Kurt Cobain-signed 1966 Fender Jaguar, Elvis Presley’s Rosewood Telecaster head up bumper guitar auction

Heritage Auctions has unveiled the latest crop of electric guitars and acoustic guitars it’s set to place under the hammer, with the bumper collection including a handful of attention-grabbing instruments.

Chief among those awaiting auction is a 1966 Fender Jaguar signed by Kurt Cobain, as well as a 1968 Fender Rosewood Telecaster prototype that was built for Elvis Presley.

It’s the second time the latter model has cropped up on the sales circuit, having been listed on Reverb last November with an asking price of $295,000.

As was reported back then, Elvis’s Tele is said to be one of six prototypes, and a sister model to George Harrison’s well-known example, and had been used by the King of Rock and Roll intermittently for a period of few months.

However, Elvis supposedly sent the Tele back to Eddie Miller – Fender’s Nashville rep of the time – because the guitar was too heavy for him.

The guitar itself is all original, said to be in excellent condition, and arrives accompanied by a handful of letters written by Hal Blaine, Harold Bradley (former president of the Nashville Association of Musicians), and Miller himself, confirming the guitar’s authenticity – the same certificates that came with the original listing.

It’s joined at the top of the auction pile by a Cobain-signed ‘66 Jag. Cobain’s guitars are veterans of the auction circuit, and currently occupy the two top spots of the most expensive guitars sold at auction list.

At number one is the $6,010,000 Martin D-18E Cobain used for Nirvana’s immortal MTV Unplugged set, while second spot is reserved for his Smells Like Teen Spirit Mustang, which sold for $4,550,000 last year.

Given the lack of historical importance this particular Jag has, we don’t see it getting anywhere near those kinds of numbers. Still, whenever a Cobain-related guitar emerges on the market, a sizable price tag usually follows suit.

Carrying the inscription “To the Guitar Hall O Fame,” as well as Cobain’s signature, the Jaguar is said to be one of the many instruments the Nirvana frontman crossed paths with while he shopped around to replace his stage-smashed guitars.

It arrives with certificates of authenticity composed by authenticator Roger Epperson and PSA Authentication Services.

Heritage Auctions' catalog also has room for other instruments bearing the signatures of multiple guitar heroes: a 1989 Fender Stratocaster signed by both Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughan can be found, as can a Gibson Sonex sporting the signatures of numerous players.

Few details are supplied for the Sonex, which carries the scrawls of Steve Vai, Adrian Belew, Al Di Meola, Eric Johnson, Vivian Campbell, Warren Haynes, and many others. 

The auction – which also boasts a range of vintage Gibson Les Pauls –  is set to go live on July 24, and will close August 11.

For more information on the sale, head over to Heritage Auctions. 

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