Thursday, September 14, 2006
Madonna's Gibson Les Paul Custom guitar, personally autographed, will go up for auction on Ebay starting on October 6, 2006, at 7:00 P.M. PST, ending on October 16, 2006. The guitar is the only surviving guitar of two that were custom made for Madonna and played by her on her 2001 Drowned World concert tour.
SONORA, CA (PRWEB) September 14, 2006 -- Madonna's Gibson Les Paul Custom guitar, personally autographed, will go up for auction on Ebay starting on October 6, 2006, at 7:00 P.M. PST, ending on October 16, 2006. The guitar is the only surviving guitar of two that were custom made for Madonna and played by her on her 2001 Drowned World concert tour. This tour was the first time Madonna every played a guitar in concert. The Drowned World tour ended on September 15, 2001 in Los Angeles. After the show, Madonna autographed this guitar "Love, Madonna" in gold paint pen and gave it to her Guitar Technician, John Griswold, as a big "Thank You" for all his services.
This guitar has been photographed and video taped world-wide thousands of times and a photo of this guitar appears in the Aug. 27, 2001 issue of People Magazine. This is one of the most photographed guitars in the world.
Madonna's guitar and included matching tour case are numbered with the Gibson serial number of 001360 which is verified on all the tour's manifests and carnet. While the guitar has back scratches and light wear from Madonna's costumes and belt buckles rubbing against it during her performances, it is in perfect working order and has been clear coated to protect the autograph from wear (standard procedure in guitar preserving). This guitar can be played without wearing down the autograph. With original strings as Madonna last played them, this guitar has been kept very well and secure the last 5 years.
A year prior to her 2001 Drowned World Tour, Madonna contacted guitar maker Gibson about making her 2 custom Les Paul guitars to use on her Drowned World tour. Gibson made only two of these custom guitars just for Madonna.
Within Gibson, this guitar became known as the "Madonna Les Paul Model". They were originally made with silver tuners and fittings. Madonna decided she wanted the guitars to fit better with her stage costumes so she consulted with her Guitar Technician John Griswold. They decided on simple "gold on black" and John replaced the outer hardware with gold fittings and removed the pick guards.
These two identical guitars were made so Madonna could have a Primary and a Backup guitar while on tour. The guitar in this auction was her Primary guitar and used 90% of the time on the Drowned World Tour only. John Griswold says that he would only give her the Backup guitar to play every now and then just to keep it in working order. When she preformed, Madonna never knew if she was playing her primary or backup guitar. Madonna kept her backup Gibson guitar which was later stolen at a venue rehearsal for her Re-Invention Tour of 2004. So this autographed guitar of John's is the only one to exist and is truly "one of a kind" and rare.
John Griswold has been a Guitar Technician since the early 1970's and has worked with such acts as Journey, The Eagles, Jimmy Buffet, George Harrison, Ringo Star, and Shania Twain. John was hired by Madonna as her guitar technician back in 1989 and was with her during the promotional pre-tour rehearsal and tours and the Drowned World rehearsals and throughout the final 2001 concert tour.
John and his family lived in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit the city. His house was flooded to the top of the first floor and he lost most of his possessions and studio equipment. This guitar was one of the first things he and his family saved. John and his wife and son evacuated and relocated to Sonora, CA.
While John is reluctant to present this precious guitar for auction, the financial loss and hardship his family has suffered from the impact of Hurricane Katrina has necessitated such a bold move.
The seller, Pierce Jensen of Sonora, CA (Ebay Seller "pierceandshelly"), has been a member of Ebay since March 1999 and has thousands of successful auctions to his credit along with a wonderful feedback rating. He's an Ebay "Power Seller" ranking among the most successful sellers in terms of product sales and customer satisfaction on Ebay.
Until the auction begins, this guitar can be previewed at:
www.pscelebrities.com/madonna/
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