Nadia Bellingeri
Sale Manager, Private Sales & Themed Sales
Lot 67
Rory Gallagher: A Fender Stratocaster Electric Guitar, Known As Rory's 'Backup Strat', 1958, guitar 38 1/2in (98cm) long
17 October 2024, 15:00 BST
London, New Bond StreetSold for £127,400 inc. premium
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Fred Lawton
Cataloguer
Rory Gallagher: A Fender Stratocaster Electric Guitar, Known As Rory's 'Backup Strat',
Serial no. 30453 stamped on neckplate, double-cutaway, contoured alder body with three-tone sunburst finish, non-original pickguard, three pickups, three volume/tone controls and five-way selector, walnut-skunk stripe maple neck, re-fretted maple fingerboard with dot markers, headstock with Kluson tuners, in plush-lined, rectangular hardshell case with strap, with original receipt,
Footnotes
This guitar was bought by Rory whilst on tour in the US in September 1972. In the March 1976 issue of the Dutch OOR magazine Rory confirmed: "I have just bought a new Stratocaster, also second-hand, it looks newer but it is older than the one I already had. This one is from '58."
In an interview with guitarist Vivian Campbell for Guitar For The Practicing Musician magazine, August 1991, Rory was quoted: "I have a '57 (sic) with me on the road, which is a three-color sunburst I got in Memphis off a guy called Robert Johnson, of all names. He's an incredible guitar player. I use that in the studio sometimes."
Known as Rory's No.2 Fender Stratocaster, this became Rory's main backup to his 1961 Strat but was used mainly in the studio, although it did feature in some live shows in the 80s and 90s. The guitar can be seen in photographs of Rory on stage on the 21st August 1987 at the Festival am See in Trochtelfingen, Germany.
It is also the main guitar on the track I Ain't No Saint from the 1987 Defender album. In the October issue of Making Music magazine that year, Rory was interviewed: "This is a kind of Albert King thing. Guitar was a three-tone sunburst '57 (sic) Strat. I've put heavier frets on it, and neutered the middle tone control. It's a very Buddy Guy Strat with a maple neck. Rosewood necks always sound a bit more mellow than maple. You get a different tone tension from a maple neck, maple necks are more snappy."
Provenance
Robert A. Johnson, from whom purchased by Rory Gallagher in 1972.
Literature
Jon Lewin, 'Rory's Story', Making Music, October, 1987, www.muzines.co.uk/articles/rorys-story/13205.