Bob Dylan’s Electric Guitar Sets Auction Record with $965,000 Sale

The electric guitar that Bob Dylan played during the Newport Folk Festival in1965 sold for $965,000 during a recent auction at Christie’s. Though the name of buyer has not been released, the auction house says that the sale marks the highest price ever paid for a guitar sold at auction.

The presale estimate for the famous instrument, which Dylan played during his first foray into the electric guitar world, was set at $300,000 to $500,000. But soon after bidding began, it became clear that the classic guitar featuring a sunburst finish and original flat-wound strings was going to go for much, much more.

“Going electric changed the structure of folk music,” Newport Folk Festival founder George Wein, told the Associated Press. “The minute Dylan went electric, all these young people said, `Bobby’s going electric. We’re going electric, too.'”

The guitar, which had been in the possession of a New Jersey family for nearly 50 years, was sold with its original black leather strap and Fender hard shell case.

Photo credit: Rolling Stone