We're an eBay affiliate and may be compensated on purchases made through clicks.

Guitar Signed by The Beatles, Rolling Stones and Other Artists in the TCM-Bonhams March 27 Auction

Last I heard, there were no genuine, intact Beatles-signed guitars known. The only one was reportedly destroyed in a Malibu, Calif. landslide about 15 years ago.

RR Auction sold one a Beatles signed guitar around 2010, but the owner had tapped the autographs down with an awl to, um, "preserve them."

So I was surprised yesterday to see guitar signed by The Beatles, Stones, and 30 other artists in the TCM-Bonhams Rock and Roll Through the Lens Auction, being held March 27 in New York.

Bonham's says guitar signed by early Top of the Pops guests starting in early 1964, including The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Dusty Springfield, and many others.

The Beatles autographs looked real to me, but I asked a friend who knows Beatles up and down. He got back to me this morning after checking them out carefully.

He says the autographs are real. And he saw the guitar in-person in the early 1990s in a Sotheby's or Christie's auction.

Here's the mystery: The one reportedly destroyed in the mudslide was also signed by the Stones and other artists.

Could this be the same guitar?

I asked years ago for photos of the one supposedly destroyed, but I never was able to locate any.

Most of all... Do you think the autographs are real?

These are images of The Beatles autographs on the guitar that I've enhanced to make them easier to see. Click to enlarge them.

John Lennon

Paul McCartney

George Harrison

Ringo Starr

What do you think?

Tags: Rock and roll through the lens, TCM presents, auction, autograph, beatles, rolling stones, signed guitar

1 member likes this

Comment by Eric Keith Longo on March 9, 2017 at 12:18pm: I also wondered re placed. This network of checking looks induced to be - overbaked perhaps. I am starting to see what appears gaps in the fissures with ink? Self filing gaps? Why would an instrument thought to be of this stature be stored in a way that allows this degree of degradation? This cracking is caused by unequal responses of the finish and other materials, including the ink(s), to changes over time to temperature and humidity. What other signs of this are present? These patterns look more like "crackle paint". In hand and with blacklight, infrared and whatever else is in the arsenal. Right now, I'd have to pass.

Comment by Eric Keith Longo on March 25, 2017 at 12:22am: Anything on this?

Comment by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on March 25, 2017 at 1:47am: Zip

Comment by Eric Keith Longo on March 25, 2017 at 1:49am: Expected.

Comment by Eric Keith Longo on March 28, 2017 at 8:14am: Unsold? Withdrawn? Nothing for lot 29. Anyone know?

Comment by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on March 28, 2017 at 8:28am: There never was a lot estimate for the guitar, but it was not withdrawn, either. Perhaps no one bid on it.

Comment