Bonamassa announced the guitar at his show and brought it out, mentioning Hauer and the guitars’ local history before playing the song “Driving Towards The Daylight.” In his usual irreverent stage manner, Bonamassa said, “This guitar was bought 60 years ago from Hauer Music. Today, I bought it - from Hauer Music. I hope it’s still in tune.”
Earlier in the day he posted a video on his Twitter account playing his new guitar. Bonamassa, known for his highly extensive guitar and amplifier collection, names only a few of his guitars, but christened his newest purchase as “Hauer the Black.”
Some fun on "Hauer The Black" 1958 Gibson Les Paul Custom bought 5/5/58 from Hauer's Music in Dayton and again from Hauer's on 8/18/2017.
😎👍
— JOE BONAMASSA (@JBONAMASSA)
It was originally purchased in May of 1958 from Hauer Music at its Dayton location. The son of the original buyer sold it back to Hauer recently nearly 60 years after it was originally purchased. The guitar had the original hang tag and receipt from Hauer. The price for the Les Paul new was $435.18 including tax. Trading in a Kay lectric guitar, The previous owner also put down another $285.18 to buy it.
Today the guitar can sell anywhere in the six figures depending on the year, history, number of pickups and condition. One recent listing on the site Reverb.com had a similar guitar at $110,000. Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay bought a 1954 Black Beauty for over $335,000 in 2015.
The New York native, who was nominated for a Grammy this year for his “Three Kings Live at the Greek Theater” album, also bought a Fender Stratocaster from the store.
He showed store employees another recent purchase - a 1958 Gibson Flying V made from rare korina wood- another rare guitar worth six figures. Hauer posted an Instragram photo of him holding both his 1958 Flying V and the 1958 Les Paul.
The 1958 “Black Beauty” was a favorite of many classic rock guitarists and was the main guitar for Keith RIchards, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and Danny Gatton among others.
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