Watch Joe Bonamassa put budget gear to the test as he plays Hendrix’s Band Of Gypsys Rig “for real and for less”

Is expensive gear really worth it? It’s an age-old question, but gear marketplace Reverb has certainly put the debate through a strong test in its recent video with blues titan, Joe Bonamassa.

At Nerdville HQ – AKA, Bonamassa’s home museum of vintage gear – the brand teamed up with the blues rocker to play through a period-accurate guitar rig of vintage goodies from Bonamassa, and then a bunch of modern and budget-friendly gear in the style of Jimi Hendrix’s setup when he played within his Band Of Gypsys live lineup.

• READ MORE: “The worst thing you can do is say, ‘If I’m not a success by 30, I’m just gonna quit’”: Joe Bonamassa gives his advice to aspiring musicians

“What has Joe learned after amassing one of the most impressive collections of vintage gear in the world? You don’t really need it,” states Reverb. “On a recent trip to Bonamassa’s Nerdville museum of vintage guitar gear, we put a sound test together with him and Dunlop’s Jeorge Tripps. Could we, first, set up a period-correct rig of Hendrix gear? (Thanks to Joe’s collection, that was easily done.) And, second, see how a $1,000 setup compared?”

To start with, Bonamassa brings out the vintage big guns for a play through. These are:

• 1969 Fender Stratocaster in Olympic White (Est. value: $35,000-$45,000)
• Vox Wah ($1,500-$4,000)
• Tycho Brahe Octavia ($2,500-$4,500)
• 1970 Dallas-Arbiter Fuzz Face ($1,900-$4,000)
• Shin-Ei Uni-Vibe ($3,500-$4,500)
• 1969 Marshall Super Lead ($4,500+)

In the second playthrough of the test, the rig contains:

• Squier Stratocaster (Est. value: $300)
• Dunlop JH-1D Wah ($95-$169)
• Dunlop JH-OC1 Octavio ($211-$320)
• Dunlop JHF1 Fuzz Face ($120-169)
• MXR M68 Uni-Vibe ($83-$129)
• Peavey Classic 30 ($400)

In Bonamassa’s opinion, the budget rig is 85-90 percent accurate in achieving that Hendrix tone, and that really, playing in the style of the legend helps in cracking that sound more than the price of your gear. “There’s no such thing as a bad guitar or a bad amp, or a bad pedal – it’s how you drive it,” he concludes.

Watch the full video below:

See all of Bonamassa’s upcoming live dates, and check out more gear over at Reverb.