Jimi Hendrix guitar expected to fetch £180,000 at auction

A guitar which helped turn Jimi Hendrix into a rock superstar is up for auction – and is expected to fetch a whopping £180,000.

Hendrix paid just $160for the Duo-Sonic Fender as an unknown 21-year-old backing musician.

Going by the name Jimmy James, the future star used the guitar from March to November 1964 while performing with the Isley Brothers.

The instrument was later stored before resurfacing in Hendrix’s manager Chas Chandler’s London studio.

Chandler sold the guitar in 1982 for £400 to music agent and manager Rod Weinberg, who is now expected to make a huge profit when he auctions it on November 2.

Cameo Auctioneers Records is looking after the sale as part of its Music & Memorabilia auction, with the 22.5-inch instrument expected to fetch between £150,000 and £180,000.

Glenn Northcliffe, saleroom manager for Cameo, said: ”The guitar is very rare and Jimi’s ownership makes it incredibly special.

”Hendrix was a musician of a fashion which has never been replicated. He was revered and unique and this is the guitar he made his name with.”

Widely regarded as the greatest electric guitarist of all time, Jimi Hendrix was one of the biggest rock stars of the 1960s.

He was best known as the front man for The Jimi Hendrix Experience who were active between 1966 and 1969 – releasing three albums, all of which were named in Rolling Stone magazine’s Top 500 Greatest Albums on All Time.

But the star’s short career came to a tragic end in 1970 when he was found dead in his Kensington flat.

Hendrix’s early death made him an instant icon and his work continues to influence other musicians and top all-time great lists.

And memorabilia previously owned by the star has a reputation for fetching huge amounts, with a guitar torched by Hendrix on stage in 1968 at the Astoria in London selling for £280,000 30 years later.

Hendrix’s tan-coloured 1959/60 Duo-Sonic is part of the Cameo Auctioneers Records, Music & Memorabilia live online auction which takes place on Tuesday 2nd November from 11am.

Other items going under the hammer at the Music & Memorabilia auction in Midgham, Berkshire include two original pieces of Hendrix artwork from 1967, which are expected to fetch £18,000 each.