Help! Roadshow reveals my old Beatles guitar is worth £400,000
A GUITAR once owned by former Beatles John Lennon and George Harrison was valued at up to £400,000 last night on TV’s Antiques Roadshow.
The fretless 1960s prototype stunned expert Jon Baddeley. The managing director of international auctioneers Bonhams Knightsbridge, said: “In 25 years it’s by far the most expensive thing I’ve ever seen.
“To a guitar collector it’s initially a very rare guitar. Then to somebody who’s a Beatles fan – to own a guitar that was once owned by both John Lennon and George Harrison, can you get a better history?
“Two of the most important rock stars of the 20th century.”
Current owner Ray Russell worked as a session musician for Handmade Films, whose credits include Monty Python’s Life Of Brian, Withnail And I and A Private Function.
He was gifted the guitar by Beatles lead guitarist George, who thought he made it sound better than him.
The musician recalled George branding the guitar, which was made at Bartell’s of California, “a strange old thing to play”. Ray recalled: “I played a few notes and he said, ‘You’re definitely getting more out of it than I am. It’s doing better for you. Why don’t you have it?’.”
The valuation given in yesterday’s episode at Battle Abbey in Sussex was boosted thanks to Ray also having a 1970s photo of George’s guitar collection, which showed the fretless instrument among them.
Calling it “the icing on the cake”, Jon said: “You can see the maker’s name and the design below.
“That puts that guitar in this room in George Harrison’s house, so I think that’s a 100 per cent certainty it is what it is.”
Ray was shocked by the valuation and said he still plays it regularly.
He said: “I never really thought about value, as George being a mate and all that.
“I’m really taken aback by it. I didn’t realise it was worth that much money. It’s lucky I don’t keep it in the house.”
● Sunday’s episode can be watched now on BBC iPlayer and Antiques Roadshow continues on Sunday, BBC One, 8pm.
PERHAPS The Beatles will always be in a league of their own when it comes to pop fame. How else to explain the figure of £400,000 Antiques Roadshow expert Jon Baddeley has put on a fretless guitar once owned by John Lennon and George Harrison?
While My Guitar Gently Weeps was one the Fab Four’s biggest hits – but this particular guitar will have its lucky owner laughing all the way to the bank.