Johnny Marr and other famous musicians are selling their instruments at auction

Among other things, the British Broadcasting Corporation reports on the matter BBC and The Guardian.

Marr, one of the most famous players of British indie rock of the 1980s, is putting up a hundred instruments from his collection, 80 of which are guitars.

take the most valuable of the instruments is the 1960 semi-acoustic Gibson ES-335, which Marr received from the founder of the American Sire record company Seymour Steinilta. Its value is reported to be 150,000 pounds, or a good 174,000 euros.

Another valuable instrument is the Rickenbacker 330, which is estimated to be worth around 93,000 euros. These guitars were actively used by Marr during the successful years of The Smiths.

In the collection there are also cheaper instruments, as prices start at one thousand pounds, or 1,160 euros. The sale of Marri’s guitar collection starts in London at Christie’s auction house on September 17.

Marr has announced that he will donate the entire purchase price of the ten guitars for sale to the training and purchase of guide dogs for the visually impaired, as well as counseling and support services for autistic people.

Known ones guitars used by players are significantly more expensive than instruments of the same model and age on average in the used instrument market. In the auction, the final price can be much higher than the initial estimate.

Pink Floydin David Gilmour put his guitar collection for sale in 2019, and the proceeds of the auction at that time were 21.5 million dollars, which corresponds to approximately 24.7 million euros in today’s money. Gilmour donated the entire amount to the environmental organization ClientEarth.

The black Fender Stratocaster, often seen as Gilmour’s main instrument, was estimated to be the most valuable at this auction, at $150,000. Its final sale price was $3.975 million.

When the same guitar was sold again at Christie’s in March of this year, the price rose to a record 14.6 million dollars, or 12.8 million euros.

In February 2024, 120 instruments by Dire Straits were sold at Christie’s Mark Knopflerin of collections. At that time of sales 10.2 million euros were collected, of which Knopfler gave a quarter to charity. The targets were, among others, the Children’s Health Foundation, the protection of wild animals and the Red Cross.

Major some of the most expensive musical instruments of big-name artists at auctions end up in the collections of wealthy collectors as investment targets. Even so, even a basic guitar can be too expensive for the average player if it has been owned by a famous star.

David Gilmour’s instrument auction sold, among other things, a brand new Fender guitar estimated to be worth around $1,500, whose hammer price was over $81,000.