“There was a black Les Paul with three pickups and gold hardware on a pedestal. Elton said, ‘I'd better buy that guitar just to have in my house’”: One of Davey Johnstone's most prized guitars was once a piece of upscale decor for his superstar bandmate

Davey Johnstone (left) and Elton John perform at the Ondrej Nepela Arena in Bratislava, Slovakia on July 10, 2012.

For an incredible 50+ years, Elton John's live band – truly one of the most underrated in rock – has been anchored by guitarist Davey Johnstone, who first teamed up with the pop superstar at the tender age of 19.

It shouldn't come as a big surprise, then, that Johnstone has stories aplenty from all those years of touring madness – but a particularly great one is how he came into possession of one of his most prized guitars, a three-pickup, gold hardware-adorned Gibson Les Paul Custom.