Joe Bonamassa’s gear collection – which is housed at the world-renowned Nerdville museum – is the stuff of legend. Few will ever get the chance to enter the museum, but fortunately for the average guitar fan, was recently allowed inside to film a mini-documentary on the building’s bounty. In a surprise to absolutely no-one, the near-40-minute film is filled with unbelievable tales of acquisition and maintenance.
These include anecdotes of disasters nearly wiping out the entire haul, and the now-famous duffle bag of money, . One of the most intriguing tales involves a 1958 Korina Gibson Flying V, which Bonamassa purchased for $200,000 after it had been discovered by its previous owner wrapped up in a trash bag. “She thought it was worth $500, or less,” Bonamassa recalls.
“She got significantly more from us.” After a once-over revived the “unplayable” instrument, JoBo then used it on the Conan O’Brien Show, and cycled it into his rotation of stage guitars. There were some modifications he left unchanged, though, and it turns out he takes this approach with all his vintage guitars: “It’s the way I got it.
It’s never gonna not be what it is today. If it’s got an issue or two, just leave it. It’s all part of the story.
” One story that almost had a far more devastating ending involves a fire that nearly engulfed Nerdville and came close to destroying its priceless inventory. “I was up in Oakland, we’d just started a tour,” JoBo says.” That .