Charity shop donated guitars fetch £12,000 at auction

In a heartwarming story from Witney, a charity shop received an incredible donation of rare guitars that once belonged to legendary musicians like Elvis Presley and Bob Dylan. These guitars were auctioned off for a remarkable total of £12,660. The donation was made towards the end of last year, and the volunteers at the Oxfam shop quickly recognized the potential value of these instruments. Among the collection was a Gibson Custom Shop Banner 1942 J-45 acoustic guitar, which was a personal favorite of Elvis Presley. This guitar sold for £2,200. Another notable guitar in the collection was a Martin D-28, which is favored by many famous artists, including Bob Dylan and Neil Young. This guitar fetched an impressive £3,400 at the auction. Chris Meadows, one of the volunteers at the shop, recounted how the donation came about. He said, 'Near the end of last year, a chap came in and asked if we took in guitars as donations. ' Although he didn’t know much about guitars, he noticed that the cases looked valuable. After some research, he and his fellow volunteers quickly realized how special these guitars were. They believed that the generous gentleman who donated them must have known their worth and wanted to help raise funds for Oxfam. The auction took place at Ewbank's auction house in Woking, Surrey, and included not only the J-45 and Martin D-28 but also a Gibson ES 335 electric guitar and a Gretsch White Falcon G6136-55VS electric guitar. John Silke, the music valuer at Ewbank's, expressed his excitement about the donation, stating that each of these guitars would be 'high on any guitar players' dream list. ' He emphasized that instruments of such quality and condition are rare, making this donation particularly special. It is truly fantastic that such a significant amount of money was raised for Oxfam through this generous act, highlighting the impact that kindness can have on the community.