Joe Bonamassa has a habit of sitting-in with players and songwriters of all shapes and sizes. Given his gear collecting habits, you’d be forgiven for thinking the blues ace would haul a stash of high-end gear along with him when he does so. However, in a recent video interview with Guitarist, he reveals his current sit-in setup really is as simple as it gets: a guitar and an amp.
“Only one guitar, a gig bag or protector case, a cable, and that’s it. There’s no pedalboard; no nothing," explains Bonamassa.
"You don’t have to spend a lot of money to get a great sound, and it doesn’t have to be overly complex. My rig is large – it’s just not complex. The bigger stages require more headroom."
Known for his huge haul of vintage amplifiers and guitars [often referred to as the Bona-seum], Bonamassa tells Guitarist he is looking for simplicity.
“If I'm just sitting in, I prefer to play through just whatever's there,” says the guitarist. “The only thing that would make me want to bring my own amp is if they [the venue] say: ‘We’ve got a Princeton Reverb.’ You can’t really move the needle there, it’s not loud enough – you just peak.
“I try to bring something, like in any situation, that’s appropriate. You don’t bring a high-powered Tweed-Twin to a small blues gig – it’s just too loud. You want to have something that’s power-appropriate – that when you solo it has enough headroom to where you feel it.”
Back in the summer of 2024, Bonamassa put the cherry on top of his eclectic vintage collection, acquiring the long-awaited Lowell George Dumble Overdrive Special Reverb (ODSR) amplifier. But when travelling from gig to gig, Bonamassa prefers something a little less extravagant.
“It’s anything for me, from a modified Vibrolux that I’ve been taking around, to a Fuchs... it’s an ODS 50 and its switchable between 50 and 100 watts. It saves bringing these crazy valuable Dumble things around and it does a really, really wonderful proximation of a Dumble. If I’ve got to play other situations, I just scale accordingly."
When asked by Guitarist about his go-to-guitar, Bonamassa explains, “Depends on the gig. If it’s a traditional blues gig, I’ll bring a Gibson ES-335 or Les Paul. Last time I did something like this, we were paying tribute to Duane Eddy, so I bought an amp with a lot of reverb and tremolo and a Guild 1963 DE-500 – and tremmed-away!
“It just depends on the kind of thing you get called for. In this room, a Tweed Champ would sound super loud. All you would have to do is go 100 feet from here, and you’ll barely hear it. It’s just space vs wattage.”
Bonamassa’s wisdom for sounding great on stage doesn’t stop there; he has a peculiar stringing-method specially for Les Pauls, which he claims improves durability and achieves a slinkier feel in his playing.
