Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Guitar Could Fetch More Than $50,000 at Auction

A rare electric guitar played by American rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter Jimi Hendrix in the early 1960s is being offered at an online auction on Aug. 8, with a starting bid of $50,000.

Hendrix (1942-70) was “arguably the greatest instrumentalist in the history of rock music,” according to his biography when he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992. His three non-posthumous studio albums, “Are You Experienced (1967),” “Axis: Bold as Love (1967),” and “Electric Ladyland (1968)” were among the 500 Greatest Albums of All time by Rolling Stone.

The guitar being offered for sale was instrumental to Hendrix’s early music career. He played this electric guitar from 1964 to 1966 in New York at such venues as Cafe Wha? and the Cheetah Club, according to Kruse GWS Auctions, a California-based auction house that is handling the sale.

The guitar, built in the early 1960s, has no brand name or maker's name on it, but it has a similar shape to the iconic Fender Stratocaster, which the musician was most associated with. It features a three-color sunburst finish with a gold and burgundy pickguard.

Hendrix moved to London in 1966 and left the guitar in New York at the apartment of one of his best friends, the auction house said.

The current owner’s identity was not disclosed.

The guitar comes with a notarized letter from Hendrix's New York friend with whom he left this guitar, and a letter from his brother Leon Hendrix.

“The sunburst was his favorite [color guitar],” Leon Hendrix said in an interview with Dame Brigitte Kruse, founder and lead auctioneer of Kruse GWS Auctions. A copy of the video, and a lunch with Leon Hendrix, which the winner has to pay, will also be included in the sale package.