A pentagonal-shaped Vox Phantom VI Special Guitar used by late Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis in the band’s ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ music video is up for auction.
The iconic axe is set to go under the hammer at Bonhams Entertainment Memorabilia Sale on Tuesday, October 13th. The guitar is expected to fetch between $110,000 – 140,000.
The white-finished mahogany guitar features ” Jennings’ Bigsby B5-type tremolo, Tune-o-matic roller bridge, three pickups with six push-button controls, including the misprinted ‘Replat’ for ‘Repeat’, and five rotary controls, original strap buttons, back with cavity for PP3 battery conversion, laminated scratchplate, one-piece maple neck with zero-fretted rosewood fingerboard and original frets, dot markers, headstock with Phantom VI Special decal, chrome truss rod cover and non-original Schaller machineheads.”
The guitar will arrive in a plush-lined case, accompanied by a copy of 12″ single commemorating the 40th anniversary of ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ and a letter of provenance from Ian’s daughter Natalie Curtis.
The guitar was gifted to Natalie by Joy Division guitarist Bernard Summer on her eighteenth birthday. It has also previously belonged to The Smiths’ guitarist Johnny Marr.
“I grew up around and have worked with musicians, and although I’ve seen a lot of guitars, I’ve never seen anything like this,” Natalie shared. “From everything I’ve been told about my father, he was very obsessed with how things looked, and so to me the Phantom makes sense as it very much feels like Ian Curtis’s guitar.”
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This year, Joy Division celebrated the 40th anniversary of their final album, Closer. To commemorate the anniversary, the album was repressed on a “crystal clear vinyl” and featuring the original artwork. The release arrives with its original Factory B-side: ‘Transmission’ is backed by ‘Novelty,’ ‘Atmosphere’ by ‘She’s Lost Control’, and ‘Love With Tear Us Apart’ by ‘These Days’.
