Guitar Paul McCartney Learned on Sells for More Than $500,000

by News Staff

The Rex acoustic guitar owned by Ian James, Paul McCartney's childhood friend, just sold for £ 280,000 ($521,556 USD), not including the buyer's auction premium, in the Cooper Owen Music Legends auction held today at Abbey Road Studios in London, England. The pre-auction estimate ranged between 100,000 and 150,000 GBP. The instrument was the first guitar McCartney ever held and with which he first learned songs and chords from James. The buyer was Craig Jackson, the president and chief executive of Barrett-Jackson Auction Co. LLC and a friend of John Collins, a fellow car enthusiast and managing director of Cooper Owen. For more information see: McCartney, Zappa, Townshend, and Harrison Among Celeb Guitars to Be Auctioned.