Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot, who passed away in 2023, left a legacy of great songs—and a remarkable collection of instruments. Among them, one stood apart: his Gibson B-45-12. Late last fall, this 12-string guitar was the top-selling item in a Heritage Auctions estate sale, going for $350,000 to a group of Canadian collectors.
Over a career spanning more than 60 years, Lightfoot amassed dozens of fine acoustic guitars. While he didn’t favor a single brand—the auction also included a 1959 Martin 0-18 tenor, 1979 custom Manzer, early 1980s Guild F-412, and others—the Gibson was in a class of its own.
Some of Lightfoot’s best-loved songs—“Sundown,” “If You Could Read My Mind,” and “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” (transcribed in the September/October 2023 issue)—were composed on the B-45-12. Open up a copy of Sundown, his 1974 best-selling record, and you’ll see this prized guitar by his side.
“Gordon always returned to that 12-string,” says Rick Haynes, his bassist of 55 years. Fellow bandmate and drummer Barry Keane adds, “On commercial flights, Gordon always bought a first-class ticket—for the guitar.”
Gibson introduced the B-45-12 in 1961, quickly earning favor among 12-string players like Reverend Gary Davis and Leo Kottke. The model was made with both pinned bridge and trapeze tailpiece variations; Lightfoot’s guitar features the former. Its worn top, shaped by years of steady play, speaks to a songwriter who rarely set it aside.
The only modification to Lightfoot’s B-45-12 came in the 1980s when, at the suggestion of a road crew member, he installed a pickup under the bridge. The addition proved purely cosmetic—Lightfoot tried it once in sound check but never used it again, preferring a single directional stage microphone. As Haynes recalls, “Gordon was really a purist that way.”
Learn to play the Lightfoot classic “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” in the September/October 2023 issue.
This article originally appeared in the July/August 2025 issue of Acoustic Guitar magazine.
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