The Gretsch 6120 guitar John Lennon played on The Beatles‘ 1966 single ‘Paperback Writer‘ is expected to command around £600,000 when it is auctioned in London next month.
The instrument was given by Lennon to his cousin David Birch as a gift in 1967, and will be put up for sale at the Le Meridien Hotel in London on November 23rd.
“I was just cheeky enough to ask John for one of his spare guitars,” Birch has told The Telegraph of how he came to own the guitar. “I had my eye on a blue Fender Stratocaster that was lying in the studio but John suggested the Gretsch and gave it to me as we were talking.”
‘Paperback Writer’ is primarily a Paul McCartney-penned track, but Lennon’s guitar has reportedly received its association as it was used during the track’s recording at Abbey Road in the spring of ’66.