“I am beyond blown away that this is now in my possession”: Joe Bonamassa is now the proud owner of the treble booster that blew a young Brian May’s mind and made Rory Gallagher’s Stratocaster sing

Joe Bonamassa [left] and the late Irish blues-rock legend Rory Gallagher. Bonamassa is pictured playing Gallagher's Strat in 2011. Gallagher is playing it in 1975, in an archive live shot criss-crossed with stagelights.

If you notice anything extra special about Joe Bonamassa’s electric guitar tone when he steps up onstage in Cork, Ireland, this coming July to honour the late Irish blues guitar icon Rory Gallagher, that’ll be the holy grail treble booster that blew a young Brian May’s mind back in 1969, and, you could argue, changed the face of rock history.

Bonamassa is now the owner of Rory’s number one Dallas Rangemaster treblebooster, one of the most iconic guitar effects units of all time.