The 1969 Fender Stratocaster that was played by David Gilmour, lead guitarist of Pink Floyd, on all of their most famous albums, has been sold by Christie’s New York for a record-breaking US$14.55 million, making it the most expensive guitar ever sold at auction.
Nicknamed the ‘Black Strat’, the guitar was part of a collection of nearly 400 pieces of sports, music, film and pop culture memorabilia that belonged to the late billionaire businessman Jim Irsay, who was also the owner of the Indianapolis Colts.
Gilmour purchased the guitar in New York City in 1970 after the band’s gear had been stolen from their van, and it became his primary instrument. It was used on every Pink Floyd album from 1972 to 1983 as well as on all four of Gilmour’s solo albums. It produced some of the sounds that helped make The Dark Side of the Moon one of the most significant albums of all time.
The Black Strat was in far from original condition. Gilmour famously modified it many times, including changing its neck on six different occasions. New tuners, switches, pickguards and inputs were added to the guitar’s body over the years. “I’ve always considered that to be my bodge-up guitar that nothing is sacred on. I’ve had holes drilled in it. It’s still a good guitar,” said Gilmour in a 2006 interview in Guitar World.
From 1986 to 1997, Gilmour loaned the guitar to the Hard Rock Cafe in Dallas in exchange for a charitable donation and it finally returned to the stage in 2005, when Pink Floyd played a reunion concert at Hyde Park in London for the Live Aid concert.
The Black Strat had been sold at auction once before in 2019, when it made just under US$4 million, also at a Christie’s New York charity auction; the buyer was, of course, Jim Isray. At the time, Gilmour told Rolling Stone: “You know something? For me, I can let go of it. It’s a lovely guitar. It has been on pretty much all the Pink Floyd albums through the ’70s. … but Fender [has] made replica ones that they sell, and I have two or three of those that are absolutely perfect.”
The Black Strat was purchased by an unnamed online buyer after a bidding war that lasted 21 minutes – which is just about the same length of time you need to listen to one side of The Dark Side of the Moon.
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Antiques to Vintage magazine is researched, written and designed by humans, in Australia for Australian collectors.
