Joe Bonamassa is without doubt one of the most prolific collectors of classic guitars. However he doesn’t possess the purism you may count on from a classic collector. Actually, certainly one of his favorite guitars is a closely modified 1968 Fender Telecaster loaded with Gibson PAF humbuckers…

Blues ace and proprietor of one of many world’s best collections of classic devices – housed at Nerdville East and West in Nashville and LA, respectively – Joe Bonamassa has a whole lot of guitars. However this guitar stays certainly one of his favourites, and it’s exactly as a result of it’s a hybrid, he explains in a brand new interview with Guitar Middle.

“These are PAF humbucking pickups from Gibson,” he says. “I purchased this guitar from a man in Daytona Seashore, Florida about 15 years in the past. It wasn’t some huge cash. And I plugged it in and it was magic. Generally a hybrid can grow to be one of the best.”

The Tele, he explains, is fitted with 500k potentiometers – which let much less excessive frequency content material bleed leading to a brighter tone.

“It’s principally a Gibson Les Paul jammed right into a Fender Telecaster,” says Bonamassa. ‘However the distinction is you might have a maple neck and an ash physique. And so they sound nice. And that’s the great thing about a Fender Telecaster: you’ll be able to just about do something to it.

“Now, do I counsel going on the market and shopping for a really costly classic Telecaster, taking a pin router to it and jamming an entire bunch of pickups in there? No. In the event that they’re already modified, then that’s the great thing about it. And it can save you your self some cash and have actually only a utility plank that may play something.”

After all, certainly one of JoBo’s favorite guitars has clearly seen its share of stage use…

“I’ve used this guitar for jazz fusion gigs, I’ve used it for rock gigs. I’ve used it for every little thing, as a result of it has a lot flexibility.”

He is likely to be a classic guitar collector, however his love of hybrid guitars isn’t the primary opinion which may poke on the gear purists. More and more so recently, he’s been touting his love of digital amp modellers.

Just lately admitting that he “needed to hate” amp modellers, he defined: “I used to be mistaken about the truth that no modeller will substitute a tube model, I feel they’re gonna get there and surpass.”

Sam is the Affiliate Information Editor for Guitar.com and MusicTech. Completely immersed in music tradition for almost all of his life, Sam has performed guitar for 20 years, studied music expertise and manufacturing at college, and likewise written for the likes of Guitar World, Whole Guitar, Steel Hammer and MusicRadar.