Are we living in a golden age for iconic rock guitars? In 2019, Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour auctioned off the bulk of his guitar collection for $21 million, with the proceeds benefiting organizations fighting climate change. The latest famed guitarist to put their collection up for sale is Neal Schon, best known for his time in Journey, as well as Bad English and Santana.
As Matt Owen first reported at Guitar World, 112 electric and acoustic guitars from Schon’s collection will be sold at auction. “These are guitars I’ve been collecting for a very long time and it’s time to let go of some of my collection to make room for new arrivals,” Schon said when asked about the auction.
Heritage Auctions is handling the sales. The highest-profile instrument up for bid is the guitar Schon used to record Journey’s 1981 album Escape — which means that it’s the guitar played on “Don’t Stop Believin’.” Specifically, that’s a 1977 Gibson Les Paul Black Solid Body. As of this writing, the current bidding is at $200,000.
Guitar World‘s report notes that the auction also includes the guitar Schon played on 1978’s Infinity — and which he used to write the song “Wheel In the Sky” — a 1974 Guild F-50R.
It’s unclear if the buyer of Schon’s 1977 Les Paul will also learn the truth about what happened to Tony in the finale of The Sopranos, or if it will also give them secret knowledge about South Detroit. But they will have a piece of rock history; hopefully, that will suffice.
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