LOS ANGELES, CA.- Juliens Auctions held this weekend Friday, September 11 until Sunday, September 13, Property from Bill Wyman and His Rolling Stones Archive Courtesy of Ripple Productions Limited live in Beverly Hills and online at
juliensauctions.com
The three-day music auction event honoring the legendary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, English musician, record producer, songwriter and singer, Bill Wyman, broke world records. The top selling item was a 1968 Gibson Les Paul Standard Model Gold Top guitar and case used by Brian Jones in The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus concert show and film in December 1968 and on other recordings and sold for $704,000, three and a half times its estimate of $200,000.
The 1969 Fender Mustang Bass with a Competition Orange finish designed by Leo Fender before he left the company, used by Wyman on The Stones concerts and recordings in 1969 and 1970 and exhibited at the O2 Arena Rock Exhibition in 2010, sold for $384,000. The sale marked a new world record for the most expensive bass guitar sold at auction which was previously held by Juliens Auctions 2013 sale of a left-handed Hofner bass guitar presented to Paul McCartney in 1964, selling for $204,800.
Another top moment of the auction was the highly anticipated sale of Wyman's 1962 VOX AC30 Normal model amplifier which sold for $106,250. It set a new world record for most expensive amplifier at auction which bested the combined sale of two amplifiers owned by David Gilmour sold at auction in 2019 for $77,000. This historic and famous amplifier, used extensively by the Rolling Stones, was one of the reasons why Wyman was asked to join the band during his audition.
An unexpected world record may have also been set in the sale of an acrylic plush yellow toilet seat cover printed with the Rolling Stones iconic tongue logo design which sold for $1,152, making it the most expensive toilet seat cover ever sold at auction.
Over 1,000 lots from Wymans renowned and vast archive were sold and showcased an unprecedented collection of his spectacular guitars and musical instruments, amplifiers, stage worn ensembles, awards, personal items and ephemera collected during his illustrious three-decade career as a founding member and bassist of the Worlds Greatest Rock Band, the Rolling Stones as well as important instruments and artifacts from his ongoing solo career.
Top highlights with winning bids included Wymans fine collection of guitars, instruments, gear and amplifiers: a Ted Newman Jones Short-Scale bass custom built for Wyman in the mid-1970s ($31,250); a 1965 Framus Star Bass model 5/149 gold sunburst finish ($25,600) and his early 1960s Framus Star Bass model 5/150 ($51,200); Wyman's Mellotron MKII model keyboard ($81,250); a 1978 Kramer Stagemaster Imperial DMZ 6000 bass used during the Rolling Stones and Wymans solo recording sessions from the late 1970s through the 1980s ($25,600); a 1969 Ampeg Gemini 12/G-12 combo amp ($15,625) and Wyman's 1969 Ampeg B-15N Portaflex Bass amp ($46,875) both used by the Rolling Stones in 1971 while recording Exile on Main St. in Villa Nellcote, France as well as other Rolling Stones recordings; Wyman's road case with the Rolling Stones tongue logo stenciled on both sides, used in the late 1970s-early 1980s while touring with the Stones which sold for $22,400, over four times its estimate of $5,000 and more.
Wymans glittering rock and roll wardrobe from the late 60s-70s worn on stage with the Rolling Stones and appearances were another show stopper including
Wyman's gold and black satin two-piece stage ensemble from famed London boutique Mr. Freedom ($10,000); his personalized 1972 tour shirt which sold for $10,000, fourteen times its estimate of $700; his brown suede waistcoat, which sold for $15,625, nearly twenty times its estimate of $800; a coral silk crepe shirt with abstract black and white pattern, ruffles and stand-up collar worn by the bassist on the cover of the Rolling Stones 1969 album Through the Past which sold for $11,520, fourteen times its estimate of $800; Wyman's complete stage worn ensemble from the Rolling Stones historic July 5, 1969, Hyde Park concert.( $11,520); Wyman's Ritva Goats Head Soup sweater which sold for $28,125, five and a half times its estimate of $5,000 and more.
Other highlights included awards such as a silver record presented by DISC magazine to the Rolling Stones for their single 19th Nervous Breakdown, February 1966 ($10,240) and an RIAA white matte gold record award presented to Mick Taylor to commemorate the sale of more than $1 million worth of the Rolling Stones Records album, Exile on Main St. ($10,240); a copy of the Rolling Stones first EP, Decca DFE 8560, signed by Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, Brian Jones, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts ($10,240); posters including a show poster of the earliest known concert posters for the Stones, who had just released their first single, Come On, in June 1963, titled Teen Beat / Night 63 where they headlined the show held at the Floral Hall Ballroom in Morecambe with supporting acts listed as the Merseybeats, Dave Berry & the Cruisers, and the Doodle-bugs ($10,240); a poster for the Rolling Stones 1973 tour of New Zealand, which sold for $12,800, thirty-two times its estimate of $400 and more.