Kirk Hammett once felt guilty about buying a guitar from Neal Schon and offered to return it.
The Metallica guitarist paid $87,500 for a 1957 Gibson Les Paul Standard at an auction in 2021. He later said he believed the price was too low.
Hammett shared the story at a recent fan event in Ireland, showing a photo of the rare black guitar. “This guitar used to belong to one of my all-time star heroes, a huge source of inspiration, Neal Schon,” Hammett said. “I got this in an auction, and I don’t know what was up, but I got this for, like, half the price that it was worth.”
He added, “I felt kind of bad about it because I should have paid a fair price. I paid a price that was lower than it should have been.”
The auction took place when the post-pandemic market was unstable, and several items sold for less than expected. Experts had predicted the guitar might fetch more than $150,000.
Hammett said he called Schon to offer the guitar back. “I said, ‘Neal, do you want the guitar back?’ And he said, ‘No, man, you keep it. You buy it, you keep it.’”
Hammett said the gesture increased his respect for Schon. “Neal Schon, he’s such a cool guy,” Hammett said. “He’s an amazing guitar player. He lives and breathes music.”
Hammett described Schon as a personal inspiration. “I see him, and I see how he conducts his life and how he plays, and his commitment and dedication to music. I was just like, ‘Yeah! That’s what I want to do too.’ So I’m doing it!”
Separately, Metallica has donated $100,000 to emergency operations in Venezuela after earthquakes killed more than 2,000 people and injured over 70,000. The band’s All Within My Hands foundation made the donation to Direct Relief, a humanitarian aid group working in the region. The grant will help support Direct Relief’s ongoing response to requests in Venezuela.