Thursday, July 17, 2008

Burnt lot

The first guitar to be burnt by Jimi Hendrix onstage is set to fetch £500,000 at auction. Hendrix's 1965 Fender Stratocaster, which was famously set alight on stage during a performance at London's Finsbury Astoria in 1967, is going under the hammer with other historic artifacts from the world of music.

Among these are Jim Morrison's final notebook of poetry and musings before his death from Paris in 1971 and the last surviving drum-kit of Led Zeppelin's John Bonham.

The Doors lead singer's manuscripts are likely to sell for up to £100,000 while Bonham's drumkit could go for as much as £20,000.

But the pick of the musical collection will be Hendrix's guitar, from the opening night of the Walker Brothers tour on March 31 1967.

At the end of his show Hendrix set fire to the base of his Fender Stratocaster – as the astonished audience looked on and petrified venue staff ushered the performer off.

While Hendrix was being treated for minor hand injuries, his guitar was retrieved by his roadies, and eventually returned to Garland's London offices.

The guitar was then kept at the home of Noel Redding - bass player with the Jimi Hendrix Experience - before Garland collected the guitar and stored it at his parent's garage in Hove.

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