A celebration of the ultimate guitarist’s guitar hero, Christie’s will auction Jeff Beck: The Guitar Collection on 22 January 2025, in London.
Jeff Beck (1944-2023) was a trailblazing guitar icon and legend. A multi-Grammy award-winning artist – twice inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame – his inimitable sound led to collaborations with countless internationally renowned musicians and friends including Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, Ronnie Wood, Rod Stewart, Steven Tyler, Billy Gibbons, Jan Hammer, Eric Clapton, David Gilmour, Tina Turner, Mick Jagger, BB King, Buddy Guy, Nile Rodgers, Carlos Santana, Stevie Wonder, Imelda May, Johnny Depp and more.
This unique sale, comprising over 130 guitars, amps and ‘tools-of-the-trade’ played by Jeff through his almost six-decades-long career – from joining The Yardbirds in March 1965 to his last tour in 2022 – provides a remarkable opportunity for fans, guitarists and collectors alike.
Highlights include:
Jeff Beck’s iconic 1954 ‘Oxblood’ Gibson Les Paul, famously depicted on the cover of his 1975 solo instrumental album Blow By Blow, and used on tracks including the Beck-Middleton original composition ‘Scatterbrain’ (estimate: £350,000- 500,000). Purchased in November 1972 in Memphis, the guitar saw extensive live action with the short-lived power trio Beck, Bogert & Appice in 1973. Other notable live shows through the 1970s included his performance alongside David Bowie and Mick Ronson at the farewell show of Ziggy Stardust & The Spiders From Mars, at the Hammersmith Odeon on 3 July 1973, the film of which was released in 2023, including Jeff’s iconic guest appearance.
The original ‘Yardburst’, his circa1959 Gibson Les Paul bought in London in 1966 whilst in the seminal British rock group The Yardbirds (estimate: £40,000-60,000). The history and battle scars of this guitar are legendary. Purchased at Selmer’s in Charing Cross for £175 in early 1966, it was used to record ‘Over Under Sideways Down’ and ‘Happenings Ten Years Time Ago’ on The Yardbirds’ album Roger The Engineer, as well as Jeff Beck’s solo track ‘Beck’s Bolero’, co-written with Jimmy Page and recorded with Keith Moon, John Paul Jones and Nicky Hopkins. Jeff removed the black pickguard, switch surround and the original sunburst finish in late 1967, leaving the guitar in its natural raw blonde state. Jeff played the guitar on his debut studio solo album Truth, the first to showcase the talents of backing band the Jeff Beck Group, featuring a young Rod Stewart on vocals and Ronnie Wood on bass, and on tour when the band crossed the Atlantic in 1968, including for a memorable residency at the Scene in New York in June 1968, where nightly encores saw Jimi Hendrix join the band on stage, including for a jam on this very guitar.
Jeff Beck’s 1954 Sunburst Fender Stratocaster, serial number 0062, was one of his most prized possessions (estimate: £50,000-80,000). A gift from Humble Pie’s Steve Marriott following a late-night session in 1976, Jeff replaced the existing Tele neck with a 1958 Strat neck, which he had used to record many tracks on Beck-Ola (1969), Rough And Ready (1972) and Blow By Blow (1975). The ’54 would become Jeff’s principal performance and recording guitar for the rest of the ‘70s and into the early ‘80s – including for the majority of the 1980 album There And Back, and the A.R.M.S. Benefit Concert and tour in 1983, which saw the three ex-Yardbirds guitarists perform on stage together for the first time – Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton – alongside The Rolling Stones Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman and Ronnie Wood and many other world-famous musicians.
‘Tina’ the Pink Jackson Soloist was debuted during the 1983 A.R.M.S. tour, at Madison Square Garden in New York City (estimate: £8,000-12,000). Fitted with a patented Kahler bridge, it enabled Jeff to deliver even more extreme string bends and harmonics and was immediately employed on several important recording sessions with world-renowned artists, most notably Tina Turner. Having lent his unique talents to her Mark Knopfler-written single ‘Private Dancer’, Jeff requested that she sign his guitar in lieu of payment for the session. When the pen failed, she engraved her signature with a flick-knife and then rubbed in green nail varnish for good effect. Jeff would go on to play the guitar on his 1985 album Flash, produced by Nile Rodgers, including for his reunion duet with Rod Stewart, ‘People Get Ready’.
Amelia Walker, Christie’s Specialist Head of Private & Iconic Collections, London said: “Jeff Beck was a rock pioneer whose influence on his peers was unmatched. From the outset, he was a sonic innovator; a maverick and mercurial virtuoso who blazed the trail for musical genres as diverse as psychedelia, heavy metal and jazz-rock fusion, and who embraced a wide range of influences from the Blues, Rockabilly and Rock ‘n’ Roll to Indian sitar music, Bulgarian Folk, Techno, and Opera. Christie’s is honoured to have been entrusted by Jeff Beck’s family and estate to present his instruments to the world – the guitars through which he shared his emotion and voice – and to pay tribute to his enduring legacy.”
Sandra Beck said: “These guitars were his great love and after almost two years of his passing it’s time to part with them as Jeff wished. After some hard thinking I decided they need to be shared, played and loved again. It is a massive wrench to part with them but I know Jeff wanted for me to share this love.”
“He was a maestro of his trade. He never lusted after commercial success. For him it was just about the music. He constantly reinvented himself with his musical direction and I could not single out one person, one recording or one guitar as his favourite. I hope the future guitarists who acquire these items are able to move closer to the genius who played them.”
With estimates ranging from £100 to £500,000, the full collection will be on show in the pre-sale exhibition at Christie’s headquarters in London, from 15 to 22 January 2025. For further information: christies.com
Image: Gibson, Kalamazoo, Michigan, 1954 and 1972 A Solid-Body Electric Guitar, Les Paul, known as ‘The Oxblood’ Estimate: £350,000-500,000 © CHRISTIE’S IMAGES LTD 2024
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