Beatles' Rickenbacker Rarity

Bonham's Auction Lot 58

THE ONLY GUITAR AUTOGRAPHED BY ALL FOUR BEATLES, 1964 The Rickenbacker guitar signed on the body in gold leaf by all four Beatles in 1964, (and in 1985 on the back by Julian Lennon). Y. 16,000,000-24,000,000 £80,000-120,000 PROVENANCE: This unique piece was owned by Tony Saks who had it signed by the Beatles in 1964 and exhibited it throughout the world during the following four decades. Tony Saks was a guitar teacher and friend of F.C. Hall, a Californian retailer of Rickenbacker guitars. Hall asked him to help demonstrate the latest line of guitars to the Beatles in New York, where Saks subsequently met the Beatles at the Plaza Hotel, on 9th February 1964 after they had made their U.S. debut on 'The Ed Sullivan Show'. Although none of the guitars was purchased by the band, Hall let Saks buy one of the guitars the Beatles had tried out that afternoon. Saks wrote to the Beatles marketing agency in London to enquire if the Beatles would autograph his guitar next time they were in America. A meeting was arranged at the start of their second American tour, at the Holiday Inn in Baltimore on 13th September 1964. Saks applied gold signature tape (used to personalise Bibles) to the parts of the guitar he wanted signed. Road manager Derek Taylor recalls 'He brought with him his wife, a guitar, some gold leaf and a request/instruction for me to get the guitar signed by all four Beatles. They were to write with a hard pen through the strips of gold leaf, so that he would have a guitar signed in gold. Desperate to do right by Tony Saks, a man of incredible energy and persuasiveness, I somehow managed to wake each of them... and after handing each of them an Orange Juice, handed them a pen and gently urged them to sign, through the strip of gold leaf, their famous golden names. I had many difficult duties, some of them more bizarre than others; this, however was one of the easiest because it was so outrageous. In the depths of early awakening, they dutifully gripped the ballpoint pen and Tony Saks got his 'gold guitar'. (from Fifty Years Adrift by Derek Taylor, edited by George Harrison - p.225) Please note that all times are shown as local to the auction address Contact Name Ted Owen / Alexander Crum Ewing (London) Dept Tel +44 (0)171 393 3952/3950 (London) +89 (0) 3 5570 0011 (Tokyo) Fax +44 (0)171 393 3906 (London) +81 (0) 3 5570 0099 (Tokyo) Auction Location LONDON: Montpelier Street, Knightsbridge TOKYO: Tokyo Auction House, 1-10-10 Azabu-jyuban, Minatu-ku London / Tokyo England / Japan SW7 1HH / Tokyo 106 Auction Dates Commencement Date 1997/03/22 09:00 and 18:00