“When Bob Dylan went electric, this guitar was there”: Bob Dylan and Robbie Robertson's much-customized 1965 Telecaster is up for auction and could fetch up to $700,000

Julien's Auctions has added a historic Bob Dylan/Robbie Robertson Telecaster to its upcoming Music Icons auction at Hard Rock Café in New York. 

Taking place Wednesday 29 to Thursday 30 May, as well as online, the auction is putting a feast of prestigious guitars up for grabs, including Prince's inimitable Yellow Cloud 3 guitar.

Second billing at the event goes to this much-customized 1965 Telecaster, which was formerly owned by, recorded with, and toured with Robbie Robertson of The Band – and Dylan has gigged with it, too. 

“When Bob Dylan went electric, this guitar was there,” says Julien's – meaning it featured on 1965's Bringing It All Home and was later employed again for Highway 61 Revisited (1965) and Blonde on Blonde (1966) and used extensively on the road.

Robertson had hand-picked the guitar as the ideal instrument to complement Dylan's newly electrified sound – heralded at his controversial Stratocaster-heavy set at Newport Folk Festival – and lovingly referred to it as his “workhorse.”

The Band guitarist also used it to write a number of tracks for the group's landmark debut, Music from the Big Pink, including Chest Fever, Caledonia Mission, and the opening guitar part for The Weight.

The 25.5" scale-length guitar features a maple neck and a 21-fret maple cap fretboard. Its body, which sports a Bigsby B16 bridge, has been stripped from its original black finish. 

The guitar has undergone several changes over the years. By The Band’s 1971 Rock of Ages performance, the Telecaster had been fitted with a new three-ply white-black-white pickguard and a chrome-covered Gibson patent number humbucker, while the Bigsby bridge was installed circa 2000. 

“The B16, which normally mounts to the top of the guitar and replaces its existing bridge entirely, was routed in order to set the entire device beneath the surface of the top,” says Julien's. “This unique and unorthodox modification allowed the installation of the B16 without changing the fundamental string geometry of the guitar.”

Julien's also notes that its tuners have been replaced with era-correct reproductions, with the original double-line Kluson tuners included in the case.

Away from its tireless work on stages and in studios with Bob Dylan and The Band, the Telecaster can also claim credits on records by Carly Simon, Joni Mitchell, and Ringo Starr. Eric Clapton even played the guitar onstage with The Band in 1974.

Estimated to sell for $500,000-700,000, the guitar comes with its original black Fender hardshell case, which tells its own story. The Band's “TB” stenciling was modified to “IB” as drummer Levon Helm believed that having the abbreviation for Tuberculosis on a case was “bad mojo.” 

Several spare parts, including a Seymour Duncan JB pickup, a red Seymour Duncan Hot Stack for Tele pickup, and its original bridge, can also be found in the case. 

Image 1 of 2

It also comes with a coffee table-style book that charts the guitar's unique history. 

Julien's is no stranger to selling guitars steeped in history. In 2017, it sold Prince's blue teal Cloud for a record-breaking $700,000 – and its latest batch is expected to smash more records yet.

Also included in the auction is John Lennon's Framus 12-string Hootenanny acoustic guitar, Bono's “Irish Falcon” Gretsch G6136i, and 200 guitars once belonging to The Guess Who's Randy Bachman. 

Head to Julien's for more information about this history-rich Telecaster.