A guitar owned by Beatles legend John Lennon is expected to raise up to £600,000 at auction at the weekend.
The guitar, which was used during the Paperback Writer session in 1966 at Abbey Road, is the most significant of Lennon’s instruments to come onto the market in the last 30 years, according to the auctioneers.
The Gretsch 6120 Chet Atkins Nashville model is being sold by Lennon’s cousin, David Birch, after it was given to him in 1967 by the rock star himself.
The historical instrument went on auction on tracksauction.com last Friday ahead of the live auction at Le Meridien hotel in London next Sunday.
Chad Craddock, a spokesman for Tracks Auction, told JMU Journalism: “It is a fantastic piece with no doubts whatsoever about its authenticity. The provenance and photographic evidence are so good on this piece and that only adds to the value.
“We have had a lot of interest in the Gretsch but as of yet no official bids. However, we expected this as we believe interested parties will want to bid in the live part of the auction on Sunday.”
It has been described on the auction website as “extremely rare”. The website claimed that the possibility of another Lennon guitar with the lineage of the Paperback Writer Gretsch coming onto the market in the near future is extremely remote.
The bid winner will also receive photographs of John Lennon playing the guitar with Beatles’ stars George Harrison, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney.