The black Les Paul used by Neal Schon throughout his illustrious career with the likes of Santana, Journey, and Schon & Hammer is itself about to go under the hammer.
Featuring well over 100 instruments, Heritage Auction’s massive Neal Schon Collection (opens in new tab) rivals the inventory of many a guitar store. And at its center is the heavily modified Gibson electric guitar that Schon famously used to record a string of Journey classics, including songs from 1981’s chart-topping Escape album such as “Don’t Stop Believin’”, "Stone in Love", and "Who's Crying Now".
Heritage, the largest auction house in the United States – whose recent sales include Kirk Hammett's ESP 400 used in Metallica’s “One” music video ($112,500) and a 1965 Martin D-35 used by Bruce Springsteen ($68,750) – are due to start the bidding at the end of this month on July 31.
The opening bid is currently set at $200,000.
In this video, Schon retraces the workhorse guitar’s fabled history and gives us a taste of its sweet, ringing tone as heard on the Journey records at the peak of the band's popularity.
Read more about this historic guitar here (opens in new tab)
Buy Journey's Escape album here (opens in new tab)
Rod Brakes is a music writer with an expertise in all things guitar-related. Having spent many years at the coalface as a guitar dealer and tech, Rod's more recent work as a journalist covering artists, industry pros and gear includes writing hundreds of articles and features for the likes of Guitarist, Total Guitar, Guitar World, Guitar Player and MusicRadar, as well as contributions for specialist books, blogs and social media. He is also a lifelong musician.
