Julien's has announced that it will offer a rare Vox guitar played by members of the Beatles as part of its Music Icons 2013 auction on May 18 in New York.
 This isn't the guitar played in the official promo for Hello, Goodbye, but was apparently used in a separate video session |
The custom built guitar is expected to see bids of $200,000-300,000 when it crosses the block. Crafted by Mike Bennett and Dickey Denney, it was gifted to "Magic Alex" Mardas, a sound engineer for the band's Apple Records label, by John Lennon in 1967.
Prior to Mardas receiving the gift, it is said to have been played by George Harrison while practising I am the Walrus, and by Lennon while recording a video session for Hello, Goodbye. The auction house has not specified which video session this was, but the guitar is not present in the official promo video.
"From Here Comes the Sun to Hello, Goodbye, this guitar is truly one of the most historical pieces of music memorabilia Julien's Auctions has ever had the pleasure of offering," commented executive director Martin Nolan.
2013 marks the 50th anniversary of the Beatles' first album release, Please Please Me.
A signed copy of Please Please Me is expected to sell at the auction, estimated at $30,000-50,000. It will be joined by a pair of first and second state "Butcher" albums, estimated at $4,000-6,000 and $10,000-12,000, respectively.
Also appearing will be a copy of John Lennon's In His Own Write, which has been signed by all four Beatles and is estimated at $20,000-30,000.
In May 2012, the original printing plates from In His Own Write sold at auction for $7,578.
Paul Fraser Collectibles has the finest collection of Beatles memorabilia for private sale on the current market, and remember, all our stock comes with a free authenticity guarantee.
