Antiques Roadshow guest gobsmacked by staggering value of George Harrison guitar
An Antiques Roadshow visitor was utterly astounded by the jaw-dropping appraisal of a guitar that once belonged to George Harrison of The Beatles fame.
On the beloved UK version of the beloved PBS show, expert Jon Baddeley was visibly thrilled as he examined the remarkable piece, with an eager audience gathered to hear its tale.
Baddeley began his conversation with the guitar's current keeper and music aficionado Paul, remarking: "Now you've brought me in an exceptionally rare guitar with an even more interesting story behind it. But let's focus on the make first. It's a make I have rarely ever seen."
Paul shared that the guitar was a product of Bartell of California from the 1960s, describing it as a "very rare" fretless prototype.
He then unveiled the lore: "And the story goes that the company owner has always said he gave one to John Lennon and he gave one to Jimi Hendrix. This is the Lennon one." The spotlight then shifted to another guest, Ray, who recounted how this unique instrument came into his life.
Ray reminisced about his days as a session guitarist in the '70s and '80s, particularly his work for Handmade Films, the company founded by George Harrison. He recalled, "I was asked to play guitar, which was great, had lots of laughs and at the end of the session, George said 'I'm not sure what to do with this. You have a go.'
Ray ended up with the guitar, noting its peculiar nature: "And I just got handed the guitar. It's a strange old thing to play, because there are no frets. "But I played a few notes and he said 'You're definitely getting more out of it than I am.
"'It's doing better for you, why don't you have it.' Baddeley remarked: "Well that's not a bad accolade that you can play better than George Harrison!". The guest humbly responded: "At the time, this was quite rock n'roll as this. It's not the greatest of rock n'roll guitars unless you're going to play slide or something like that."
Turning his attention to a photo brought in by the guest, Baddeley called it the "icing on the cake".
"Because this is George Harrison in his house in Friar Park, and here's George standing at the back and just down here on the left hand side, is the guitar in question.
Source: the-express.com/Hayley Anderson, Hollie Beale
