|
 The electric instrument, which is the original prototype for
the Les Paul Custom guitars made the Gibson Guitar Company, will
be sold by Guernsey's Auctions at the Arader Galleries on Feb.
19th.
No pre-auction estimate, or reserve price, has been put on the
instrument. But some music experts believe it could exceed the
record auction price of $965,000 paid in 2013 for the guitar
owned and played by Bob Dylan at his first electric performance
at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965.
"This instrument," said Guernsey's President Arlan Ettinger, "is
referred to as the grail, the Holy Grail, because it was the
first Les Paul guitar made by Mr. Les Paul that gave birth to
the thousands and thousands of instruments that bear that name
and that resemble this instrument."
Paul, a pioneering musician and inventor, collaborated with
guitar makers Gibson, who approached him in the early 1950s to
build a true electric guitar.
The solid body guitar was delivered to him in 1954 and
continuously modified as Paul sought to perfect its sound until
it was last used in 1976, when he gave it to his close friend
Tom Doyle. The black guitar with gold hardware features fine
inlays and bindings around the entire instrument.
Ettinger said the instrument originally had different hardware
and attachments and the pickguard did not look the same.
"But through the next 20 years it evolved as he was
experimenting to get new sounds and the maximum excitement of
what he created," he said.
[to top of second column] |
Many people, Ettinger added, suggest the guitar's electric sound
gave birth to rock and roll.
The upgrades, modifications and changes on the "Black Beauty" set
the standard for other Les Paul guitars, which are owned by
musicians such as Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Neil Young and Jeff
Beck.
The February sale will be a litmus test in the auction market for
vintage guitars.
When a bidder bought Dylan's 1964 Fender Stratocaster for its record
price it was nearly double its pre-sale estimate and surpassed the
$959,500 paid in 2004 for Eric Clapton's Fender Stratocaster.
Last year, however, an auction featuring 265 prized guitars from
California collector Hank Risan produced disappointing results.
(Writing by Patricia Reaney; Editing by Eric Kelsey and Dan Grebler)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
