Keystone-SDA
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May 23, 2024 – 1:43 p.m.
(Keystone-ATS) The Who didn’t smash all their guitars: a bass specially designed by and for British rocker John Entwistle will be sold at auction on Thursday in Lyon. The value of the instrument is estimated between 12,000 and 15,000 francs.
It is “a prototype” designed in 1986 by the German luthier Warwick “at the request of John Entwistle who designed it”, explains auctioneer Etienne de Baecque. This Buzzard model, whose shape is reminiscent of a nozzle, was then produced in a limited series.
The first copy was presented by the bassist during the inauguration in 1988 in Lyon of a specialized store “Guitar Center”, which has since disappeared. The bassist of the Who gave a demonstration before offering the guitar, signed, to a collector from Lyon who is very involved in the world of music.
He had kept it until now but decided to sell it with other pieces from his collection.
“Collectors are a bit fetishistic”
Since the announcement of the sale, this four-string guitar has attracted “a lot of interest from all over the world”, according to Me de Baecque. “Collectors are a bit of a fetishist, that it is dated and signed attracts them,” he says. “We always dream a little with these objects…”
“The Who is still a legendary group,” agrees Antoine Stacchetti, who came on Wednesday to admire the objects on display to the public in anticipation of the sale. Long manager of the “Guitar Center” store, he attended the “demo” of John Entwistle in 1988, “a notable personality”.
As for his guitar, “it’s a very specific model”, he notes: “it is immense, which corresponded to the size” of the rocker who died in 2002, nicknamed “the Ox” (the ox) for his solid presence on stage.
