Gretsch guitar given away by Jimmy Page for an NME competition sells for £100,000 at auction – over 3x its estimate

You might remember hearing in July about the Jimmy Page-owned 1957 Gretsch Chet Atkins 6120 that was headed to the auction block.

As the story goes, the guitar – bought by Page in Nashville in 1972 for £200 – was given away by the Led Zeppelin legend as part of a 1974 competition hosted by our sister title NME. 

The competition – titled ‘Win Jimmy Page’s Own Guitar’ – featured the electric guitar as a prize, and that magazine edition featured a photo of Page holding the instrument like a cricket bat.

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After passing through the hands of several owners since leaving Jimmy Page’s following that competition, news broke in July that the guitar was heading for auction via Corsham, England-based auctioneer Gardiner Houlgate.

While experts predicted it would sell for somewhere between £30,000 and £50,000, the guitar has smashed that figure, selling yesterday (9 September) for a princely £100,000 (approx. $135,536).

Gardiner Houlgate auctioneer Luke Hobbs says the sale was a “fantastic result that exceeded all expectations”, and that the guitar “fiercely contested by collectors worldwide, with bids coming in via both telephone and internet”.

“It was a true privilege to offer an ex-Jimmy Page guitar,” Hobbs continues. “Of all the artist-associated instruments I’ve been involved with, this has been my favorite journey, both for the remarkable story behind it and the rarity of the artist. Above all, I am delighted for the family.”

The winner of the 1974 NME competition was Charles Reid of Hornsey, north London. At the time, Reid was quoted as saying, “Page must be mental giving away such a terrific guitar as this. It’s the kind of instrument that every guitar player dreams of owning but can never really afford.”

After owning the Gretsch for over 15 years, Reid sold it to Phil O’Donoghue of Chessington, Surrey in 1990 for £2,000. The guitar remained with O’Donoghue until his death earlier this year, and the latest Gardiner Houlgate auction is the result of it being sold by his family.

Also part of that auction was a Burns Double Six 12-string guitar “borrowed” by Mark Knopfler for 50 years and used on classic Dire Straits album Communiqué, which accurately sold for its estimate at £30,000.

Learn more about the sale at Gardiner Houlgate.