Guitar
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Musical instrument Pop music The Beatles
See also : Musical instrument Pop music The Beatles
(1942)-1954 The CF Martin of Elvis Presley
2020 SOLD for $ 1.32M by Gotta Have Rock and Roll
Rock and roll has many backgrounds that fascinate Memphis teens : rhythm and blues, gospel, country, bluegrass. A kind of competition is established between White and African-American influences. The Sun Studio feels that a synthesis is possible and organizes auditions.
In 1954 Elvis Presley is 19 years old. He is nervous about performing. He had learned to play the guitar, reinterpreting various ballads without having the means to use a piano. A listener from Sun Studio forms a trio with Elvis, another guitarist and a bassist to attempt a recording session in July.
It does not work. Late at night, the boss leaves and the three boys make the fools. The scene is historic : What are you doing ?, says the listener on his return. We don't know, the three kids answer. It is the root of rock and roll, in which the skipping bodies generate the new way of singing that Memphis has been waiting for.
Elvis still has the guitar from his teenage years, which is obviously not enough for his new commitments. In November he brings this instrument to a local dealer who agrees to take it for $ 8, immediately put it in the trash and sells to the young musician for $ 175 a 1942 C.F. Martin D-18 guitar.
For two years the Martin was Elvis Presley's daily working instrument, which he used to the point of wear in recordings and on stage, as evidenced by countless photos. It is the King's oldest surviving guitar. It was sold for $ 1.32M by Gotta Have Rock and Roll on August 1, 2020. A post sale report was issued by Barnebys.
In 1954 Elvis Presley is 19 years old. He is nervous about performing. He had learned to play the guitar, reinterpreting various ballads without having the means to use a piano. A listener from Sun Studio forms a trio with Elvis, another guitarist and a bassist to attempt a recording session in July.
It does not work. Late at night, the boss leaves and the three boys make the fools. The scene is historic : What are you doing ?, says the listener on his return. We don't know, the three kids answer. It is the root of rock and roll, in which the skipping bodies generate the new way of singing that Memphis has been waiting for.
Elvis still has the guitar from his teenage years, which is obviously not enough for his new commitments. In November he brings this instrument to a local dealer who agrees to take it for $ 8, immediately put it in the trash and sells to the young musician for $ 175 a 1942 C.F. Martin D-18 guitar.
For two years the Martin was Elvis Presley's daily working instrument, which he used to the point of wear in recordings and on stage, as evidenced by countless photos. It is the King's oldest surviving guitar. It was sold for $ 1.32M by Gotta Have Rock and Roll on August 1, 2020. A post sale report was issued by Barnebys.
1954 The White Stratocaster by Fender
2019 SOLD for $ 1.8M by Christie's
Leo Fender never played guitar. He was an electronics and sound specialist, and repaired radios. They were talking a lot in his shop in Southern California, and he was attentive to the needs of the country music.
Fender was not the first to consider a solid-body electric guitar, but he discovered by chance during a test that such an instrument had unprecedented sonic characteristics. He releases his first models : the Esquire in 1949 with a single microphone, the Telecaster in 1950 with two microphones, the Stratocaster in 1954 with three microphones. He is also in 1951 the inventor of the bass guitar.
The Stratocaster thus incorporates the improvements requested by performers, not only for sound but also for ease of use : its shape, specially adapted to the position of the body of the player, has become the archetype of the electric guitar.
The production of the Stratocaster begins slowly, with about ten prototypes plus a pre-series for marketing and user feedback.
The standard color for Fender guitars is sunburst, a yellowish gradient, but some instruments had other colors on request. In the mid-1970s, a guitarist brought to a workshop in Santa Barbara a white Strat that he wanted to have repainted. The specialist is competent : he understands that he has a pre-production Stratocaster in his hands. Its serial number 0001 is however not significant. He keeps the white guitar which he exchanges for another Strat in the color requested by the client.
David Gilmour bought this 0001 in 1978. Its sound has the quality of the very first Stratocasters. He commented: "This is about as perfect as a guitar can be". He will play it very frequently with the Pink Floyd, including on recording but very rarely on stage to avoid damaging this historic instrument. It was sold for $ 1.8M by Christie's on June 20, 2019 in the auction of the Gilmour collection, lot 20.
Fender was not the first to consider a solid-body electric guitar, but he discovered by chance during a test that such an instrument had unprecedented sonic characteristics. He releases his first models : the Esquire in 1949 with a single microphone, the Telecaster in 1950 with two microphones, the Stratocaster in 1954 with three microphones. He is also in 1951 the inventor of the bass guitar.
The Stratocaster thus incorporates the improvements requested by performers, not only for sound but also for ease of use : its shape, specially adapted to the position of the body of the player, has become the archetype of the electric guitar.
The production of the Stratocaster begins slowly, with about ten prototypes plus a pre-series for marketing and user feedback.
The standard color for Fender guitars is sunburst, a yellowish gradient, but some instruments had other colors on request. In the mid-1970s, a guitarist brought to a workshop in Santa Barbara a white Strat that he wanted to have repainted. The specialist is competent : he understands that he has a pre-production Stratocaster in his hands. Its serial number 0001 is however not significant. He keeps the white guitar which he exchanges for another Strat in the color requested by the client.
David Gilmour bought this 0001 in 1978. Its sound has the quality of the very first Stratocasters. He commented: "This is about as perfect as a guitar can be". He will play it very frequently with the Pink Floyd, including on recording but very rarely on stage to avoid damaging this historic instrument. It was sold for $ 1.8M by Christie's on June 20, 2019 in the auction of the Gilmour collection, lot 20.
1962 The Gibson Jumbo of John Lennon
2015 SOLD for $ 2.4M by Julien's
The Beatles liked the Gibson ES-175 guitar of their friend Tony Sheridan. John and George desired to own guitars from this US brand. Their choice went on the Jumbo Electric J-160E that was not regularly available in England. This acoustic-electric hybrid model can be used unconnected, which is nice when you are traveling.
The two identical marvels are delivered to them on September 10, 1962 through a specialized shop in Liverpool. These instruments meet their needs and they make a regular use of them for composition and recording, at home and in the studio. Their collaboration is so close that they swap their Gibsons, certainly unknowingly.
A few days after a Christmas show in 1963, John observes that his guitar has left. He will never see it again.
For the last 45 years, a guitarist living in San Diego owned this instrument without identifying its glorious past. In 2014, he realized the likeness of his Gibson with its widely documented twin which had been kept by George. Serial numbers are very close together.
The veins in the wood allow the identification of a guitar with the same certainty as fingerprints for a human. The best expert of equipment used by the Beatles compared the instrument with period photographs. He is formal and admiring : half a century after being pinched, John Lennon's Gibson has resurfaced in its unmodified configuration, like a time capsule.
This historic guitar was sold for $ 2.4M from a lower estimate of $ 600K by Julien's on November 7, 2015, lot 278.
Its photo in an exhibit at Austin in 2015 was offered to the public domain and is available on Wikimedia:
The two identical marvels are delivered to them on September 10, 1962 through a specialized shop in Liverpool. These instruments meet their needs and they make a regular use of them for composition and recording, at home and in the studio. Their collaboration is so close that they swap their Gibsons, certainly unknowingly.
A few days after a Christmas show in 1963, John observes that his guitar has left. He will never see it again.
For the last 45 years, a guitarist living in San Diego owned this instrument without identifying its glorious past. In 2014, he realized the likeness of his Gibson with its widely documented twin which had been kept by George. Serial numbers are very close together.
The veins in the wood allow the identification of a guitar with the same certainty as fingerprints for a human. The best expert of equipment used by the Beatles compared the instrument with period photographs. He is formal and admiring : half a century after being pinched, John Lennon's Gibson has resurfaced in its unmodified configuration, like a time capsule.
This historic guitar was sold for $ 2.4M from a lower estimate of $ 600K by Julien's on November 7, 2015, lot 278.
Its photo in an exhibit at Austin in 2015 was offered to the public domain and is available on Wikimedia:
_-_Ladies_and_Gentlemen..._the_Beatles!_exhibit_at_LBJ_Presidential_Library,_Austin,_TX,_2015-06-12_11.37.55.jpg)
(1964)-1965 The Fender Stratocaster of Bob Dylan
2013 SOLD for $ 965K by Christie's
In 1965, Bob Dylan is 24 years old and has a lot of musical ambitions. He had met the Beatles in the previous year and their mutual influence will be considerable. To get a sustainable favor from the young public, he must be bold.
Dylan's strategy at the Folk Festival in Newport RI on July 25 is winning. Spectators were waiting for his acoustic guitar and his harmonica. Without warning, he began singing with an electric guitar. Dylan insists despite being booed, before coming back to comfort his friends again with his classical guitar.
Both types of instruments have a similar shape conducive to puzzle such a neophyte public, but the comparison stops here. His electric guitar is a solid body instrument without sounding case, a Fender Stratocaster model made in 1964.
The Fender Stratocaster was soon abandoned or simply lost in a private plane. When it surfaced again two years ago, it was unquestionably authenticated as the instrument of this clash of cultures in Newport that had paved the way for the era of rock and roll, offering more varied musical possibilities than the folk.
This iconic instrument was sold for $ 965K from a lower estimate of $ 300K by Christie's on December 6, 2013, lot 6.
Dylan's strategy at the Folk Festival in Newport RI on July 25 is winning. Spectators were waiting for his acoustic guitar and his harmonica. Without warning, he began singing with an electric guitar. Dylan insists despite being booed, before coming back to comfort his friends again with his classical guitar.
Both types of instruments have a similar shape conducive to puzzle such a neophyte public, but the comparison stops here. His electric guitar is a solid body instrument without sounding case, a Fender Stratocaster model made in 1964.
The Fender Stratocaster was soon abandoned or simply lost in a private plane. When it surfaced again two years ago, it was unquestionably authenticated as the instrument of this clash of cultures in Newport that had paved the way for the era of rock and roll, offering more varied musical possibilities than the folk.
This iconic instrument was sold for $ 965K from a lower estimate of $ 300K by Christie's on December 6, 2013, lot 6.
(1969)-1970 The Black Strat of David Gilmour
2019 SOLD for $ 4M by Christie's
On June 20, 2019 in New York, Christie's sold David Gilmour's collection of more than 120 guitars. Passionate about guitars since his childhood in Cambridge, David dreamed of playing a Fender Stratocaster. He explains today that a Strat enhances the personality of its performer.
At the end of the 1960s, psychedelic music is taking over from classic rock and roll. To reach the fame, bands must now offer to the public sounds that are both dynamic and different. David becomes the guitarist of the Pink Floyd in 1968 to compensate for the incapacity of Syd Barrett victim of mental disorders.
The Black Strat was sold for $ 4M, lot 127. Made in 1969, it was bought new by David in 1970 at Manny's in New York. Until 1983 it is his favorite instrument, constantly modified by him to extract new sensational sounds. This instrument is a basic element of the Pink Floyd sound lab at their best time. It is played by David in 1973 in the album that will remain the biggest hit of the group, The Dark Side of the Moon.
This working guitar that was originally an ordinary Strat has become a cult instrument of rock in its post-Beatles phase. Leased for ten years at the Hard Rock Café in Dallas, it was later restored. Replicas were created by Fender from 2006 in two models, one of which named The Relic copying its state of wear before restoration.
In 2005, when the band's historic members meet in concert in London after a very long break, David Gilmour plays his Black Strat again. Frequently modified for half a century by its prestigious owner, it is offered with a reasonable estimate of $ 100K to 150K. Please read the article by Christie's telling its long story.
At the end of the 1960s, psychedelic music is taking over from classic rock and roll. To reach the fame, bands must now offer to the public sounds that are both dynamic and different. David becomes the guitarist of the Pink Floyd in 1968 to compensate for the incapacity of Syd Barrett victim of mental disorders.
The Black Strat was sold for $ 4M, lot 127. Made in 1969, it was bought new by David in 1970 at Manny's in New York. Until 1983 it is his favorite instrument, constantly modified by him to extract new sensational sounds. This instrument is a basic element of the Pink Floyd sound lab at their best time. It is played by David in 1973 in the album that will remain the biggest hit of the group, The Dark Side of the Moon.
This working guitar that was originally an ordinary Strat has become a cult instrument of rock in its post-Beatles phase. Leased for ten years at the Hard Rock Café in Dallas, it was later restored. Replicas were created by Fender from 2006 in two models, one of which named The Relic copying its state of wear before restoration.
In 2005, when the band's historic members meet in concert in London after a very long break, David Gilmour plays his Black Strat again. Frequently modified for half a century by its prestigious owner, it is offered with a reasonable estimate of $ 100K to 150K. Please read the article by Christie's telling its long story.
(1969)-1971 Acoustic CF Martin of David Gilmour
2019 SOLD for $ 1.1M by Christie's
An acoustic guitar was sold for $ 1.1M by Christie's on June 20, 2019, lot 2.
Made in 1969 by CF Martin, this D-35 guitar had been purchased in 1971 by David Gilmour. It remained his favorite acoustic guitar for Pink Floyd and solo recordings, still used by him for an album in 2015.
Gilmour stated in 2003 in a radio show : "I need to take my guitar with me, my acoustic Martin D-35 guitar, because life is impossible without a guitar".
Made in 1969 by CF Martin, this D-35 guitar had been purchased in 1971 by David Gilmour. It remained his favorite acoustic guitar for Pink Floyd and solo recordings, still used by him for an album in 2015.
Gilmour stated in 2003 in a radio show : "I need to take my guitar with me, my acoustic Martin D-35 guitar, because life is impossible without a guitar".
1973 Wolf of Jerry Garcia
2017 SOLD for $ 1.9M by Guernsey's
Founded in California during the acidic era, the psychedelic band Grateful Dead plays electric music. The group is created and directed by the guitarist Jerry Garcia who needs the best instruments in this technique whose popularity is quite recent.
At the end of the 1960s Doug Irwin is a young biochemist disillusioned by his training. Despite the atmosphere of freedom of that time, everyone must find a job : Doug decides that he will construct electric guitars. After a self-taught training he joins the Alembic company founded in 1969 in the Grateful Dead rehearsal room.
At that time Alembic worked on the electronic processing of sound more than on its creation. In 1971 Doug builds his first electric guitar in his own name in his kitchen and brings it to a specialty shop. Jerry is there : he buys the instrument. This guitar named Eagle (Alembic) was sold for $ 186K by Bonhams on May 8, 2007.
Eagle plays the role of a prototype from which Jerry and Doug embark on a more ambitious project. The result is an asymmetrically necked guitar named Wolf. It is completed in 1973 and Jerry uses it intensively for six years.
In the dispute about the estate of Garcia who died in 1995, Irwin became the owner of Wolf and its successor Tiger. He auctioned them through Guernsey's on May 7, 2002. The result was $ 960K for Tiger and $ 790K for Wolf.
Wolf was sold again by Guernsey's on May 31, 2017, for $ 1.9M. This single lot charity sale was organized for the benefit of the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Made in 1979, Tiger is less asymmetrical than Wolf. It innovates in the position of the strings. Garcia used it as his main guitar until 1989 when he replaced it by another Irwin guitar known as Rosebud.
In 1995 Tiger was the guitar of the very last concert of the Grateful Dead when Garcia re-used it after a mechanical problem on Rosebud.
At the end of the 1960s Doug Irwin is a young biochemist disillusioned by his training. Despite the atmosphere of freedom of that time, everyone must find a job : Doug decides that he will construct electric guitars. After a self-taught training he joins the Alembic company founded in 1969 in the Grateful Dead rehearsal room.
At that time Alembic worked on the electronic processing of sound more than on its creation. In 1971 Doug builds his first electric guitar in his own name in his kitchen and brings it to a specialty shop. Jerry is there : he buys the instrument. This guitar named Eagle (Alembic) was sold for $ 186K by Bonhams on May 8, 2007.
Eagle plays the role of a prototype from which Jerry and Doug embark on a more ambitious project. The result is an asymmetrically necked guitar named Wolf. It is completed in 1973 and Jerry uses it intensively for six years.
In the dispute about the estate of Garcia who died in 1995, Irwin became the owner of Wolf and its successor Tiger. He auctioned them through Guernsey's on May 7, 2002. The result was $ 960K for Tiger and $ 790K for Wolf.
Wolf was sold again by Guernsey's on May 31, 2017, for $ 1.9M. This single lot charity sale was organized for the benefit of the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Made in 1979, Tiger is less asymmetrical than Wolf. It innovates in the position of the strings. Garcia used it as his main guitar until 1989 when he replaced it by another Irwin guitar known as Rosebud.
In 1995 Tiger was the guitar of the very last concert of the Grateful Dead when Garcia re-used it after a mechanical problem on Rosebud.
1982 Frankenstrat of Eddie Van Halen
2023 SOLD for $ 3.9M by Sotheby's
The Van Halen family rock band was founded in Pasadena in 1973. The two brothers soon switched their instruments with the drummer Eddie becoming the guitarist.
Eddie Van Halen was a keen designer and experimenter. Not happy to make a choice between the leading trademarks Fender and Gibson, he conceived his own guitars with elements from both of them. The name Frankenstrat was coined by him as a reference to Fender's Strat (ocaster) and to the Franken (stein) movies with beings built from composite human sources.
In 1982 Eddie accepted a deal with the maker Kramer to build Frankenstrats from his requirements.
One of them made in the fall of that year was the first to include a not yet patented supporting device that enabled a two hand tapping like on a piano. This instrument was used by him in 1983 in the video clip Hot for Teacher played by the Van Halen band with a gang of unruly schoolchildren and a few women in bikini. That song released in an album in the next year is a mixing of glam metal, heavy metal, hard rock and speed metal.
The Hot for Teacher guitar was sold for $ 3.9M from a lower estimate of $ 2M by Sotheby's on April 18, 2023, lot 124. The straight jacket and white gloves worn by Eddie Van Halen in the video are joined to the lot. It is decorated by the Dutch born Eddie with white and black stripes in the De Stijl fashion.
The innovations brought by Van Halen for this specific instrument went to be the basis for a production of replica Frankenstrats by Kramer.
Eddie Van Halen was a keen designer and experimenter. Not happy to make a choice between the leading trademarks Fender and Gibson, he conceived his own guitars with elements from both of them. The name Frankenstrat was coined by him as a reference to Fender's Strat (ocaster) and to the Franken (stein) movies with beings built from composite human sources.
In 1982 Eddie accepted a deal with the maker Kramer to build Frankenstrats from his requirements.
One of them made in the fall of that year was the first to include a not yet patented supporting device that enabled a two hand tapping like on a piano. This instrument was used by him in 1983 in the video clip Hot for Teacher played by the Van Halen band with a gang of unruly schoolchildren and a few women in bikini. That song released in an album in the next year is a mixing of glam metal, heavy metal, hard rock and speed metal.
The Hot for Teacher guitar was sold for $ 3.9M from a lower estimate of $ 2M by Sotheby's on April 18, 2023, lot 124. The straight jacket and white gloves worn by Eddie Van Halen in the video are joined to the lot. It is decorated by the Dutch born Eddie with white and black stripes in the De Stijl fashion.
The innovations brought by Van Halen for this specific instrument went to be the basis for a production of replica Frankenstrats by Kramer.
(1969)-1991 Fender Mustang of Kurt Cobain
2022 SOLD for $ 4.6M by Julien's
MTV (Music Tele Vision) is the American cable channel that offers a music beloved by the X Generation. In August 1991 Nirvana is invited. They play their hard rock guitar song Smells like Teen Spirit, one of the biggest hits in pop music history, which brings their transition to stardom. The title is released two weeks later in the second album of the group, Nevermind. It currently has 1.4 billion views on YouTube.
The 24 year old band leader Kurt Cobain is playing one of his favorite instruments, a newly purchased left handed Fender Mustang guitar made in 1969.
Still with its original case, this blue six string instrument was sold for $ 4.6M by Julien's on May 22, 2022, lot 1008. A portion of the proceeds will go to a mental health charity. It is in good condition despite being thrown by Cobain on a mixing board during a club appearance.
Its image is shared by Wikimedia with attribution : Razvan Orendovici from United States, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
The 24 year old band leader Kurt Cobain is playing one of his favorite instruments, a newly purchased left handed Fender Mustang guitar made in 1969.
Still with its original case, this blue six string instrument was sold for $ 4.6M by Julien's on May 22, 2022, lot 1008. A portion of the proceeds will go to a mental health charity. It is in good condition despite being thrown by Cobain on a mixing board during a club appearance.
Its image is shared by Wikimedia with attribution : Razvan Orendovici from United States, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
(1959) - 1993 CF Martin of Kurt Cobain
2020 SOLD for $ 6M by Julien's
In the 1990s, young people wanted to have an authentic and relaxed life, opposed to the orthodoxy of their elders. Their main subculture is the grunge, a mixture of hard rock and heavy metal for music, and of hippie and punk for a deliberately offbeat clothing.
This trend ensures the fame for the group Nirvana, created in 1987, and its leader, singer, guitarist and co-founder Kurt Cobain. The grunge is often named the Seattle music.
In 1989 the musical television channel MTV created Unplugged, a series of programs in which groups were invited to reinterpret their best songs while leaving all electronic equipment except microphones.
Nirvana accepts MTV's invitation for a recording to be made on November 18, 1993. They need this program for boosting the sales of their album In Utero, which had not the expected success. Kurt Cobain is excessively nervous during the preparation phase, probably feeling a risk of recuperation of his art by the establishment. He imposes his solutions on the MTV team, including a morbid setting.
For the show, Nirvana plays fourteen songs in one take. In accordance with his commitment, Cobain uses an acoustic guitar. He chose a Martin D18-E from 1959. This instrument is one of the stars of the show : in the last sequence, Cobain places it reverently on its stand and leaves the stage.
Kurt was an irreducible perfectionist. He could not bring himself to offer an exclusively acoustic sound in this program. A hidden pickup was used in the Martin for at least one of the songs.
The record titled MTV Unplugged in New York released a year later is one of Nirvana's greatest hits, posthumously for Cobain. The Martin was sold for $ 6M from a lower estimate of $ 1M by Julien's on June 19 and 20, 2020, lot 742. The olive green cardigan worn by the blond singer in this show was sold for $ 334K on October 25, 2019 by the same auction house.
This trend ensures the fame for the group Nirvana, created in 1987, and its leader, singer, guitarist and co-founder Kurt Cobain. The grunge is often named the Seattle music.
In 1989 the musical television channel MTV created Unplugged, a series of programs in which groups were invited to reinterpret their best songs while leaving all electronic equipment except microphones.
Nirvana accepts MTV's invitation for a recording to be made on November 18, 1993. They need this program for boosting the sales of their album In Utero, which had not the expected success. Kurt Cobain is excessively nervous during the preparation phase, probably feeling a risk of recuperation of his art by the establishment. He imposes his solutions on the MTV team, including a morbid setting.
For the show, Nirvana plays fourteen songs in one take. In accordance with his commitment, Cobain uses an acoustic guitar. He chose a Martin D18-E from 1959. This instrument is one of the stars of the show : in the last sequence, Cobain places it reverently on its stand and leaves the stage.
Kurt was an irreducible perfectionist. He could not bring himself to offer an exclusively acoustic sound in this program. A hidden pickup was used in the Martin for at least one of the songs.
The record titled MTV Unplugged in New York released a year later is one of Nirvana's greatest hits, posthumously for Cobain. The Martin was sold for $ 6M from a lower estimate of $ 1M by Julien's on June 19 and 20, 2020, lot 742. The olive green cardigan worn by the blond singer in this show was sold for $ 334K on October 25, 2019 by the same auction house.
