Guitar for sale
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| George Harrison’s six-string 1962 Rickenbacker 425 (modified) |
In an upcoming auction on May 17th, the Rickenbacker 425 that George Harrison bought in the USA in 1963 is up for sale, estimated to fetch around $400,000-600,000.
George paid around $400 for the guitar in September 1963 from Red Fenton’s music store in Mount Vernon, while visiting his sister Louise in Benton, Illinois.
It was acually “fireglo red” when George spotted it in the store, but he had them refinish it in black to match John Lennon’s Rickenbacker 325.
Harrison played the guitar on several occasions, and wore it while miming for TV performances on “Ready, Steady, Go!” and “Thank Your Lucky Stars”.
He also made use of the guitar on the recording of “I Want to Hold Your Hand”, and brought it along for the tour of Sweden in October.
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| George played the guitar during the concert in Eskilstuna |
In the late sixties, George gave the guitar to record cutting engineer, George Peckham, formerly the guitarist of Liverpool group the Fourmost. Peckham took along the guitar for gigs, but didn’t have a carrying case for it, until Noddy Holder of Slade couldn’t take it any more and gave him a case. Holder couldn’t stand to see a Beatles guitar being handled without a proper guitar case!
Peckham went on to sell the gutar at a Sotheby’s auction in 1999.
The guitar is a 1962 Rickenbacker 425, and will be auctioned off at Julien’s Auctions in New York on May 17th at the Hard Rock Café in Times Square, where it is on display at the moment.
The Ricky has been on display several times, at “Rock and Roll Hall of Fame” in Cleveland, at the John Lennon museum in Tokyo and at the Grammy museum, among others.
A load of other Beatles related things are also being auctioned, among them fully signed albums, a Höfner bass guitar played by Paul on occasions and assorted other expensive items. Leafing through the catalogue is still free, so take a look!
Don't get too excited about the Hofner bass, folks. I thought it sounded odd, and in actuality, its a bass rented by Pauls people a couple of times in the late '90's for a couple of rehersals. It doesnt seem clear that he played it at all, and he certainly never played a '66 model like this. Their 30-50K estimate seems a tad much, therefore.