Royal interest as Rory Gallagher guitar sells for €30k
A limited edition electric guitar made for Irish blues legend Rory Gallagher has sold at auction for £25,000 (€30,264) today.
Eggle Rory Gallagher guitar sells for 25k today at private auction.
— Patrick James Eggle (@PJEggleGuitars) April 11, 2014
The JS Berlin Legend, made by British guitar craftsman Patrick Eggle, went up for auction in the UK today with bids expected to reach up to £20,000. Its sale was creating such a buzz even the British royal family, specifically Prince Charles, was sniffing round it.
A rather special visitor has early viewing of the @PJEggleGuitars @RoryGallagher_ & other lots for Friday's auction pic.twitter.com/dTiQlept67
— 1818 Auctioneers (@1818auctioneers) April 10, 2014
The guitar went under the hammer at 1818 Auctioneers in Cumbria and is distinguishable by its gloss finish and the initials ‘RG’ on the 12th fret of the fretboard.
It’s not known if Rory ever used the guitar for any public performances, but it features in pictures of Rory which accompanied his CD Big Guns — The Very Best of Rory Gallagher and the DVD Ghost Blues, he added.
The auctioneer, Kevin Kendal said that the seller of the guitar wants to remain anonymous but that he was friendly with Gallagher, and that the instrument was given to him by Gallagher’s brother Donal following the guitarist’s death in June 1995 at the age of 47.
“It has a slightly higher action than many electric guitars as this was Rory’s preference, ” said Mr Kendal.
The auctioneers put up a YouTube clip earlier to show off what the guitar can do.
