DALLAS (AP) — The electric guitar that blues legend Stevie Ray Vaughan used in his first studio recording and early performances is expected to sell for about $400,000 at auction in his hometown of Dallas.
Heritage Auctions will offer the 1951 Fender guitar Sunday. Vaughan biographer Craig Hopkins says the guitar has “considerable historical significance,” noting Vaughan “pretty much learned his craft on” the guitar.
Hopkins said Friday that the instrument was Vaughan’s first professional-grade guitar. It was a gift from his brother Jimmie Vaughan in the late 1960s. “Jimbo” is carved on the back.
Hopkins says Stevie Ray Vaughan, who traded the guitar away in 1971, mentioned in a 1989 interview how much he’d like to have it back.
Vaughan died in a 1990 helicopter crash. He was 35.