“Of all the artist-associated instruments I’ve been involved with, this has been my favorite journey”: A guitar once owned by Jimmy Page and given away in a magazine competition goes for over three times its estimate at auction

A 1957 Gretsch Chet Atkins 6120 electric guitar, once given away for free in a magazine competition by Jimmy Page, sold at auction for £100,000 ($135,366) on September 9 by auction house Gardiner Houlgate.

Back in 1972, the guitar was once bought for £200 by Page in Nashville and was given away by the New Music Express as part of a competition.

“When I say £200, it came to that with the customs etc., but it originally cost $450. Very reasonable really. Les Pauls can cost $1500 there,” Page told NME journalist Nick Kent at the time of the competition.

“I think it’s a Chet Atkins hollowbody. A bloke who really knows about these things told me there’s another one in existence, the same as Eddie Cochran’s, made up by Gretsch. It’s somewhere in Tooting, I think.”

The Gretsch was won by Charles Reid of Hornsey, North London, after he correctly matched six guitars with the famous guitar players who owned them.

Back then, Reid was quoted as saying, “Page must be mental giving away such a terrific guitar as this. It’s the kind of instrument that every guitar player dreams of owning but can never really afford.”

The guitar, which bears the serial number 23243, was then sold by Reid to Phil O’Donoghue of Chessington, Surrey, for £2,000. O’Donoghue's family sold the Jimmy Page guitar following his death earlier this year.

As for the sale, it was “a fantastic result that exceeded all expectations,” especially since the original estimate was between £30,000 and £50,000 ($40,609–$67,683), says auctioneer Luke Hobbs.

“The guitar was fiercely contested by collectors worldwide, with bids coming in via both telephone and internet,” he adds.

“It was a true privilege to offer an ex-Jimmy Page guitar. Of all the artist-associated instruments I’ve been involved with, this has been my favorite journey, both for the remarkable story behind it and the rarity of the artist. Above all, I am delighted for the family.”

Speaking of Jimmy Page, the Led Zeppelin guitarist settled the decades-long Dazed and Confused lawsuit with original songwriter Jake Holmes.