Auction house Christie's has announced The David Gilmour Guitar Collection will go under the hammer to benefit charity on June 20 in New York. Pre-auction displays of the more than 120 guitars will begin with the full collection at Christie's King Street in London March 27–31, followed by highlights shown in Los Angeles May 7–11 and finally the New York sale preview on June 14–19.
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David Gilmour's haunting guitar explorations with Pink Floyd can obscure his solo accomplishments, musically, as a producer and as a philanthropist. While influential releases piled up on Gilmour's discography, his collection of guitars also grew and grew. While it might seem drastic to leave himself a smaller collection of 20 guitars, Gilmour vows he's moving ahead with new music, so this is no liquidation sale.
"These guitars have been very good to me," Gilmour told Rolling Stone. "I just think it's time that they went off and served someone else. I have had my time with them. And of course the money that they will raise will do an enormous amount of good in the world, and that is my intention."
While all the instruments in the Christie's auction catalog have their own unique history, what's grabbing the most attention is the 1969 Fender Black Strat used by Gilmour on most of Pink Floyd's iconic studio recordings. "The notes for the beginning of 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond' fell out of it one day," said Gilmour. "It's on so much stuff, but Fender have made replica ones that they sell, and I have two or three of those that are absolutely perfect. One of those might be my future guitar of choice."
