The Gardiner Houlgate auction house in Corsham, England is selling the 'Beatles guitar' used by Harrison in 1963 after he took his Gretsch Country Gentleman to Barratts in Manchester to be repaired.
The shop owner Brian Higham gave the Maton to Neil Aspinall, the band's manager, for Harrison as a replacement. Even though Harrison's guitar was fixed and returned to him on the same day, he kept the Maton and played it in concerts. He also played it at a photo call at The Cavern Club in Liverpool, which was the band's last performance at the venue.
"This is a significant historic guitar that was used by Harrison during the summer of '63, known as the rise of Beatlemania. The guitar also appeared at the bands last ever Cavern Club show on 3rd August 1963, a poignant moment as the band had now outgrown the venue," auctioneer and valuer at Gardiner Houlgate Luke Hobbs told Sputnik.
After the guitar was returned to the shop in Manchester, Roy Barber — the guitarist from the rock'n roll band The Cruisers — used it for several years. Following his death, the guitar was auctioned in 2002 and offered at Juliens auctions in 2015 with a listed 'sold' price of $485,000.
"Another of Harrison's guitars, his first electric from the pre-Beatles Quarryman days, sold earlier this year at auction for £320,000. Based on the current market, we would hope for the guitar to realise in excess of £300,000," Mr. Hobbs told Sputnik.
Gardiner Houlgate describes itself as "the only auction house in Europe to hold dedicated stand alone sales of Guitars and Related Items, selling over 1000 guitars a year, within our quarterly auctions."
