When George Harrison gave a session musician his guitar because he was playing it better than the former Beatle, he was handing him more than a compliment. It was an instrument worth up to £400,000.
It had also been owned by John Lennon and the unsuspecting guitarist could not Imagine his good fortune when he took it along to an Antiques Roadshow valuation session in Sussex.
The owner, only identified as Ray on the BBC One show, used to do recording sessions for Handmade Films, the film production company co-founded by Harrison.
At the end of one of the recording sessions, Harrison asked the man, identified as Ray in the BBC One programme, to play a “strange” guitar.
Ray said: “It’s a strange old thing to play – I played a few notes and he said ‘Yeah you’re definitely getting more out of it than I am, it’s doing better for you, why don’t you have it’.”
Valuing the guitar at between £300,00 and £400,000, expert Jon Baddeley said: “I think in 25 years it’s by far the most expensive thing I’ve ever seen.”
Ray said he was amazed at the guitar’s value and he still plays the instrument regularly.
“I never really thought about value, as George being a mate and all that. I don’t know what to say actually, I’m really taken aback by it,” he said.
“I didn’t realise it was worth that much money. It’s lucky I don’t keep it in the house.”
Ray also has a photograph taken in the 1970s of Harrison and his guitar collection, including the Fretless.
Mr Baddeley said the photo was the “icing on the cake”, as it showed the instrument once belonged to the Beatle.
It was taken to Antiques Roadshow for the episode from Battle Abbey in Sussex.
In 2018 a guitar used by Harrison at The Beatles’ last appearance at the Cavern Club in Liverpool was sold at auction for £347,000.
