Lonnie Mack’s guitar rig sold for more than half a million dollars at a recent auction event that set a new world record for a 1959 Gibson Les Paul ’Burst.
Heritage Auction’s Vintage Guitars and Musical Instruments Signature took place over the weekend and realized $2.16 million across 188 sold lots.
The two big hitters were the record setter – an “exceptionally preserved” 1959 Les Paul Standard – and Lonnie Mack’s workhorse Flying V, which was rarely out of the Stevie Ray Vaughan-adored bluesman’s hands. They sold for a combined $1.3 million.
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Mack’s one-and-only 1958 korina Flying V went for a big six-figure sum. Just the seventh guitar off the production line of one of Gibson’s most prestigious runs, it sold alongside his 1962 Magnatone Custom 440 combo amp for $550,000.
Mack’s pioneering amalgamation of blues, rock, and country guitar playing cemented his place as a legend of the guitar world. He was a key influence of Stevie Ray Vaughan, who later helped revive the unsung hero’s career after a chance encounter.
The V was, as ever, put hard to work in the studio as SRV produced his comeback album, Strike Like Lightning, in 1985.
(Image credit: Heritage Auctions)
Heritage Auction’s Aaron Piscopo says the six-string “helped shape the sound of modern electric guitar,” and it’s hard to argue against the sentiment.
“Together, their results demonstrate the depth of collecting interest in great instruments and the musical history they carry,” he adds.
It shared the spotlight with a 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard, which broke the record for the most expensive guitar of its kind without celebrity provenance to sell at auction. It went for $781,250.
1959 is the golden year of vintage Les Pauls, and this record-smashing electric guitar underscores just how valuable they are today. The guitar, bearing serial No. 9 0640, looks pristine all these years on, its sunburst finish as glorious as ever.
It still sports its original humbuckers, and the solder joints on its potentiometers and capacitors haven’t succumbed to any modifications since leaving Gibson’s former Kalamazoo factory.
It left the previous non-celebrity guitar record holder – a $611,000 1958/63 Gibson Explorer – in tatters.
“The 1959 Les Paul Standard has long been one of the most sought-after electric guitars in the world, and this example offered an extraordinary combination of originality, preservation and documented collecting history,” says Aaron Piscopo.
“Its record price speaks to the importance collectors place on finding an exceptional instrument.”
Visit Heritage Auctions to explore the full lot.
Naturally, the figures raised here are some way off the fees which celebrity axes fetched during the bumper auction of Jim Irsay’s collection earlier this year, which hugely changed the make up of the list of the world’s most expensive guitars.
