Joe Bonamassa first laid eyes on the “Cradle Rock” Strat as a teenager at the Philadelphia Guitar Show in 1994. He purchased the then-pristine 1963 Sunburst Fender Stratocaster, and it became one of the most sentimental pieces in his collection. Named after the Rory Gallagher tune Joe recorded on his debut album, the pickups in this Strat had a distinctive powerful sound that he wanted to share with guitarists chasing this seminal tone. Crafted in the Custom Shop, the Cradle Rock Strat Set is limited to 1000 units, with Joe’s printed signature on each pickup.
Seymour Duncan Bonamassa Cradle Rock 63 Strat Pickup Set - Aged
Bonamassa Cradle Rock 63 Strat PU Set - Aged
![Rig Rundown: Eric Gales [2023]](https://www.premierguitar.com/media-library/rig-rundown-eric-gales-2023.jpg?id=33375134&width=1245&height=700&quality=85&coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C0)
Eric Gales is back again. Since last chatting with John Bohlinger in 2017, the blues maestro’s rig has transitioned to include more signature Raw Dawg gear pieces—including pedals, amps, and, of course, his signature Magneto guitars. Just last year, the lefty slinger released the Grammy-nominated, Crown, which features collabs with his pal Joe Bonamassa. Gales was touring in support of that record when he rolled through Nashville.
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Eric Gales' Guitars
For over a decade, Magneto Guitars has collaborated with Gales on his signature guitars, and he tours with a pair of them. This Magneto Sonnet RawDawg III features a basswood body, roasted maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, a righthanded Gotoh tremolo (flipped, naturally) and tuners. It’s loaded with a set of Magneto Metro-Poles EG1 pickups, and a gold-mirror pickguard keeps things flashy.
Gales’ Sonnet RawDawg II—one of his longtime standbys for both stage and studio—is outfitted with an alder body, maple neck and fingerboard, and Lollar S-style pickups. Gales strings both signature guitars with Dunlop .010–.046 strings.
Once again, Gales relies upon his signature gear for his amp needs. When he and DV Mark designed his Raw Dawg EG 250-watt head, they decided upon a one-channel design with a tube preamp and solid-state power amp to achieve a super-clean tone, which is delivered to a pair of DV Mark DV Gold 212V 2x12 Vertical cabinets.
Eric Gales' Pedalboard
After leaving his guitar, Gales’ signal hits a Shure GLXD6+ Digital Wireless and goes straight into a pair of expression-controlled pedals—a Dunlop Bob Bradshaw-designed CAE wah with a gold-plated enclosure and a DigiTech Whammy. Then, he heats things up with a host of drive units: an E.W.S. Eric Gales Signature Brute Drive, and MXR Eric Gales Signature Raw Dawg (which includes the image of Gales’ late pitbull), a Mojo Hand FX Colossus Fuzz, and an MXR Hendrix Octavio Fuzz. Those hit a lone always-on delay— a Tech 21 Boost DLA—and a groove-filled Boss Loop Station RC-5.
