Steve Lukather has played a loaned guitar that belonged to Jeff Beck just weeks after John Mayer appeared on stage with the same signature white Fender Stratocaster. It’s easy to spot because of the distinctive reverse headstock.
Mayer borrowed the instrument for Dead and Company‘s residency shows in June at the Sphere. Fans initially theorized that the Strat was a custom build, but Joe Bonamassa later confirmed that the guitar was authentic. Lukather played the same Stratocaster over the weekend during Toto‘s homecoming at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.
“I’ve got something special to do tonight,” Lukather said on stage. “If you’re wondering, I normally don’t play a white Stratocaster. … This is a special one. This was brought from England. This is Jeff Beck’s guitar.”
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After the crowd’s applause, Lukather also cleared up the mystery behind these guitar loans while describing how the Beck project might continue to grow.
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“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 love on it,” Lukather added. “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.”
Lukather then led Toto through a seven-minute cover of Jimi Hendrix‘s “Little Wing.” “I wish this would make me sound like Jeff Beck,” he jokingly added, “but it won’t.”
Beck’s Strat was built around 2014 by the Fender Custom Shop and was his main late-career guitar. He died in early 2023.
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