An Futurama electric guitar played by George Harrison in the early days of the Beatles will go up for sale at an auction next month where it could be sold for more than US$800,000.
Bought from a music store in the band's birth city of Liverpool, George played the Futurama guitar in the early 1960s when the band performed at the Cavern Club, toured Germany and made their first official records for Polydor.
Julien´s Auctions say the Futurama guitar, with its sunburst finish, was one of his most played.
They call it "one of the holy grails of historic Beatles guitars" and said it is expected to exceed its estimate price tag of US$600,000-US$800,000.
George said the guitar was "very difficult" to play but he liked what he called its "futuristic" look. "It had a great sound," he later told a journalist.
The instrument was an integral part of the Beatles’ early career, starring in their first Cavern Club shows, on the band’s early Polydor recordings, and across their historic Hamburg tours of the early ‘60s.
George's Futurama was made in 1958 in what was then Czechoslovakia and has the serial number 1126. The British government had put a ban on guitar imports to protect British manufacturers, hence the lack of Stratocasters on Hessy's walls. But as Futurama's instruments were made for British importer Selmer, they managed to slip through the ban. George bought the guitar in 1958 from Liverpool's Hessy’s Music Centre, the same store where John Lennon got his first Vox amp, which has recently resurfaced after years in obscurity.
In the Beatles' Anthology book, George recalled going with bandmate Paul McCartney to Hessy's when he tried out the Futurama. Unable to get a sound from the guitar, they turned the amplifier up full, but still no sound came out. Noticing the guitar's three pickup rocker switches, Harrison pushed one. "And there was an almighty boom through the amplifier," he said, "and all the other guitars fell off the wall."
Julien´s Auctions say the Futurama guitar, with its sunburst finish, was one of his most played. They call it "one of the holy grails of historic Beatles guitars" and said it is expected to exceed its estimate price tag of US$600,000-US$800,000.
In all, the Futurama was used on perhaps 300 or more live Beatles performances, including all of the Fab Four's Hamburg shows from August 1960 through June 1961, and possibly beyond. Its chipped paintwork and worn fretboard underscore just how much the guitar was played.
Those tracks — which include the George Harrison/John Lennon–penned "Cry for a Shadow" and Sheridan's breakthrough hit, "My Bonnie" — were the Beatles' first professional recordings.
"My Bonnie" would lead to a vital connection with future Beatles manager Brian Epstein, who became intrigued by the unknown Liverpool group after a customer at his record shop inquired about the Sheridan single.
In July, shortly after those recordings were made, Harrison purchased a secondhand 1957 Gretsch Duo Jet that became his main guitar.
In 1964, he donated the instrument to a rock magazine as a competition prize, but it remained with the publication's editor when the winner opted for a cash prize instead of owning a piece of rock and roll history.
The guitar will be on display at The Beatles Story in Liverpool for the next fortnight before being shown at other museums across Europe. It is due to auctioned from Nov 20-22 in the United States.
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