Heritage Auctions held its Vintage Guitars and Musical Instruments auction in Dallas on October 15, and two guitars stole the show. One was a 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard that sold for $781,250. The other was Lonnie Mack’s 1958 Gibson Flying V, which went with his old Magnatone amp for $550,000.
Both are late-’50s Gibsons, but they’re worth big money for completely different reasons. That’s what makes this sale fun to dig into.
The ‘Burst nobody famous owned
Most of the crazy guitar prices you hear about come down to who played them. Back in March, David Gilmour’s “Black Strat” sold for $14.55 million at Christie’s, the most ever paid for a guitar at auction. That price is about Pink Floyd as much as it’s about the Strat.
The Les Paul at Heritage is a different story. There’s no rock star attached to it. Heritage says it set a world auction record for a vintage guitar without celebrity provenance, beating the old mark of $611,000 for a 1958/63 Gibson Explorer that sold at Skinner back in 2006.
So why so much? Condition. According to Heritage, serial number 9 0640 still has its original sunburst finish with almost no finish checking. Both original PAF humbuckers still have their decals and untouched covers, and the solder joints on the pots and caps have never been disturbed. It even came with its original hang tags, strap and case.
It also has a paper trail. The guitar used to belong to Ichiro Kato, a well-known collector of vintage Gibsons in Japan, and its serial number is listed in the Burst Serial Registry, which tracks surviving original sunburst Les Pauls. Finding one that’s made it through nearly 70 years with nothing changed is about as rare as it gets.
Lonnie Mack’s “Number 7”
Lonnie Mack’s Flying V is the opposite kind of guitar. It got played, hard, for decades. Heritage’s catalog notes (as reported by GuitarGangsters) say Gibson refinished it red around 1963, a neck repair left two korina dowels showing at the heel, the original string-through holes were filled, and the bridge and tuners have been replaced. The two original PAF pickups are still in it and still work.
None of that hurts its value, because the history is the whole point. Known as “Number 7,” it was Mack’s main guitar through years of records, shows and tours. His instrumentals “Memphis” and “Wham!” mixed blues, rock, country and soul in a way that a lot of guitar players picked up on. Stevie Ray Vaughan was a huge fan, and Guitar World notes the V was back to work in the studio in 1985 when Vaughan produced Mack’s comeback album, Strike Like Lightning.
One thing worth knowing: the $550,000 wasn’t for the guitar alone. The lot included his 1962 Magnatone Custom 440 amp, his stage strap and a hard case.
Why this matters if you play
Nobody needs a $781,250 Les Paul to sound good. But these two sales are a nice reminder of what makes a guitar special. One stayed exactly the way it left the factory. The other got played until it became part of somebody’s sound.
If you’ve got an older guitar at home, hang on to the original parts, case and paperwork, even if you swap things out so you can play it. And if your guitar’s got dings and worn spots from years of use, that’s not a problem. That’s just proof it’s been doing its job.
Sources
- 1959 Gibson Les Paul Brings $781,250 at Heritage (Heritage Auctions announcement, via Artdaily)
- Lonnie Mack’s guitar rig sells for $550,000 at auction (Guitar World)
- Lonnie Mack’s Flying V and Magnatone Sell for $550,000 (GuitarGangsters)
- Irsay Is Most Valuable Memorabilia Auction Ever (Christie’s)
