Sell or Auction Your 1963 1964 Blue Gibson Firebird III Electric Guitar for up to Nearly $70,000 or More at Nate D. Sanders Auctions
FREE VALUATION. To buy, auction, sell or consign your 1963 / 1964 blue Gibson Firebird III electric guitar that is for sale, please email your description and photos to [email protected] of Nate D. Sanders Auctions (http://www.NateDSanders.com).
Sell Your 1963 / 1964 Blue Gibson Firebird III Electric Guitar
The Gibson Firebird is a solid-body guitar that was first released in 1963. Following Gibson’s success with the Les Paul guitar in the 1950s, the company experienced decreased popularity and car designer Ray Dietrich was hired to design a guitar that would be appealing to consumers. Dietrich modified the design of the Gibson Explorer by rounding the edges and the original Firebird design is considered “reverse” as the right hand horn of the guitar body is longer than the other.
Below is a recent realized price for a 1963 / 1964 blue Gibson Firebird III electric guitar. We at Nate D. Sanders Auctions can obtain up to this amount or more for you:
1963 / 1964 Blue Gibson Firebird III Electric Guitar. Sold for Nearly $70,000.
Consign your 1963 / 1964 Blue Gibson Firebird III electric guitar at Nate D. Sanders Auctions. Send a description and images of your 1963 / 1964 Blue Gibson Firebird III electric guitar to us at [email protected].
Nate D. Sanders Auctions has sold thefollowing music memorabilia:
George Harrison’s sitar from 1965, almost certainly the one he used to record ”Norwegian Wood”, the Beatles song that not only launched ”The Great Sitar Explosion” in rock music, but also deepened Harrison’s involvement with Indian music, its culture and the Hindu religion that would shape the rest of his life. More than any guitar that Harrison used during his career with the Beatles and as a solo artist, the sitar is perhaps the instrument most closely associated with Harrison, who was first introduced to it in August of 1965 by David Crosby before buying his own and using it to record ”Norwegian Wood” on 12 October 1965.
Harrison’s purchase of his first sitar (sometime between August-October 1965) is best explained in his own words, from ”The Beatles Anthology”: ”I went and bought a sitar from a little shop at the top of Oxford Street called Indiacraft – it stocked little carvings, and incense. It was a real crummy-quality one, actually, but I bought it and mucked about with it a bit. Anyway, we were at the point where we’d recorded the Norwegian Wood backing track and it needed something. We would usually start looking through the cupboard to see if we could come up with something, a new sound, and I picked the sitar up – it was just lying around; I hadn’t really figured out what to do with it. It was quite spontaneous: I found the notes that played the lick. It fitted and it worked.” Over the next several months Harrison continued to play the sitar and decided to exchange his older-style ”crummy-quality one” with a more sophisticated style designed to play better into microphones.
In the meantime, Harrison married Pattie Boyd in January 1966 and left for Barbados with her for their honeymoon. While in Barbados, George and Pattie were hosted by Pattie’s friend, George Drummond, who lived on the island and to whom Harrison gave this sitar. Drummond, the Godson of King George VI whose full name is George Albert Harley de Vere Drummond, is featured in the book “Beatles ’66: The Revolutionary Year” by Steve Turner. Turner describes the events on the island leading up to the gift, ”During the days Pattie sunbathed and George practiced on his sitar. George even had a better sitar flown to Barbados for him, and when it arrived he gave his old one – probably the one he had bought from Indiacraft – to Drummond as a gift.”
The sitar is accompanied by two letters of authenticity, one from Pattie Boyd and one from George Drummond. Pattie not only confirms the authenticity of the sitar, but writes that George used it to play ”Norwegian Wood” to her on their honeymoon. She writes, ”Before we left Barbados, George Harrison gifted the Sitar to George de Vere Drummond.” Drummond’s LOA likewise confirms that Harrison gave him this sitar in February 1966 and that it’s ”remained in my possession until I consigned it to Nate D. Sanders Auctions.”
Despite Harrison’s misgivings about its sound quality, visually the sitar is a stunning display of craftsmanship, made by the sitar company of Kanai Lal & Brother of Calcutta, and was approximately 10 years old – made in the late 1940s or 1950s – when Harrison played it. Elaborate wood carvings appear on the tumba and tabkandi (similar to the headstock and body of a guitar), with the tumba formed in the shape of a swan’s neck and head. A plaque below the tumba reads, ”Kanai Lal & Brother / 377 Upper Chitpur Road / Calcutta”. Ornamentation at the top of the tabkandi shows an ancient figure playing a sitar, below which wood carvings appear in relief. More elaborate wood carvings appear on the kaddu, a bulbous, gourd-shaped area on the back of the tabkandi which serves as a resonator for the sitar. The sitar measures 53” long, 13” at its widest point and 10” deep at the kaddu. At the top of the kaddu is a label attached by George Drummond, a photo of which is laminated to the back of Pattie Boyd’s LOA, matching her letter to this piece exactly. There are a few cracks to the kaddu, otherwise the sitar is in near fine condition, fully operable and a stunning piece to behold. Sold for $62,500.
David Crosby’s Own Gibson ES-335 Guitar — From His Days in “The Byrds”
David Crosby’s personally owned and played Gibson guitar, used by Crosby in “The Byrds,” one of the most influential bands of the 1960’s. Crosby’s role in “The Byrds” from the iconic group’s formation in 1964 until his departure in 1967 garnered him his first of two inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Guitar is the widely recognized Gibson ES-335, with a Bigsby Vibrato tailpiece tremolo. Dating to 1958, this model was the first electric guitar to introduce the semi-hollow body design. Neck is one-piece mahogany beneath a rosewood fingerboard with mother of pearl inlays. Measures 16.5″ wide, 20″ long, and 1.75″ deep. Housed in a black hardshell case lined in orange velvet. Scattered nicks and bumping to top of headstock, else near fine. With an LOA from David Crosby. Sold for $25,428.
Jon Bon Jovi Stage Played & Signed Acoustic-Electric Guitar
Jon Bon Jovi’s guitar, played onstage by Jon in Dallas on 10 April 2010 during Bon Jovi’s Circle Tour, and signed in gold marker by him. Takamine acoustic-electric guitar is serial #08120413, housed in Takamine hard-shell guitar case. Lot also includes a Bon Jovi backstage pass from their April 10th Dallas performance, as well as a photo of Bon Jovi playing this guitar in Dallas, and a 10” x 8” signed photo. Some light scuffing to body, more so on back, but overall near fine. Accompanied by paperwork from JBJ Soul Foundation. A fantastic rock collectible. Sold for $18,750.
Consign your 1963 / 1964 Blue Gibson Firebird III electric guitar at Nate D. Sanders Auctions. Send a description and images of your 1963 / 1964 Blue Gibson Firebird III electric guitar to us at [email protected].
Eddie Van Halen Personally Designed, Stage Played & Signed Guitar
Eddie Van Halen personally designed (hand-striped) custom guitar, owned and played onstage by Eddie at the 30 January 2008 show in Little Rock, Arkansas. Charvel guitar is signed by Eddie in silver marker, with the Little Rock concert date also written by him as well as ”Van Halen / 2008”. In custom EVH (Eddie Van Halen) Charvel guitar case measuring 41.5” x 15” x 4”, and with COA signed by Eddie Van Halen. Near fine condition. A fantastic rock collectible personally designed, played and signed by one of the greatest guitar players of all time. Sold for $15,000.
Gibson ES-335 Electric Guitar 1966
1966 Gibson ES-335 electric guitar designed during the apex of Ted McCarty’s stewardship of Gibson. Features matching headstock and soundhole labels and all original parts. Accompanied by hardshell case. Mild scratching to pickguard, otherwise mint condition. Sold for $7,864.
FREE VALUATION. To buy, auction, sell or consign your 1963 / 1964 blue Gibson Firebird III electric guitar that is for sale, please email your description and photos to [email protected] of Nate D. Sanders Auctions (http://www.NateDSanders.com).
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