Rorys strat is priceless!

Rory Gallagher the most down to earth Superstar in the world .He let the music do the Talking.

I saw Rory and his strat many times live, a true legend. He was a softly spoken , humble man who totally came alive on stage with his best friend in hand playing to the crowd. Sadly missed

Rory Gallagher should be added into the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame...not only because of his excellent work. But for the amount of guitarists he influenced. Real Rock n' Roller of the highest calibre !

Hey all I'm a bass player from San Francisco. In 1990 I was playing with Ron Hacker and the Hacksaws on tour in Denmark. We played the Djurs Blues Festival. Rory was on the bill of the 3 day festival and I got to see him play. I'm of Irish catholic heritage and I had heard of Rory but never heard him before. He just floored me. I did not get a chance to meet him but will not forget that July day in Denmark. Remarkable.

The back of Rory’s strat isn’t seen as often as the front but it’s equally if not more battle-scarred, it apparently has a blue tinge in places where the dye of his jeans became ingrained into the wood - that’s a heck of a lot of hours playing on stage to cause that!

I got to see Rory Gallagher at the Paramount theater in Portland, Oregon in 1977 (or somewhere close to that I don't really remember).It was phenominal. I have never seen anything like it since, absolutely mind bending.He is one of the artists that got me playing guitar. THANKS RORY.

I was Gerry McAvoy's tech, if that means anything to anyone. One of the better jobs I had in the 90's.

I am a lucky man, I have a signature model of the first year of production. I'm a total Rory fan since 1974...

saw rory many times here in the uk..met him a few times..great guitarist and a real geezer..we lost him way to early..thanks for the video..gonna put some rory on my linn lp12 turntable and annoy my stuck up neighbours for a few hours

That guitar had to be that indestructible, between Rory's awesome playing and his insane Touring schedule, they played 7 days a week for months at a time, it was a miracle they could record studio albums. Rory was best when playing live.

Great subject and long overdue as I can say withour a shadow of a doubt that RorYs Strat has seen more not just road miles but in pure gigging , jamming , recording playing hours this guitar has more on the clock than ANY SINGLE other electric guitar in history ..Rory's gigging /touring festival going was relentless from Taste onwards through hos solo career ..If someone like Donal was to calibrate Rory's playing hours over his span with this guitar in toe it would be unmatched by any other individual of his era ...i Dare ANYONE to come forward with a musician who lived and played that long with the one same original instrument of their craft ...this guitar is literally '' a million miles away'' from any other ..making it truly legendary and priceless in comparison to K.Cobain's overrated importance and history in the playing of guitar..

Rory changed my life. Once I heard “Let Me In” in 1976, I just never looked back, been playing strats ever since!

Great video. I don't know about other fans, but to me, that guitar is such an essential part of Rory that I really hated seeing Joe Bonamassa and Johnny Marr use it. Nothing personal to them and I know they have huge respect for Rory, but it just didn't feel right. In some ways, I wish the guitar had been buried with him or at least held in a museum or archive. I hope it never goes up for auction.

Every time I look at Rory I see my family, being a guitar player , Irish and a distant relative its heartwarming to know how cool he was. Awsome geekery vid thanx .

Rory was a legend; a true bluesman. They don't make guitars, or bluesmen like that anymore. Sadly. Another great episode. Thanks for all your work.

Id never heard of Rory until my roommate was blasting him when I was 25 15 years ago... Blew me away

Congrats man you're one of the few who actually pronounce his name right.

Saw Rory's guitar on display in Dublin- so beautiful. What a player.

Saw Rory at the Cleveland Agora November 1 1976 at 9:00pm with a couple of buddies. The place was a small intimate venue that had launched the careers of many iconic musicians. Got an advanced ticket for $3.50 (which I still have) The music was so pure and clean. As a guitarist, this was one of my best investments ever...

That guitar needed to be indestructible, Rory played the hell out of it.

Good work on the Gallagher pronunciation. I used to live on the south circular in Dublin, never found any guitars.

If that guitar could talk, the stories it could tell

Very interesting. Thank you!

TGH, thanks a million for this. Great that you spent so much time researching rory and his gear. Watched fret masters too. Great job. Have a good one rory followers.

It made a wonderful sound............

After 30 plus years of his physical force and will, it's become something more than a guitar. To me...

Brilliant video really well put together enjoyed every second

Great work !!!

Great Research on this iconic Guitar of the Greatest ever Rory Gallagher.....Great to hear You pronounce Gallagher in the Irish way

Wonderful job on nailing the tale of Rory's truly iconic Strat. From what I understand, the Fender re-issues have both "Tone" controls (pots) working. Aside from that, they're very authentic. Keep up the good work "Guitar Historian". Also, thanks for pronouncing his last name properly by dropping the 'g' before the 'her'. ;)

The late Mick crowley that sold Rory his guitar was anything but a "grizzled old store owner" . He would have been young at that time and always extremely kind and helpful.

Great video thanks! Somehow Rory had passed me by until a video of him playing Bad Penny live came up on my feed and man instant fan here now cant believe the wasted years I have had of not having his music in my life! what a totally awesome musician he was. Thanks for this I will check out your other vids as this stuff is facinating! :)

You did a great job of telling the story of Rory's Strat. Interesting story. You gave Rory and his guitar the respect they deserve. Joe Bonamassa was the right choice to be the first guitarist to play Rory's guitar. Thank's for your story of a great player and a great guitar. Cheers!

Flipping awesome story!

I first found out about Rory when I was just a young teenager and his band Taste. I had the Taste live album and then found On the Boards. A few years later I bought his album Deuce. I've been a fan since I heard the first note on the Live album. Still have the records to this day and now several CDs. The best music! Very sad loss and I never did get to see him live.

Thank you so much. What a treat!

I should have never doubted you after the last Rory video. Great video on the strat!

Very cool. Thanks for treating the story with respect, you're a good guy. I will check the previous 20 videos for sure!

Brilliant video! Thank you so much for the detailed over& inner view of Rory' s Strat.!

Thank you for bringing Rory to a different audience.

Rory Gallagher Is God 🗿 The Peoples Republic Of Cork Once Rory played guitar in front of Jim (I think I remember that being his first name) Crowley, Jim didn't have any reservations about selling the Stratocaster on HP to the Gallagher's. I can't remember when, but from my mature recollection Rory's Stratocaster was on display in Crowley's Music Store window. Probably some time not too long after Rory's Passing. I remember being in awe admiring it 💛 ☘🇮🇪☘

There is probably several million tons audience love on that guitar.

Thanks Rick ⚓️

There will only ONE RORY and ONE RORY Fender Stratocaster. Irish GOD.

Great delivery on this iconic guitar and guitarist, I had heard many years ago that Rorys swet contained high levels of acid due to his liver condition and that this was the main contributor to the high level of finish erosion on his Strat. Looking at the instrument and what's left of the finish I would have to go along with that belief (in conjunction with being extremely heavily played) as there have many examples of guitars in the past with a million nights of thrash upon them and none come close to this amount of "road wear" (with the exception of Stevie Ray) Whatever the reason, this instrument has as much history behind it as the ancient pyramids of Egypt and for that reason alone it should be housed behind bullet proof glass for all to enjoy. Many thanks tones1957 (New Zealand)

Played one of those Fender signature models years ago. One of the loveliest necks I've ever felt.

Fantastic video!!! One of the first bands that I became a big fan of was Guns n' Roses. I once saw a video where Slash was being interviewed and he talked about Rory Gallagher, saying that he was a big fan of his and even got to jam with him. So, being a fan of Slash, I had to know who Rory Gallagher was and I have been watching videos about him. The story of his Strat is amazing! I didn't know anything about it. Thank you very much for making and sharing this video!!

TGH, watched several of your broadcasts. Always interesting and informative. Thanks.

Leo built stuff for the working man, whether guitars or amps. They were designed and made to last. My brother's '55 Ford station wagon was hit broadside (passenger side) by a Triumph police were chasing. They said it was doing 90 mph when car and driver hit my brother. His 1960 Jazzmaster and Pro amp went flying out the back of the wagon without a lick of damage. I felt the same way about Holly's Stratocaster that Rory did ... staring at it forever on the cover of Holly's first album. My very first guitar, was one that my older brother hunted down in a Jacksonville, Florida pawn shop ... a 1954 Stratocaster that my dad gave me for Christmas, 1963. It was well ridden and put away wet, night after night after night, by whomever had the unfortunate dire straits needed to pawn such a prize. For it to have been in that reliced condition after just nine years, meant it had been played six-nights-a-week for that entire time. The nut slots had gum wrappers in three positions. The maple neck was black with pits in most areas, and there was a long green sweat stripe on the back of the neck on the bass side ... a real wreck; but a prize to a kid who had just lost his father to divorce a few months earlier and who, himself, had just turned 16 two months earlier. I played that guitar for a year-and-a-half until it slid out the back of my brother's '61 Ford station wagon early 25 July 1965 on the Jacksonville expressway and disappeared into the black night, hauled in by a dishonest criminal. It was replaced by a gorgeous 1964 that ... once again ... my brother found for me, this time, in the closet of a fellow student at Florida State University. That one got sold, when I first married in 1968. Love Gibsons. Don't get me wrong. But I doubt an SG would have survived time in a ditch ...

Thank you for the video's.

Ahh , i see you have done you're homework after my last comment , nice ! This strat and his former owner are icons ( for me , they are on the same level as hendrix and gilmour ) , i'm glad you've made this vid , respect !

Respect! Very well researched.

I just came across this video and instantly subscribed! I love this kind of content! 🤘

Thank you! Great content! 🤟

I would like to know what happened to the paintwork on Rory's guitar, I have one I bought in Crowleys in '62, I stripped the paint off it 20 years later, it took me weeks, I believe there were 16 coats of paint, cellulose car paint, it's still there in the tremolo pocket, Fiesta red. When Rory first went to London I loaned him a Dallas Rangemaster treble booster, he already had one and he wanted to plug one into the other to get even more treble, he went back to Crowleys to purchase a second one but Michael Crowley told him he had sold the last one to me. Rory didn't know me but Eric the bass player was a friend, so he brought Rory out to my house asking me to sell it but I didn't want to so I gave him a loan of it. That was the last time I saw it. Eric Clapton used one too, I was checking out his gear in a mag and there it was Dallas Rangemaster Treble Booster, so if Donal, Rory's brother reads this and he has the gear, the treble booster .........is still mine.

Thank you for this informative vid about one of the most iconic guitars ever. But your T-shirt: Simply brillant! ; )

Great Story, Thanks!

Thanks bro..Great job!

Very, very interesting episode! You made your homework.... ....and I thought I knew Rory´s Strat... ha!

Saw the Master twice in my life. I remember it like yesterday. Still can’t believe he’s been gone so many years now. 😢👍🇨🇦. He wanted the Red model, like his hero, Hank Marvin. Absolute disgrace that this legend is still NOT in the RRHF.

great gear review 🐈‍⬛🎶

The only thing destructible about Rory's Strat was the finish, which he rocked off! One of the all-time best guitarists!

Greetings from Ireland thanks for the post,check out a recording from 1964 where Rory is playing the old Larry Williams number slow down with the Fontana Showband .The guitar solo is amazing for 1964 and it's great to compare with later versions of Rory's take on slow down. In 1964 the brass section takes the lead and then Rory digs in with the solo and what a solo it is!

So many changes. I am reminded of the old joke about the axe I have, once owned by my great-grandfather; it's only had two new heads and three new handles.

I'll admit up front I'm not a huge Rory Gallagher fan (never heard any of his excellent playing until last year on YT) but the beat up looking Strat obviously was 'his' axe -- I can relate to him not letting it out of his sight after the episode when it was stolen. It was his baby, and that's the way it was. He definitely got a lot of great sounds from it.

Early 80's 2 different tours, Royal Oak Music Theater and a small club, up front both times it will be at the top of rock memories forever

Magnificent vid!! Kudos for pronouncing Gallagher correctly too.😉

Congratulations on the correct pronunciation of Rory’s surname. The h in Gallagher makes the g silent. I’m 60 this year and you are the first, outside Ireland that I’ve ever heard pronounce it properly. I can’t tell you how happy and impressed I am. Well done you sir. Crowley’s music store is gone now, I don’t know what it looks like now but before it changed I drove down and got a photo outside. There is a plaque honouring Rory’s connection the shop. The legends are true, the sweat, the first strat in Ireland, even if not bought by him originally.

Oh nice pronunciation my friend. Thanks for sharing.

One of the most iconic and instantly recognisable guitars of all time. The remaining paint on the horn looks like a (celtic) dragon! Another great video - love the research and respect you put into each of them... Keep'em coming!👍

seen Rory at the Town and Country Club in London, in the early 1990's, , great night,

I think this guitar brought on the extreme relic fad.

I saw it last week in the rock en roll hall of fame in Cleveland Ohio. Its in a glass case on display.

Hall of fame for Rory..Do it now!!

I saw him play that guitar in Belfast twice and again in Leeds in the seventies. He was about the only major artist who would play in Belfast at that time, and pretty much the entire youth population of Belfast and beyond would go to see him. It was in the Ulster Hall. The Leeds concert was in the University Union Refectory, a long narrow room, and was so loud that my ears were ringing for days. What about his amplifiers? A Fender Tweed Bassman, a Tweed Twin and a Vox AC 30 if I remember correctly.

I was surprised at the fact that Rory had a rare problem causing the paint to wear off the guitar faster than usual. I happen to have a buddy who has the same problem with a very acidic sweat issue, but he destroyed the paint on his Martin acoustic guitar. I wonder how many people have this condition??

One thing I think needs correcting. Michael Crowley wouldn't have been a grizzled old man at the time. I didn't know him until the 90s and he was never grizzled. Always very well turned out and beyond polite.

The picture you have of CROWLEY'S Music Shop. McCurtain Street is great - -- but -- - IT AIN'T where Rory would have shopped !! The original Crowleys was at a totally different location on the Quayside, and not in McCurtain Street. I often shopped there in the '60's !!!

The irony of Kurt’s guitar being worth 6 mill is during that performance he refers to the absurdity of led belly’s estate wanting 500k for Led belly’s old guitar.

I think you got the better part of the acquisition story wrong. I think his mom signed off on his first guitar, a Rosetti i think, and then Rory transferred the note to the Strat...then had to hide it from her for a while till he got busted when called to play at a family event. 😆

So cool! Recently I saw it showcased in a music store in Dublin! But who knows where it is now!

That studio version of Moon Child will never be outplayed. All the styles in that song.

I had a student with high pH content in his sweat .He asked to play my Les Paul and when he handed it back , I put it up and didn't open it till next day . The strings were rusted to the point of being unuseable and where he had rested his hand on the bridge the chrome was being attacked . I removed the bridge and tailpiece And dropped them in an oil bath after removing the gunk left behind .Got rid of the strings and thoroughly cleaned and polished the frets and fingerboard...and I never let him play anything of mine ever again. I wouldn't let him touch the practice amps . He did buy me a new set of strings , and I advised him to clean his guitar religiously after playing otherwise he would be buying strings by the gross just to keep playing...So if Rory's sweat was similar I can understand the finish disappearing and pickups dieing.

Would love to see a video on Lonesome Dave Peveretts "Loents" slab guitar. Apparently his son still has it in Florida.

Rory was not only one of the best guitarists and live musicians but a decent human being as well....

This has a very Professor of Rock vibe in terms of the delivery and script.

Que buena casaca !!!

I was just talking about Rory

That Garda Patrol show was still going in 1981. As a US visitor I was amazed at the attention paid minor thefts. Good story. Thx.

This awesome strat is as tough as RORY Gallagher's playing was. Pure genius

HE PRONOUNCED GALLAGHER CORRECTLY!!! HE PRONOUNCED IT CORRECTLY. It may be nitpicky but I absolutely hate it when people use the uk pronunciation for Rory like the way people say Liam and Noel Gallagher

Master Luthier Chris Eccleshall used to wax lyrical about his time repairing and making instruments for Rory. I almost fealt I knew him. Nice summation of Rory's Strat!

I've played that very guitar at Rory's brothers house.

Had a exact replica of his guitar made by dy guitars 🎸

Going to auction this Oct. Expected to fetch $700,000.00 to 1million

(Sorry, I removed my comment thinking I was being too cheeky. Here it is:) This channel is Gold, if the BBC ever need a real researcher then come see OP...!

^ ^ Throwing a strat into a ditch for a few weeks definitely improves" tonewood" properties! Ha Ha Ha! Foxy Love fae Scotland VVxx

Check out Gerry’s book “Riding Shotgun” about his days with Rory.

I can only speak of the strength of the Strat. There the strongest best Guitfiddle made. A Les Paul on the other hand can snap at the arch just from falling out of a stand!