“You all can stop asking me if I am buying it now!”: Joe Bonamassa weighs in on the sale of Norman’s Rare Guitars
Norman’s Rare Guitars has been acquired by Carter Vintage Guitars and TNAG Global. The sale will see Carter Vintage Guitars acquiring more than 1,000 guitars, as well as Norman Harris’s personal collection, which he’s has been assembling for over 50 years.
Harris has been quite vocal about his desire to find a successor for his collection. In a 2024, a Norman’s Rare Guitars documentary saw the owner opening up about a slew of health scares, including a bout of cancer and a more recent heart attack. As a result, he’s been considering his legacy.
Time and time again, Harris has hinted that Joe Bonamassa was his first choice to inherit his collection. “For years, he’s been saying to me, ‘I want you to take over the store,’” Bonamassa revealed in the Norman’s Rare Guitars documentary. “But I have a job already.”
READ MORE: Trivium’s Matt Heafy names the five up-and-coming metal bands everyone needs to watch in 2026
“The problem is, if Norm’s not there to run it, then it’s just a namesake,” he continued. “It would just be a brand. When you take him away, you take away the heart and the soul. It wouldn’t be the same. There’s only one Norman Harris.”
In light of the news, Bonamassa has also shared his best wishes for the shop going forward. “I am extremely excited to see my Uncle Norm enter into this new chapter of his life and career,” he writes on X. “We all know that he will still be around being the master of ceremonies and dealing the coolest guitars in the world.”
“Congratulations to my friend Ben and the entire team at Carters Vintage on securing the legacy of the greatest guitar store in the world,” he continues. “With that said, you all can stop asking me if I am buying it now!”
I am extremely excited to see my Uncle Norm enter into this new chapter of his life and career. We all know that he will still be around being the master of ceremonies and dealing the coolest guitars in the world. Congratulations to my friend Ben and the entire team at Carters… pic.twitter.com/GOJL5J9vUM
— Joe Bonamassa (Official) (@JBONAMASSA) January 14, 2026
In a statement, Carter Vintage Guitars’ CEO Ben Montague is adamant that the acquisition will preserve the spirit of Norman’s Rare Guitars.
“To put it simply, our mission is to protect what makes Norman’s special,” Montague insists. “As we have with Carter Vintage Guitars, [we want to] preserve its legacy, and guide the business into its next chapter while expanding its reach to a global community of guitar players and collectors.”
As a result, the acquisition will see little changing about how Norman’s Rare Guitars operated. It will continue to have a home at its iconic San Fernando Valley location, with the same team, and Harris will also remain “actively involved” in Norman’s Rare Guitars operations.
“I’ve always known there would come a time when I needed the right long-term partner to carry Norman’s Rare Guitars forward,” Harris himself reflects. “I couldn’t imagine a better steward for the shop and its legacy than Ben Montague and TNAG Global.”
“The goal has always been to share my love of great guitars with the community, and this partnership allows that community to grow, while protecting everything that makes the shop special. I feel a deep sense of comfort knowing the shop, its history and its values will still be here for future generations of my family and for guitar lovers around the world.”
For more information, head to Carter Vintage Guitars.
The post “You all can stop asking me if I am buying it now!”: Joe Bonamassa weighs in on the sale of Norman’s Rare Guitars appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Source: www.guitar-bass.net
