his gear collecting habit

Joe Bonamassa is one of the world’s foremost guitar collectors, but he looks to be in the process of wrapping up his collecting habit.

The modern blues great is a leading authority on all things gear. His home, Nerdville, doubles as a museum. In fact, there are two ‘Nerdvilles’ in the world – both of which are stocked with some of the most desirable and elusive guitar gear ever created.

Be it historically significant builds from Blackguard Teles to early-era tube amps, or culturally important instruments previously owned by the best players throughout history, Bonamassa’s collection is absolutely filled to the brim. Some reports suggest Nerdville has more than 1,000 instruments in it.

But apparently it might be reaching its peak, and Bonamassa is determined to pump the brakes on his collecting days before things get out of hand.

Speaking on the No Cover Charge podcast with Jared James Nichols and Tyler Larson, Bonamassa issued an update on his collection, and gave a few reasons as to why the end of his collecting days might be in sight.

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“As far as acquiring stuff, I’ve really slowed down, because there’s a saturation point,” he says (via Guitar Player). “I’d like to get to the stuff that I own and discover the sounds that I can get out of those pieces, before it just starts piling up and piling up and piling up.

“You never want to go into a situation… where you’re pulling out cases and have no recollection of when, where, or how you acquired it,” he says. “And it’s probably starting to get to that point.”

But simply having an excess of guitar gear isn’t the only reason why Bonamassa is slowing things down. Last year, when the LA wildfires devastated the state and threatened to destroy his home, JoBo was faced with another stark realization: if it came to it, he wouldn’t be able to save it all – so he’d have to pick and choose.

“Obviously, you can’t evacuate everything, so you have to prioritize. And I thought about it for years. I said, ‘Well, if we gotta go, here’s what’s going.’ This being one of them, you know.

So, don’t expect to see Bonamassa buying a truckload of guitar gear anytime soon. Of course, future acquisitions aren’t completely ruled out. He’ll just be more selective when it comes to writing the check.

Some of the standout picks from Bonamassa’s gear collection include the Bolin Burst, acquired through what Bonamassa called the strangest guitar deal he’s ever done, as well as Lowell George’s old Dumble.

Elsewhere in his No Cover Charge podcast interview, Bonamassa also played through Gary Moore's iconic Soldano SLO-100.