Joe Bonamassa plays his newly-bought 1964 Fender Strat in… Greenburst?!

Joe Bonamassa playing a 1964 Fender Strat at Norm's Rare Guitars store. refinished in Greenburst
(Image credit: Norm's Rare Guitars / YouTube)

When Joe Bonamassa spotted his friends at Norman's Rare Guitars in Tarzana, California had an unusual Strat to sell his interest was piqued – even though it looks far from a classic example. 

"This is going right on the road," says Joe of his latest electric guitar acquisition. And we've never seen a Strat like this. It's the finish; a Greenburst!

The 1964 model's colour isn't stock; it's refinished (and photos of a previous owner given with the guitar show it was green back then), and also feature a mint pickguard and broken tremolo arm. 

"It'll be an interesting stage guitar," Joe notes. "I think it will look great in photos and it'll sound good… you can just bang it around and have fun with it." We have to say, the finish is growing on us, and it obviously sounds great, especially in Joe's capable hands.

"Some things just resonate with me," he adds about the modified vintage. 

Joe Bonamassa: “It’s a fight. My ’51 Nocaster brings out things in you as a player that, if it was too easy to play, I think it shaves a little of the intensity off”

Rob Laing
Guitars Editor, MusicRadar

I'm the Guitars Editor for MusicRadar, handling news, reviews, features, tuition, advice for the strings side of the site and everything in between. Before MusicRadar I worked on guitar magazines for 15 years, including Editor of Total Guitar in the UK. When I'm not rejigging pedalboards I'm usually thinking about rejigging pedalboards.