David Is Selling his Guitars

[twcc]

I have spoken to Christie's, +44 (0)20 7839 9060, and they are currently finalising 'viewing' details. The London event has already attracted quite a lot of interest and a decision is yet to be made about making attendance ticketed; the auction house do NOT want people queuing around the block. The catalogue will be issued as a formal book around mid/late-May ie six weeks before the New York sale and several weeks after London and probably shortly after Los Angeles.

The recommendation is to register interest on the Christie's website -

https://www.christies.com/features/Davi ... carousel_1

[twcc]

Booking is now open to view, for no charge, the David Gilmour guitars (in London) -

https://a.flexbooker.com/widget/34ee144 ... 7#calendar

The catalogue can be pre-ordered but it may not be published before 27 March

[Keith Jordan]

Not sure what I think about paying £30 for it! I think £10 would be much better thanks.

[Thunderbolt_A10]

Damn, I looked at the prices and... I figured that guitars from one of the key members of such a widely known band would be more expensive, you know I could easily see them reach 7-digit prices.
But well, these hundreds of thousands of dollars aren't nothing to scoff at, it's still enough to travel around the world with your family, to buy a villa in Greece or to get one a real Lamborghini.

[twcc]

Off to see the guitars today at (or around noon), then over to Tate Britain for the Don McCullin exhibition ...

[Exosphere64]

Hey all... This is my first post here so hey!

I have been kind of sad since I heard about this. I have looked into it in detail and really support what David is doing. What makes my heart ache is the he is separating from the Black Strat. It is the guitar that defines his work. He retired it awhile ago but of all the guitars he has ever owned, this one should stay with him. It is the loss of your first love. Everything else he is auctioning off makes sense. While the white "01" strat has significant value, I don't think Gilmour ever really liked it. (I could go on for days about that one...lol) I am headed to LA in a few weeks to see the collection. It will be cool but hard at the same time...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hUjqL8YX30

[Neil]

Have you seen it yet Exosphere?
I went to see it in London a couple of days before it finished. Have to say, reading the gumf and seeing some of the videos on screen where Gilmour explains the significance of some of the guitars, I didn’t get the impression about the #0001 Strat.
I know what you mean about being sad to see them go. That being said, it’s been widely speculated that his wife will buy the Black Strat back for him. I’ve read numerous interviews he’s done about them now; apparently he owns 3 or 4 of the replicas that Fender made, and apparently they’re pretty much as good as the original. I dare say he’ll have loads of them at home.
I have to say, considering there was only a length of rope separating you from the guitars, I was impressed to see that not one person actually touched one... they were given the respect they deserve. Although I have to admit it was hugely tempting! They say if you kiss the Blarney Stone in Cork, Ireland, you will acquire the gift of eloquence... I wondered, if you touched the Black or Red Strat whether you’d acquire the gift of feel, tone, or all-round guitar-godliness...!
Anyway, there’s lots there to enjoy. The prices seem to me to be very much on the conservative side. Of course, some of the guitars are just not very valuable in themselves, but I suspect the provenance will account for a greater uplift in price than Christie’s estimate.

[FreeFour]

Having visited Christie’s in London and stood in awe amongst David’s guitar collection I convinced myself that buying one of his guitars would be an awesome, shrewd and solid investment.

Whilst I believe some of the guide prices to be quite low ( I can feel an Australian Pink Floyd / Brit Floyd / Polly Samson Bidding war taking place for some of them) I equally felt some of the guitars could actually be a sensible purchase.

For example, looking at the lower end of the sale, Lot 52 is a George Washburn acoustic that David played live during his 84 tour, specifically for the track Near the End. It has a guide price of $500 - $1000 and would make for an interesting piece to behold and perhaps a good entry level point into Gilmour guitar ownership.

Having since registered for the auction (I live in the UK) I am now all set to join and bid, but, and is is quite a big sobering but, there are a few additional costs involved that I thought some of you might be interested in.

Having discussed with Christie’s in New York, here is a summary of the additional costs

There is a 25% Buyer Premium added to the hammer price of any item up to a value of $225K
There is also Christie’s shipping costs. They have kindly given me a quote to ship the George Ashburn guitar to me in the UK at a cost of $3410
In addition to this there is a mandatory Loss & Damage liability coverage which is costed as a percentage of the sell price
As they are shipping to the UK it would also require an export permit from the US government which they advise could take up to 12 months to receive

I will let you do the maths but for me this make it just too hard to justify a purchase which is a shame.

Anyway thought this would be interesting to some of you, happy bidding for those that are going to take a punt, just make sure you understand the additional costs

[twcc]

^^^
Thanks for the information. I was aware of the Christie's 'Buyer Premium' and expected them to offer return shipping although their costs US > UK appear to be a bit steep (but I guess they are expecting to handle as individual items). The US export permit is a real surprise as I expected the title to be UK and for 'return' to be straight forward ... alas, not if all lots have been exported to the USA and will now require to be imported back to Britain.

I guess I will not be bidding; unless a cunning plan to consign to a friend in NYC and then hand carry back can be arranged.

[Jimi Dean Barrett]

I knew from the start all the guitars would be out of my league! Still think it's beautiful, but saddening thing to see.
It's philosophical if you think of it as decluttering.
It's tragic if you think of histories with the band (black Stratocaster).
Sometimes you can even imagine it's being cleared now when money still has value and wants to afford the escape spaceship ticket.
Well if your a dystopian you can think that!

[moodyblue]

So less than 3 weeks to go. Any serious bidders here?

[nosaj]

Yes, do tell, if you are a bidder.

[moodyblue]

I would love one of the Guild 12 strings and the Martin D35. Anybody fancy forming a consortium?

[Jimi Dean Barrett]

https://www.nme.com/news/music/david-gi ... on-2511676

Going and gone!!

[moodyblue]

Cheapest guitar has gone for a shade oover $40,000!
I have a feeling the black strat will easily gross well over a million dollars.