A Vox guitar amplifier used by John Lennon in the early days of the Beatles, including during performances at Liverpool’s legendary ‘Cavern Club’ and during the recording of ‘Please Please Me’, the Fab Four’s debut album, has been auctioned for the equivalent of 181,000 euros.
According to auction house Propstore, the 62-year-old amplifier went to the highest bidder on Friday for £151,200. Lennon purchased the unit in 1962. The amplifier was used in many early live performances and during the recording of the Beatles’ first record, “Please, Please Me”, at Abbey Road Studios.
Lennon used the Vox amplifier extensively in the early days of The Beatles’ rise to fame. He also appears in the only known footage of The Beatles performing at the world-famous Cavern Club on August 22, 1962, four days after their new drummer Ringo Starr joined the band (see video below). Lennon’s vox guitar sound can be heard on songs like “Love Me Do”, “Please, Please Me”, “How Do You Do It?” and “P.S. I Love You”.
Those Beatles live in ‘Cavern’ – ‘Some Other Guy’:
The seller bought amplifiers for £16,000
In July, American music magazine Guitar World reported that the Vox amplifier, model AC15 Twin, serial number 4583 was spotted and purchased after it appeared on an auction site in December 2023. A buyer who had the amplifier auctioned at Propstore ultimately bought the device for 16,000 pounds sterling (the equivalent of 19,100 euros).
As the Beatles’ popularity grew, their manager Brian Epstein signed a deal with Vox in early 1963 that provided exclusive use of the brand, and in return the manufacturer supplied the band with amplifiers.
“Best guitar in the world” auctioned
According to the PA news agency, a guitar belonging to Oasis member Noel Gallagher, which he described as the “best guitar in the world”, also went under the hammer at the auction on Friday. The instrument was auctioned for 226,800 English pounds (about 271,000 euros).
According to auction house Propstore, the guitar in question was one of the most important for Gallagher during the Britpop era of the 1990s and probably the one he used most at the time.
Source: Krone
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