The Sept. 17 sale features instruments spanning four decades of the former Smiths guitarist’s career.
Musician Johnny Marr will sell roughly 80 guitars from his personal collection at Christie’s in London on Sept. 17, alongside amplifiers, tape recorders, old posters, and other equipment. The 62-year-old guitarist decided to auction the items after documenting them for his 2023 book, Marr’s Guitars, noting that returning the instruments to storage felt wrong. A free exhibition will take place at Christie’s in London ahead of the event.
The items up for auction cover 40 years of Marr’s work with The Smiths, The Pretenders, Electronic, Modest Mouse, and The Cribs. Highlights include a 1960 Cherry Red Gibson ES-355 estimated between £100,000 and £150,000, a Cherry Gibson Les Paul Standard used on Meat is Murder, and a 1982 Rickenbacker 330 Jetglo used on early Smiths tracks like “This Charming Man.” Marr will keep select items out of the auction, including a Hagstrom given to him by Bryan Ferry and a Telecaster from Chrissie Hynde.
