A double-necked guitar played by Carlos Santana, and one of Prince’s trademark ruffled shirts from Purple Rain are the top items in a major pop culture sale this month.
The heart of the Bonhams Pop Culture sale, due to close on January 22, is the collection of late Welsh musician Spencer Davis, who died in Los Angeles in 2020.
Davis’s collection includes guitars, gear, photographs, letters, books and documents.
But his pieces are not the most valuable items in this sale.
A Paul Reed Smith custom double-necked guitar built for Carlos Santana carries a $100,000 to $150,000 estimate.
A 12-string and six-string combined proved Paul Reed Smith’s skills to Carlos Santana. Image courtesy Bonhams.
Reed Smith admired Santana and made a number of guitars for him on spec.
This, made around 1982-3, was the first one that the player really loved, though he later sold it as he found it too heavy to play easily.
Paul Reed Smith writes in an authentication letter: “The curly maple doubleneck in the PRS book was built for Carlos Santana in the upstairs shop at 33 West St, Annapolis MD. It is the first doubleneck with the ‘final’ body shape built. I enjoyed building it and have always thought it was a great instrument.”
You’ll need to match a $75,000 opening valuation to compete to own the instrument.
Paul Reed Smith is the highly rated luthier behind the PRS brand. His guitars are valuable in their own right, particularly custom-made pieces, which can go for 10s of thousands of dollars.
But for guitar collectors the player is the thing. If this guitar hits its top estimate it will almost certainly be the most valuable Paul Reed Smith guitar yet sold.
Undeniably Prince, this shirt was worn on stage in the Purple Rain movie. Image courtesy of Bonhams.
Prince has been performing very well in auctions in the past years.
In 2018 one of his yellow “cloud” guitars sold for $225,000. Last year one achieved over $900,000.
The Bonhams sale offers buyers the chance to own a frilled shirt worn by the Minneapolis-born legend in the 1984 movie Purple Rain.
The silk shirt with high-neck colour and ruffles is immediately recognisable as a Prince costume.
The shirt carries a $60,000 to $90,000 estimate, and you’ll need to bid $50,000 to enter the fray.
The Bonhams Pop Culture auction is online until January 22 and closes with a live sale in Los Angeles.
