Hendrix, Winter, Garcia Guitars Being Auctioned

Share This:

Johnny Winter’s 12-string Gibson Firebird

Guitars of classic rock legends Jimi Hendrix, Steve Miller, Johnny Winter, Paul McCartney and more, are part of a new auction, “Legendary Guitars & Musical Treasures,” from auction house Guernsey’s that’ll take place on Dec. 2 in New York City. The sale features a wide variety of other musical items including unreleased live recordings and studio tapes.

Many of the event’s guitars are noteworthy due to their rarity as fine instruments, others made famous by the legendary musicians who played them. These include guitars from Bruce Springsteen (the bass he played on his first album, Greetings From Asbury Park), Winter’s 12-string Gibson Firebird, Jerry Garcia’s acoustic guitar that he used on all of the albums that he recorded with mandolinist David Grisman – even Madonna (her first performance-used touring guitar).

One section contains an unusual grouping of guitars that were owned by Les Paul. In his later years, Paul sent old guitars to other musicians he knew and admired. When sending these unexpected gifts, he would inscribe these instruments, often in a humorous fashion. At the time of his death, some of these instruments were still in his collection including ones inscribed to Bob Dylan, Prince, George Harrison and Paul Simon.

“To Bob Dilan…”

According to the consigner, Paul was enthusiastic about the idea of giving his acoustic flattop to Dylan. He reportedly said, “make sure you hand it to him, it’s a nice guitar!” Paul at first misspelled Dylan’s name as “Dilan,” then corrected the mistake. Under Dylan’s name he wrote, “Howdy!” and signed.

Jimi Hendrix’s 1967 Electric Guild Starfire V

The Hendrix guitar is the sticker-covered Guild, played after the 1968 Miami Pop Festival, at the Wreck Bar in the Castaways Hotel. Guernsey’s says it is auctioning the most extensive collection known of Hendrix lifetime-issued vinyl records, unreleased studio tapes, and acetate recordings.

Also of note: the sound engineer at the Hollywood Bowl in the 1960’s, Charles Lewis, professionally recorded live performances of many of the biggest names in the entertainment business. Not long ago, Lewis’ family discovered a trove of his original recordings that have not been seen or heard in nearly half a century including The Beatles, Rolling Stones, the Beach Boys, Aretha Franklin, and more.

The auction also includes a collection of original tapes including late 1960s unreleased recordings by members of the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane, performed live at the Boarding House in San Francisco. The same archive that is selling the Boarding House tapes is also offering original studio master reels from Elvis Presley and James Brown.

Got a few extra bucks? The entire auction can be viewed here.