Maton Guitar Linked to George Harrison to be Auctioned

On November 30, 2006, at Air Studios in London, Cooper Owen's Music Legends auction will feature a Maton MS-500 Mastersound electric guitar that, according to the auction lot description, George Harrison borrowed in the summer of 1963 from Barretts Music Shop in Manchester, U.K., while the shop repaired his Gretsch Country Gentleman. It's believed that Harrison used the Maton between May and August of 1963. Maton is an Australian guitar manufacturer. Roy Barber, guitarist with Dave Berry's band, The Cruisers, subsequently traded his Stratocaster for the Maton and owned it until 2000. Cooper Owen's auction estimate for the guitar is £100,000 - 120,000 (approximately $189,000 - 227,000 USD). This could be the same Harrison-linked Maton that was sold at auction by Sotheby's in 2002 for approximately $100,000 USD.