Nobody Wanted the Old Guitar at Auction — Until B.B. King Said Whose It Was

New York City. November 14th, 1986. Sotheby's Auction House. Lot 47. An old acoustic guitar, circa 1938. Manufacturer unknown. Crack repair to lower bout. Mismatched tuning pegs. Provenance unverified. Estimate: $200 — $400. A well-known collector had already written in his catalogue: "$150 max. Not worth more." When bidding opened and nobody moved, he raised his paddle at $150 and expected it to be over. Then a voice from the back of the room said: "Two hundred." What followed was a bidding war that stopped the room — not because the amounts were large, but because of what the man in the back said when the collector stood up and demanded to know what he was seeing in an unverified, damaged guitar that justified paying above estimate. "I knew the man this guitar belonged to," the voice said. "I watched him play it a hundred times. The crack in the lower bout happened in 1949. He repaired it himself with hide glue." The collector sat down. Nobody bid against B.B. King again. What he did with the guitar afterward — and where it ended up — is a story about the difference between market value and the other kind of value. ⚠️ Disclaimer: This channel produces fictional stories inspired by real-life events. Our main goal is to inspire viewers through creatively and emotionally reimagined narratives. Dialogues, scenes, and events are dramatized and may not accurately reflect actual events. ✅ Subscribe and turn on notifications — stories like this one, every week. 🔔 #BBKing #BluesLegend #KingOfTheBlues #Lucille #Sothebys #BluesMusic #MusicHistory #NewYork #Auction