The first guitar ever torched on-stage by Jimi Hendrix has been sold at an auction in East London for 280,000 pounds (roughly $504,000). As reported by London’s BBC, the Fender Stratocaster, which was burned at the conclusion of a Hendrix concert in North London in 1967, was discovered in a garage last year by a former business associate of the late guitarist. Later in 1967, Hendrix burned another guitar at the Monterey Pop Festival. Estimates prior to the auction had predicted the final bid for the instrument might reach as high as $900,000.
Also sold at the same auction was the Beatles’ first management contract. The document ― which carried the signatures of all four group members and band manager Brian Epstein ― fetched 240,000 pounds (approximately $432,000).
Up for bid as well was the audio archive of legendary music producer Joe Meek. The bounty of tapes ― which consisted of almost 2,000 master reels ― was expected to fetch as much as 300,000 pounds (approximately $535,000). Bid results for the set were not yet available. ―Russell Hall