Dylan's Strat Sold

09 Dec 2013

The Fender Stratocaster that Bob Dylan used at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival when he ‘went electric’ has been sold at auction.

Following the legendary performance, where Dylan’s unexpected switch to an electric guitar was booed by folk-fans, the Strat was left on Dylan’s private plane. The pilot didn’t hear back after notifying Dylan’s management, so the instrument was passed through his family, who verified it on PBS’ History Detectives before selling it at Christie’s on Friday.

‘I was able to match the wood grain on the body of the guitar and the rosewood fingerboard. Wood grains are like fingerprints: no two are exactly alike. Based on the sum of the evidence, I was able to identify that this guitar was the one that Bob Dylan had played in Newport.’ – Andy Babiuk, a consultant to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, on History Detectives.

Dylan’s guitar sold for $965,000, surpassing Eric Clapton’s ‘Blackie’, which sold for $959,500 in 2004. Clapton’s limited edition book, SIX-STRING STORIES, chronicles the guitars he auctioned for the Crossroads charity between 1999-2011. To find out more and order your copy, click here.

Above: Dylan recording Highway '61 with a Fender Strat in Jerry Schatzberg’s THIN WILD MERCURY.