Auction Jeff Beck's guitar collection to be auctioned off
Christie's auction house is auctioning off guitars from the estate of rock legend Jeff Beck in London next week. Among them is a guitar that Tina Turner once decorated in an unusual way.
15.01.2025, 06:31
SDA
A Gibson Les Paul guitar that belonged to British rock legend Jeff Beck ("Cause We've Ended As Lovers") could fetch more than half a million euros at an auction in the UK. This is what the experts at Christie's, the auction house steeped in tradition, are expecting.
On January 22, guitars, amplifiers and other items from Beck's estate will go under the hammer. They will be on display to the public in advance in an exhibition at Christie's.
Around 130 instruments
"Jeff Beck: The Guitar Collection" comprises around 130 instruments from the exceptional guitarist's almost six-decade-long career - from his joining the influential band The Yardbirds in March 1965 to his last tour in 2022.
"The collection represents the entire career of one of the greatest rock guitarists of all time," Kerry Keane, an expert on musical instruments at Christie's London, told the German news agency DPA. "Jeff Beck set real standards with his electric guitar."
At the center of the auction is the Gibson Les Paul known as "The Oxblood" (named after the color), which Beck played during the recording of "Blow By Blow". The musician is pictured with it on the cover of the 1975 album. "It really was an iconic image of him from that phase of his career in the mid-70s," says Amelia Walker, head of the private and major collections department at Christie's London. Bids of up to 500,000 pounds (around 557,000 Swiss francs) are expected.
Also up for auction is his guitar "Anoushka" (estimated value: up to around 33,000 Swiss francs), which Beck played at hundreds of live performances and at a concert in the White House for President Barack Obama from the 1990s onwards, as well as his "Tele-Gib", which he used during his time with the band The Yardbirds and which could fetch the equivalent of up to 180,000 euros.
Tina Turner and a special autograph
Another highlight is a pink Grover Jackson electric guitar, which Jeff Beck nicknamed "Tina". The name came about after Tina Turner signed this guitar in an unusual way. Beck, who played with Rod Stewart, Eric Clapton and countless other stars during his long career, had contributed to Turner's album "Private Dancer" (1984).
Instead of a fee for his work, he asked Tina Turner for an autograph on his guitar. "That's really the bombshell of the story," says music expert Keane. "Tina Turner takes a knife out of her handbag, carves her name into the guitar and then paints over it with a metallic blue nail polish." The instrument with the special autograph could find a new owner for an estimated 12,000 pounds.
Jeff Beck died of bacterial meningitis on January 10, 2023. His widow Sandra Beck explained that her husband would have wanted the instruments to be played and loved.
The exhibition "Jeff Beck: The Guitar Collection" is open to everyone free of charge until the day of the auction. Almost exactly a year ago, Christie's auctioned off part of Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler's guitar collection. At the time, the estimated values of many of the instruments were significantly exceeded.
