Lonnie Mack’s ‘Number 7’ Flying V and Magnatone rig sell for $550,000

Lonnie Mack’s 1958 Gibson Flying V “Number 7” and his 1962 Magnatone Custom 440 amplifier sold together for $550,000 at Heritage Auctions on October 15. The lot also included Mack’s familiar stage strap, pairing the guitar and amp that carried his sound across decades of records, concerts and tours.

“Number 7” was the seventh Flying V from Gibson’s 1958 production and was refinished in red by Gibson around 1963. Heritage’s catalog documents a repaired neck heel, both original PAF humbuckers, a later chrome ABR-1 bridge and reproduction Kluson tuners, with the originals included. The Magnatone was described as all-original, while the guitar’s hard case was also part of the sale.

The Mack rig was one of two headline results in Heritage’s $2.15 million auction of 201 lots. An exceptionally preserved 1959 Les Paul Standard, serial 9 0640, reached $781,250 — a record for a vintage guitar without celebrity provenance. Heritage said the Les Paul retained its original sunburst finish, PAF pickups, untouched solder joints, original tuners, tags, strap and case.

Mack’s result has a different kind of weight. The Flying V was his main instrument for his blend of blues, rock, country and soul, heard through a career that influenced players including Stevie Ray Vaughan. Its sale puts a market value on a complete working identity — guitar, amplifier and strap — rather than on rarity alone, while the Les Paul result shows how strongly originality and documented condition continue to drive the vintage market.