ONE OF A KIND
Rory engraved on this '61 strat
with his heart and soul.
Along with his tartan lumber shirt, his "ex Sunburst stratocaster" had been a trademark of Rory. It is believed that this guitar is one of the first Strats brought to Ireland. it was purchased in Cork for 100 pounds in 1963 as a second-hand guitar.
A guitarist in a showband ordered a strat, but somehow the shop received a wrong color. So, fortunately for Rory, until the right color strat was arrived, this person played "Rory's to be" for a little while.
Now I listened to BBC radio2 Rory Gallagher Story in April. In that program, the owner of the music shop where Rory bought his Strat spoke. He said that a showband changed their uniform color so the guitar player needed a different color strat which would match the new uniform.
Rory had traded in his Rosetti Solid 7 (he purchased in 1961) for a fifth of the price of the strat.
Rory said that this guitar was like a "Lucky charm". Once it was stolen, but the guitar was recovered after ten days and came back to where it really belonged.