The pair reportedly wrote some of their most iconic songs on the instrument, Guitar World reports.
The unique 1913 Gibson acoustic guitar, which Eric Clapton and George Harrison used to write some of their most iconic songs, is going up for auction this week.
The quirky Style-0 archtop, fondly nicknamed "Pattie", has been listed by Heritage Auctions, and is currently awaiting an opening bid of $150,000.
The auction comes mere months after the acoustic was listed on Reverb for almost $1,000,000. It remains to be seen whether it will eventually sell for anywhere near that figure when the auction comes to a close in nine days time.
Not much is known about the guitar’s earliest years, but the fate of the Gibson Style-0 Archtop, which bears the serial number #14106, changed dramatically when the two guitarists got their hands on it in the late ‘60s.
It’s lovingly been dubbed “Pattie” after Pattie Boyd, the woman they both married. Heritage Auctions has dubbed it “not only a testament to Gibson's golden era, [but] an icon of late 1960s rock history.”
It came into the pair's possession during a particularly creative patch in 1968, which included some famed collaborative Los Angeles songwriting sessions.
Harrison was photographed playing the guitar in October 1968 alongside Clapton at Alan Pariser's Los Angeles garden. According to reports, it was here that the seeds of some of Harrison’s most iconic compositions – including Here Comes the Sun, I Me Mine, and All Things Must Pass – were planted. It’s also believed to have helped inspire Clapton to write Layla.
The guitar is in surprisingly good condition despite being well over 100 years old, although there are some signs of its workhorse nature.
The sale was led by original artwork chosen by Clapton for the cover of Derek And The Dominos’ 1970 album Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs.
It was estimated to fetch between £40,000 and £60,000, but sold for 33 times the pre-sale estimate at £1,976,000 – after a prolonged bidding battle. The collection sold for a total of £2,818,184.
Clapton famously wrote the 1970 track Layla about Boyd, as well as his 1977 hit Wonderful Tonight.
