‘59 GIBSON LES PAUL ‘BURST’ SELLS FOR £172,000

Record breaking prices keep rolling in for Frome auctioneers Dore & Rees with the highest priced lot ever purchased on the premises - 1959 Gibson Les Paul ‘Burst’ - selling for £172,000

A packed saleroom on Wednesday 16 March witnessed a heated bidding battle with interest in the guitar coming from around the world.

For Marc Allum, specialist head of sale and expert on BBC’s Antiques Roadshow, the auction marked a career pinnacle in handling a small but perfect collection of some of the most iconic electric guitars in music history.  “Working closely with James’s family in recent months has been a privilege and the reach of this collection amongst the guitar playing community has been deep.  The best possible outcome was achieved, the ‘Morgan Burst’ has gone into the collection of a serious guitar player and will be played in the coming months, which is exactly what James Morgan would have wished for”.

Guitars That Made History – The James Morgan Collection auction totalled over £260,000 and was 100% sold, a ‘White Glove Sale’.

1959 Gibson Les Paul ‘Burst’ 

Purchased by musician James Llewellyn Morgan in around 1972-1973, this iconic guitar model is said by many to be ‘the Holy Grail of the guitar world’. Formerly of the George Hatcher Band and Stan Webb’s Chicken Shack, James purchased the guitar early on in his music career. It wasn’t cheap, around £450 in those days; its reputation in the rock world had already been cemented amongst some of the world’s most famous musicians so it was a sought after instrument.

So why is it so revered? Its mythological status has been secured by a mixture of rarity, the cultural evolution of the electric guitar and its relationship with different genres of music, predominantly blues and rock in the case of the ’59, and ownership. It seems that each guitar attracts a story and the story ultimately becomes central to its character and value. The Morgan ’59 was in the same ownership for 50 years, so it’s a rare animal that comes back into the realms of potential ownership after being coveted for so long by one devoted owner. The serial number on this guitar (9 1865) is only one digit away from the ’59 Gibson owned by legendary guitarist Jeff Beck. Sadly, James passed away in 2021 but it’s undoubtedly true that he would have wanted it to go to a serious ‘player’.

Other guitars from his stable offered by Dore & Rees included a wonderful 1952 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop (£9,360), a 1956 Gibson Les Paul Junior (£7,800), a 1961 Gibson SG Junior (£4,420), a 1963 Salmon Pink Fender Precision Bass (£4,550), two Fender Stratocasters made in 1960 and 1964 (£17,550 each) as well as lots of material from his studio that he operated in Wandsworth in the 1970s. Many bands passed through his doors, including Arthur Brown, The Pretty Things, the UK Subs and Wilko Johnson.

A 1959 GIBSON LES PAUL STANDARD ‘BURST’, SERIAL NO. 9 1865
99cm x 33.5cm

SOLD: £172,000 

Guitars That Made History - 16 March at 10:30am

Sold prices include fees