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David Gilmour sells guitars for Climate Change.

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bluesky

bluesky

Lunatic Member
UPI

June 21 (UPI) -- The auction of David Gilmour's guitar collection netted more than $21 million, which the legendary Pink Floyd guitarist is donating to efforts to battle climate change, Christie's announced.

The auction house said the 8-hour auction Thursday drew bidders from more than 66 countries. The collection of more than 120 guitars earned $21,490,750.

A Fender black Stratocaster set a worldwide auction record for a guitar, earning $3.97 million, blowing past its $150,000 estimate. Gilmour used the so-called Black Strat on Pink Floyd albums The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), Wish You Were Here (1975), Animals (1977) and The Wall (1979).

"It became my main guitar, the one I used pretty much on everything unless there was a reason to want a different sound," Gilmour said of the guitar.

Gilmour said he was "blown away" by the results of the auction.

He's donating all the proceeds from the sale to ClientEarth, a charity that funds legal battles fighting climate change.

"This is a truly humbling and extraordinary gift, which goes beyond our wildest expectations," ClientEarth CEO James Thornton said. "It's difficult to express just how deeply grateful we are to David for choosing for choosing ClientEarth as the beneficiary of this historic auction.

"This gift is a phenomenal boost to our work and will allow us to play an even greater role in addressing the climate crisis and securing a healthy planet for future generations."
 
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bluesky said:
UPI

June 21 (UPI) -- The auction of David Gilmour's guitar collection netted more than $21 million, which the legendary Pink Floyd guitarist is donating to efforts to battle climate change, Christie's announced.

The auction house said the 8-hour auction Thursday drew bidders from more than 66 countries. The collection of more than 120 guitars earned $21,490,750.

A Fender black Stratocaster set a worldwide auction record for a guitar, earning $3.97 million, blowing past its $150,000 estimate. Gilmour used the so-called Black Strat on Pink Floyd albums The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), Wish You Were Here (1975), Animals (1977) and The Wall (1979).

"It became my main guitar, the one I used pretty much on everything unless there was a reason to want a different sound," Gilmour said of the guitar.

Gilmour said he was "blown away" by the results of the auction.

He's donating all the proceeds from the sale to ClientEarth, a charity that funds legal battles fighting climate change.

"This is a truly humbling and extraordinary gift, which goes beyond our wildest expectations," ClientEarth CEO James Thornton said. "It's difficult to express just how deeply grateful we are to David for choosing for choosing ClientEarth as the beneficiary of this historic auction.

"This gift is a phenomenal boost to our work and will allow us to play an even greater role in addressing the climate crisis and securing a healthy planet for future generations."
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Very cool, and going to what appears a worthy cause.

I'd hate to be a worker at the auction house, and drop that bloody thing after auction :eek:
 
I looked around the "links" provided by the OP for anything re: the hammer price of this geetar @ the auction:

upload_2019-6-22_9-28-45.jpeg

1954 Fender Stratocaster, SN 001, a (seemingly original) Olympic White finish, a (seemingly original) Anodized Aluminum 'Guard in Gold + other Gold-plated Hardware (e.g., cord jack cover, trem bridge, and, IIRC, tuning keys).

note: DG used this one on several "pre DSOTM" Floyd LPs, and while we all knew the Black '69 (comprised of many non-original parts & wiring scheme) would HAMMER @ BIG $$$ b/c of its association w/ studio LPs from DSOTM - The Wall, and live performances circa 1972-??, the collector community had a keen interest in the '54, which has been "depicted" and "described" in just about every reference guide re: American Vintage Geetars publiched furing the last 40+ years.
 
As for "the cause" i.e. "ClientEarth", it's Dave's dough, so who cares where/how he chooses to disburse/spend it? He's a millionaire hundreds of times over, so the dough is, for him, superfluous, so just as well donate to a worthy cause. Now, re: "ClientEarth" being (or not) a "worthy cause", well, I don' know jack about the organization's history, accomplishments, etc., so no opinion on that score. Given my understanding of and experience w/ (seeming) Global Climate Changes over the past 3-4 decades, I'd say that a donation to an organization that's effectively working to limit/ameliorate the extent of "climate change agents" on earth is, potentially, is a very worthwhile investment of these funds, provided the recipient organization is not the "global climate change" equivalent of, say, The United Way, i.e., a (so-called) charitable organization that exists (largely) to serve/fund its own administrative function(s).
 
zebra03 said:
What a waste of money . So many starving , homeless people in need of help .
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Homelessness: indeed a starkly naked, tangible social ill, and certainly one worthy of assistance. The levels of this scourge in my hometown (Chicago) and 15 years of work life (Los Angeles) are about equally frightening/discouraging.
 
P.S. I do applaud Gilmour for liquidating the collection for some good cause -- none of us who are primarily "players" need 100+ geetars... I know, I was up to an N of 140~150 before I realized that (1) further accumulation needed to stop and (2) herd-thinning was in order. (nb: this applied as well to the 50~70 geetar amplifiers and hundreds of effects pedals/units I'd amassed)

While I did not post my "collection" for auction w/ the intention of donating the proceeds to a worthy cause, I did donate quite a few, say 40-50 geetars and 20-30 amplifiers and a lotta effects pedals, to working musicians in the vicinities of Chicago and Los Angeles, also to a few recording studios, most of which are in the vicinity of Greater Los Angeles. I also gave away geetars (and amps) to family & friends who play, though not professionally, sort of as mementos. All of this took about 15 years. The result: 14 geetars (12 electric, 2 acoustic), 4 amplifiers, and about 30-40 effects. Sure, that's still a lot of effects, but considering I was up to around 300 of the devices, an effective thinning IMO.

P.P.S. Um, I did hang on to several 50s model Shure microphones -- Ribbon types, "Elvis" types, and "Bullet" types... as well as a large (200-300) stash of circa 50s-70s tubes, many still NIB, that "fit" my various geetar amps and some of the effects pedals/units.
 
It's hard to fault:
  • Donating to genuine charity in general. The world could do with more of that, whether it's your favourite cause or not; and
  • Supporting research and development (which is what "battle climate change" means when you strip away the PR-friendly sound-bite journalism) on sustainable, clean, domestically-sourced, reusable, environmentally-friendly ways to manufacture products, produce food and generate energy.
The latter means creating jobs and industry, reducing reliance on foreign oil, and improving the world. These are all good, no matter what you believe about climate change.
 
DaveVoorhis said:
It's hard to fault:
  • Supporting research and development (which is what "battle climate change" means when you strip away the PR-friendly sound-bite journalism) on sustainable, clean, domestically-sourced, reusable, environmentally-friendly ways to manufacture products, produce food and generate energy.
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^^^^ This. $$$ for grad students. Though I'd rather dig up dinosaurs than make climate models.
 
I've got a Fender strat in black, white pickups, blonde neck. I love it. It would normally be worth more than Gilmours, since his doesn't have the original neck, nor the original pickups, not even the original body, lol.
 
It seems to me, whether one believes if climate change is a real event or not, the effort to leave our Earth in better shape than what we found it, is a worthy cause. One that everyone should support. And for that, I applaud Mr. Gilmour's gift. Well done. :)
 
Good for him. If we have a climate change problems it might be the fault of corporate legal departments sitting on information.
 
I'm with Mystic on this. As a semi retired professional musician, I can attest to the fact that when you start out you put every penny into your gear and then once you get to a point that you can afford really nice gear, it just starts coming to you for free. I have no idea how many guitars I have at the moment, probably in the mid 50's and I would guess I have 100 plus amps, and who knows how many pedals, and I've paired it down a lot lately. But I never play 90+% of them, and I think about the pain in the ass it would be for my kid to have to deal with all that **** when I go. There are a few with some sentimental value that might be hard to let go, but I totally get the act of just giving up and selling it all up at once. They are just guitars and at the end of the day they are just a tool. And who cares what he does with his money, it's his to do with what he wants.
 
I'm of the belief that if you have at least 1 Les Paul, 1 strat and an acoustic, your bases are covered.

With all the processors and stuff available today, you could probably get by with a Hello Kitty electric. ;)
 
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