Related Tags
Jeff Beck’s White Strat is being loaned to guitarists for a tribute project: “They asked Billy Gibbons, John Mayer and me”
“They’re just getting started,” says Steve Lukather.
Image: Rob Verhorst / Getty Images
Want more news stories from Guitar.com? Follow us on Google News.
Steve Lukather has confirmed that Jeff Beck’s White Fender Stratocaster is being loaned to guitarists in an ongoing project to honour the late musician’s legacy.
Just weeks after John Mayer appeared on stage with the white signature Strat, Lukather was spotted performing a rendition of Jimi Hendrix’s Little Wing using this very instrument during a Toto concert.
“I’ve got something special to do tonight,” Lukather told the crowd at the Hollywood Bowl last Sunday (1 September). “I normally don’t play a white Stratocaster. This is a special one. This is Jeff Beck’s guitar.”
“His lovely wife Sandra and his closest friend and guitar tech brought this out, and they’ve been bringing it out to guitar players to put a little of love on it,” he explained, adding that a bunch of guitarists have been approached for the project thus far, with many more to come.
“They asked a certain amount of guitar players, but they’re just getting started. They asked Billy Gibbons, John Mayer and me, and they’ve probably got a long list. I wish this would make me sound like Jeff Beck, but it won’t.”
The Strat, built around 2014 by the Fender Custom Shop, features a highly recognisable reverse headstock paired with an Olympic White finish, and was used by Beck for much of his late career.
Fans at Mayer’s recent Dead & Company’s recent residency shows at The Sphere would have seen the axe, which was initially thought to be a replica until Joe Bonamassa confirmed otherwise.