Jeff Beck was one of rock's greatest guitarists. Now his instruments are up for auction

LONDON (AP) — Musicians, collectors and fans have a chance to own a guitar god’s tools of the trade — instruments owned by the late Jeff Beck are going up for auction.

Christie’s announced Friday it will sell more than 130 items, including 90 guitars, from the collection of the Yardbirds and Jeff Beck Group guitarist, who died in January 2023 at age 78.

Valued at more than 1 million pounds ($1.3 million), the collection includes an oxblood 1954 Gibson Les Paul that Beck bought in Memphis in 1972 and played for the rest of the decade. The guitar, which is featured on the cover of Beck’s Grammy-winning 1975 jazz-fusion album “Blow by Blow,” is expected to sell for between 350,000 pounds and 500,000 pounds ($450,000 and $640,000).

Amelia Walker, head of Private and Iconic Collections at Christie's, called it “a really beautiful instrument, covered in grime and dust and signs of use.”