"Well here it is officially: The 1960 Gibson Les Paul Standard that Tommy Bolin played in Zephyr, Deep Purple and on his solo albums and is now proudly in the collection of The Nerdville Museum of Vintage guitars and Feed and Grain Memorabilia. This quest started 7 years ago, and in the past two months—although with many moving pieces and personalities—finally came together. Operation Moab mission status: Complete!" - Joe Bonamassa

This 1960 Gibson Les Paul is the guitar Tommy Bolin played in Zephyr, The James Gang, Deep Purple and ultimately his solo albums like Teaser and Whirlwind.

Tommy Bolin is considered one of the most versatile guitarists to emerge during the early 70’s. He was a self-taught prodigy who was a part of the bands “Zephyr”, “Moxy”, “Alphonse Mouzon”, “James Gang”, “Deep Purple”, as well as solo albums and groundbreaking recordings with jazz artist Billy Cobham. He also proved to be on his way to rock star status. It’s no surprise that Bolin was chosen as successor to both Walsh and Blackmore.

At times, he was compared to the likes of Jimi Hendrix not only for his guitar playing but also his crazy fashion sense. No matter where he performed, he always stood out and made quite an impression. His unabashed guitar playing and musical tastes defied categorization which also made him a great studio session player.

His final performance was being the opening act for Peter Frampton and Jeff Beck on December 3, 1976 in Miami. Tommy Bolin died too young but left an indelible mark on the music world. After his passing, the fans were questioning what happened to his 1960 Les Paul—his Frankenstein designed guitar. After 7 whole years, Joe has finally found the coveted “Lost Ark” aka “Tommy Bolin 1960 Les Paul”, and has added it to his ever-growing collection of rare and vintage guitars (better known as the Bona-seum.)

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