Roland Jupier 8 steals the show.....
4th January 2022
The last sale of 2021 was another great success. Over 1200 lots were offered over two days on 8th & 9th December 2021. With a record hammer total and just under 90% of offered lots sold, some amazing prices were achieved across all categories.
Being a guitar sale first and foremost, that's where we should begin. The highest selling lot of this section was lot 241, a 1996 Fender Custom Shop Limited Edition 50th Anniversary guitar/amp set, selling for £11,628* against a £10,000 - 15,000 estimate. Perhaps a surprise when compared to some of the vintage pieces on offer, however, the result does show that collectible guitars don't just have to be of a vintage nature and that there is great investment potential on this side of the market too. The guitar went to a collector in the UAE, showing the global appeal of our specialist auctions. Check out our March auction preview, where we are offering a good collection of Limited Edition acoustic guitars. amongst many other gems yet to be listed... https://www.guitar-auctions.co.uk/auctions
Heading up the vintage guitars on offer was a well-loved 1964 Gibson ES-345 guitar, realising £10,112*. Not a bad outcome for a "Players Grade" example, against an estimate of £5,000 - 8,000 and showing the strength in this side of the market.
The market for artist-owned guitars has been strong for a while and it was an honour to be instructed to sell a 1960 Fender Precision Bass, formerly owned by one-time Shadows bassist Brian Licorice Locking, on behalf of his surviving family. Expected to sell for in the region of £5,000 - 10,000, this true piece of British rock n roll history came in at £13,272*. Another highlight of this section and smashing its pre-sale guide of £2,000 - 4,000 was a Pete Townshend autographed limited edition Gibson SG PT signature electric guitar, realising £12,640*. The guitar came with a short clip of Pete playing the guitar, which was recorded for a previous charitable cause.
The highest price achieved for an artist-related item was not a guitar, but an electric baby grand piano by the Japanese manufacturer Kawai. Consigned by The Alarm frontman Mike Peters, the piano received mass media coverage before the sale, as it had been formerly owned by Queen. Although it is not known what the band used the piano for, the mystique of the item brought a handsome figure of £14,536*, selling to a European collector.
Day two of the auction offered a huge variety of vintage amps and other guitar-related gear and generated the biggest surprise of the two days when lot 981, a 1960s WEM Pepbox fuzz pedal, sold for £2,528*. It was thought beforehand that it may bring a few hundred pounds but the fact that The Beatles used one of these fuzz boxes on their Revolver album, may have added to the appeal.....
Perhaps the biggest surprise of the auction was that the highest price achieved was not a guitar or guitar-related at all, but a 1983 Roland Jupiter 8 synthesiser. Expected to bring around £10,000, the iconic synth saw the hammer fall at £17,696*. 1980s Synths and sound modules are in incredible demand at the moment and prices have significantly risen over the past few years. Perhaps good signs to consign to our now very popular Audio and Studio equipment sales?....
With a successful and surprisingly buoyant 2021 behind us, we now look forward to more of the same in 2022. Our next specialist auction takes place on the 9th, 10th, and 11th March (noting the extra day to keep up with unprecedented demand), with the consignment deadline on 11th February. If you have something to sell, consult the specialists.....
*All realised prices listed above include Buyers Premium of 26.4% inclusive of VAT.