Rainbows charity guitar goes under the hammer

A guitar featuring the signatures of some of the world’s leading musicians has been given a date to go under the hammer at Bonhams to raise money for Rainbows.
  
The Fender Stratocaster is embellished with the signatures of many of the world’s greatest musicians, including Pete Townshend, Alice Cooper, Gary Moore, Don McLean, Eric Clapton, Brian May and Jimmy Page. The guitar went missing 10 years ago while in transit and despite National publicity and an exhaustive search and enquiry by the courier company, the guitar was only recovered earlier this year, after appearing for sale on an online auction site.
  
Former music promoter Dave Allen, of Market Harborough, initially launched the guitar project in 2007 and was ‘amazed’ when the instrument re-surfaced after being ‘lost’ for a decade. We never in a million years anticipated seeing it again and considered it lost forever. He has since added further big names before the Stratocaster is sold at a London auction house Bonhams for Rainbows. 
  
The guitar is now safely at Bonhams, in Knightsbridge, where it will be auctioned on December 11 at its specialist Entertainment Memorabilia sale. With a pre-sale viewing the day before, the guitar is expected to receive attention from all over the world. 
  
An estimate of £3000 – £4,000 has been set to make it accessible to all kind of collectors but Dave is hoping it will raise much more for us.
  
Dave said: “It feels very odd to hand the guitar over to someone else but I know it is safe in the hands of Bonhams. It has been an incredible journey for me and I have been so protective over it. 
  
“I am passionate about raising money for Rainbows and I think the guitar has a lot of potential to do so. I am very excited about the auction and I would like to thank everyone for their support.” 
  
Andrew Ball, Director of Supporter Relations at Rainbows, added: “We are looking forward to watching the guitar going under the hammer as it is an item that has certainly struck a chord with everyone at Rainbows. We would like to thank Dave, and everyone who has signed the guitar, for their support.”

To view the guitar, which is Lot 92, visit www.bonhams.com/auctions/24669