Several guitars fetched six digits
Last weekend at Heritage Auctions, more than 90 instruments from Journey founder Neal Schon’s historic guitar collection sold for more than $4.2 million. These include a 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard Sunburst fetching $350,000, while another of the six-string Ferraris favored by arena-rock gods realized $300,000. Those two guitars are now the most expensive vintage instruments sold in Heritage Auctions’ history, with seven of Schon’s guitars ranking among the Top 20 in the auction house’s hall of fame.
Nearly 500 bidders from around the world, on the phone and online and on the floor at Heritage’s global headquarters, took part in the sale. Among them was an NFL owner who added one of Schon’s most famous instruments to his own world-renowned collection. Schon’s 1977 black Gibson Les Paul, played on 1981’s chart-topping, diamond-certified Escape, was acquired during the auction by the Jim Irsay Collection.
The Journey founder and songwriter used the Les Paul on “Don’t Stop Believin,’” one of the most performed, covered, downloaded and streamed songs in history, well before its inclusion in The Sopranos’ finale in June 2007. Irsay’s latest rock-and-roll acquisition was made only two weeks after the Indianapolis Colts owner and CEO bought from Heritage Auctions Elton John’s longtime touring Steinway.
Irsay says he wanted to include Schon’s Les Paul in his acclaimed collection of historic and culturally significant artifacts assembled over several decades. Among the items in that collection: President Abraham Lincoln’s walking cane, a Jackie Robinson bat from 1953 (the year of the Colts’ founding) and instruments used by Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Prince, Jim Morrison and Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour.
“Rock music is a uniquely American art form, and the instruments and artifacts that created its rich history should be protected and preserved,” says Irsay, who regularly tours his artifacts and one day hopes to open a museum in which to display them. “I look forward to sharing this and other pieces of the collection in the hopes that they may educate and inspire others to do great, meaningful things.”
Ten of Schon’s guitars, including the Escape Les Paul, sold for six figures, among them a 1959 Gibson ES-335 Natural Semi-Hollow Body that sold for $137,500, a 1957 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop Solid Body that realized $131,250 and a 1958 Gibson Les Paul Standard Goldtop Solid Body that fetched $125,000.
“The vintage market remains strong,” says Aaron Piscopo, Heritage Auctions’ Director of Vintage Guitars & Musical Instruments. “Neal pretty much covered all aspects of electric-guitar collecting, and the condition of these rare instruments is just extraordinary. The variety of finishes, vintages and details within his collection was just breathtaking. As a result, we had many new bidders, as this collection caught the eye of some of the most prestigious collectors in the world. I am sure they’re grateful that Neal made them available, and working with him and his collection was an honor and a pleasure.”
Heritage Auctions is the largest fine art and collectibles auction house founded in the United States, and the world’s largest collectibles auctioneer. Heritage maintains offices in New York, Dallas, Beverly Hills, San Francisco, Chicago, Palm Beach, London, Paris, Geneva, Amsterdam and Hong Kong.
