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Lot Essay
This 1950s blonde Fender Telecaster was previously owned by country blues musician Roy Buchanan, and later by his close friend and well known pickup wiz Seymour Duncan. After Duncan introduced Buchanan to legendary British guitarist Jeff Beck in 1973, their mutual admiration led to each guitarist dedicating a seminal instrumental track to the other in the mid-1970s. When Beck needed to borrow a guitar to shoot the music video for his 1985 single 'People Get Ready' in California, Duncan was on hand to lend him Buchanan’s old Tele. A collaboration between Jeff Beck and Rod Stewart, ‘People Get Ready’ represented the first musical reunion between the two artists since the break up of the Jeff Beck Group in 1969. Formed in 1967 featuring Beck on guitar, Stewart on vocals and Ronnie Wood on bass, the Jeff Beck Group toured America through the late 1960s, jamming with the likes of Jimi Hendrix and making a name for themselves in the international music scene, until they famously split just before playing Woodstock. While all three musicians would go on to play major roles in the future of British music, Jeff Beck in particular remained a groundbreaking innovator, consistently pushing the boundaries of what was possible to achieve with the electric guitar throughout his nearly six-decade career.
SEYMOUR DUNCAN AND ROY BUCHANAN
Seymour W. Duncan, the legendary American pickup inventor and guitar restorer, first fell in love with the guitar as a child after being taken to see Les Paul and Mary Ford play at the Steel Pier in Atlantic City. “After the show, my uncle took me backstage and introduced me to Les,” Duncan recalls. “That was the thrill of a lifetime … it was the first professional I had ever seen in person.” So began a life-long fascination with both playing guitar and the instrument and its inner workings. Besides the great Les Paul, Duncan was most inspired by country blues legend Roy Buchanan, whom he first saw play aged only 13 at the local club, Dick Lee’s (despite being underage). “When Buchanan was in the house,” Duncan recalls, “guitarists from a wide area would flock in to watch him and steal his licks.” Duncan was particularly impressed with Buchanan’s pinch harmonics, during which Buchanan would turn side-stage when performing to hide his technique from onlookers. Sitting side-stage himself, Duncan took it all in, and credits Buchanan with giving him his first “real lesson in tone.”
By his late teens, through playing and experimenting with his own guitars, Duncan discovered he had a prodigious talent for guitar restoration, specifically for repairing and rewinding pickups, as well as making his own parts and designs. He gained a reputation as the man to go to if you were looking for a particular sound or to fix a problem with your tone. This led to a meeting, aged just 18, on 28 March 1968 in Cincinnati, with none other than Jimi Hendrix, who was experiencing problems with the pickups in his white Stratocaster.
JEFF BECK
In 1972 Roy Buchanan was passing through Ohio and convinced Duncan to go with him to England. Arriving in London in 1973, Duncan met up with Buchanan and his manager, Jaye Reich, who were recording at Polydor Records, and through the studio secured a job working for Fender at their repair shop in London. It was during this time that he created a guitar for Jeff Beck, whom he had admired since he was a child and for whom he had been devastated following the theft of his ’59 Les Paul, stolen in July 1969 after a riotous gig with the Jeff Beck Group – including Rod Stewart on vocals and Ronnie Wood on bass – in upstate New York. Duncan recounted that ‘As a kid in New Jersey, I grew up a major fan of Jeff's and the Yardbirds. I used to stare at the 'Rave Up' album cover and wonder what it would be like to see Jeff's Esquire or, better yet, to hold it.’ Duncan took his new creation to the nearby studio where Jeff Beck’s band at the time – Beck, Bogert & Appice – were rehearsing, and presented it to Jeff. Beck loved the new guitar for its feel and the punchy Gibson pickups, and it was immediately put to use. In exchange for the new guitar – nicknamed ‘The Tele-Gib’ for its combined features of a Fender Telecaster and a Gibson, Seymour acquired Beck’s old Yardbirds Esquire. Seymour introduced Beck to Roy Buchanan, and when putting together the Tele-Gib, he had incorporated bridge saddles taken from one of Roy Buchanan’s old Teles. Beck cited Buchanan as a major influence and inspiration, dedicating his version of Stevie Wonder’s ‘Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers’ from his seminal 1975 solo instrumental album Blow By Blow to Buchanan, a sentiment returned the following year by Buchanan with his instrumental track ‘My Friend, Jeff’ from the album A Street Called Straight.
This exchange was to be the beginning of a long friendship and relationship between Duncan and Beck, particularly after the latter became resident in California following the success of Blow by Blow (1975) and its follow-up Wired (1976). Knowing what he would like, Seymour made, gave and sold several guitars to Jeff in addition to the ‘Tele-Gib’, including a beautiful 1957 blond Telecaster and a 1960s caramel Stratocaster (sold from the Jeff Beck Guitar Collection, Christie’s, London, 22 January 2025, lots 8, 31 and 36), as well as adapting and repairing several others to the spec Beck required. Seymour even looked after some of Jeff’s beloved Hot Rods that he kept in California, taking care of them in between Jeff’s visits to the West Coast.
REUNION WITH ROD STEWART
Jeff Beck toured Wired through 1977, resulting in his next album Jeff Beck with the Jan Hammer Group Live being released that year; 1978 saw him tour to Japan with Stanley Clarke; and following that he worked on his next solo studio album There and Back, which was released in 1980 and was also toured extensively. The early 1980s, by contrast, saw a hiatus in terms of solo material and instead several years of notable collaborations – including in 1983 with the tremendously successful series of benefit concerts for Ronnie Lane’s ARMs, for which the three Yardbirds guitarists (Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page) appeared on stage together for the first time. With his solo career on pause somewhat, by 1984 Jeff Beck was in high demand as a session guitarist and appeared on the records of major artists such as Mick Jagger and Tina Turner. Having sporadically kept in touch since their days together in the Jeff Beck Group, including seeing each other in Los Angeles for the west coast dates of the ARMs tour in late 1983, Jeff Beck reunited with Rod Stewart in 1984 for their first collaboration since the 1969 breakup of the Jeff Beck Group. They recorded a cover of the 1965 Curtis Mayfield composition ‘People Get Ready’, which would be released as the lead single from Jeff’s 1985 album Flash, peaking at no. 48 on the Billboard Hot 100. Explaining how the reunion came about, Jeff told Gene Santoro: ‘I kept bumping into him in different places in Los Angeles. He was always friendly and saying, “Well, when are we going to do something together?” So I said, "Put your money where your mouth is." So then he organized the studio and we went in and did a thing called "People Get Ready." That turned out really well, and Warner Bros. and everybody just went crazy.’ Jeff played his pink Jackson Soloist to record guitar parts for three tracks on Rod’s 1984 album Camouflage, including the hit single ‘Infatuation’. ‘That album was done with the Jackson,’ Jeff confirmed to Guitar Player in 1985. ‘It was the only guitar I was using at the time.’
When it came to recording the video for ‘People Get Ready’, filmed in Randsburg, California, an old gold mining town, Jeff borrowed a different guitar for the purpose – this 1950s Telecaster which was owned by his old friend Seymour Duncan and had previously belonged to Buchanan. The video, shot in sepia tones, told the story of two friends reuniting, with Beck riding a boxcar playing his guitar while Stewart waited at a train station, featuring several characters which both friends meet along the way and culminating in their emotional reunion. Seymour was on hand for the video shoot, as was Jeff’s long-time road manager Al Dutton. Dutton remembers the shoot well and confirms that Jeff borrowed the Telecaster from Duncan. Photographer Robert Knight was also present to capture several shots of Jeff with this guitar seated at the open side of a train boxcar (see below) and in front of the red hotrod that he kept for California use. ‘BECK’ was stencilled onto the guitar case for the occasion – likely by the video crew/roadies – and remains to this day. The photos were subsequently used in advertisements for Seymour Duncan’s Convertible amplifier, which was released later that same year.
SEYMOUR DUNCAN AND ROY BUCHANAN
Seymour W. Duncan, the legendary American pickup inventor and guitar restorer, first fell in love with the guitar as a child after being taken to see Les Paul and Mary Ford play at the Steel Pier in Atlantic City. “After the show, my uncle took me backstage and introduced me to Les,” Duncan recalls. “That was the thrill of a lifetime … it was the first professional I had ever seen in person.” So began a life-long fascination with both playing guitar and the instrument and its inner workings. Besides the great Les Paul, Duncan was most inspired by country blues legend Roy Buchanan, whom he first saw play aged only 13 at the local club, Dick Lee’s (despite being underage). “When Buchanan was in the house,” Duncan recalls, “guitarists from a wide area would flock in to watch him and steal his licks.” Duncan was particularly impressed with Buchanan’s pinch harmonics, during which Buchanan would turn side-stage when performing to hide his technique from onlookers. Sitting side-stage himself, Duncan took it all in, and credits Buchanan with giving him his first “real lesson in tone.”
By his late teens, through playing and experimenting with his own guitars, Duncan discovered he had a prodigious talent for guitar restoration, specifically for repairing and rewinding pickups, as well as making his own parts and designs. He gained a reputation as the man to go to if you were looking for a particular sound or to fix a problem with your tone. This led to a meeting, aged just 18, on 28 March 1968 in Cincinnati, with none other than Jimi Hendrix, who was experiencing problems with the pickups in his white Stratocaster.
JEFF BECK
In 1972 Roy Buchanan was passing through Ohio and convinced Duncan to go with him to England. Arriving in London in 1973, Duncan met up with Buchanan and his manager, Jaye Reich, who were recording at Polydor Records, and through the studio secured a job working for Fender at their repair shop in London. It was during this time that he created a guitar for Jeff Beck, whom he had admired since he was a child and for whom he had been devastated following the theft of his ’59 Les Paul, stolen in July 1969 after a riotous gig with the Jeff Beck Group – including Rod Stewart on vocals and Ronnie Wood on bass – in upstate New York. Duncan recounted that ‘As a kid in New Jersey, I grew up a major fan of Jeff's and the Yardbirds. I used to stare at the 'Rave Up' album cover and wonder what it would be like to see Jeff's Esquire or, better yet, to hold it.’ Duncan took his new creation to the nearby studio where Jeff Beck’s band at the time – Beck, Bogert & Appice – were rehearsing, and presented it to Jeff. Beck loved the new guitar for its feel and the punchy Gibson pickups, and it was immediately put to use. In exchange for the new guitar – nicknamed ‘The Tele-Gib’ for its combined features of a Fender Telecaster and a Gibson, Seymour acquired Beck’s old Yardbirds Esquire. Seymour introduced Beck to Roy Buchanan, and when putting together the Tele-Gib, he had incorporated bridge saddles taken from one of Roy Buchanan’s old Teles. Beck cited Buchanan as a major influence and inspiration, dedicating his version of Stevie Wonder’s ‘Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers’ from his seminal 1975 solo instrumental album Blow By Blow to Buchanan, a sentiment returned the following year by Buchanan with his instrumental track ‘My Friend, Jeff’ from the album A Street Called Straight.
This exchange was to be the beginning of a long friendship and relationship between Duncan and Beck, particularly after the latter became resident in California following the success of Blow by Blow (1975) and its follow-up Wired (1976). Knowing what he would like, Seymour made, gave and sold several guitars to Jeff in addition to the ‘Tele-Gib’, including a beautiful 1957 blond Telecaster and a 1960s caramel Stratocaster (sold from the Jeff Beck Guitar Collection, Christie’s, London, 22 January 2025, lots 8, 31 and 36), as well as adapting and repairing several others to the spec Beck required. Seymour even looked after some of Jeff’s beloved Hot Rods that he kept in California, taking care of them in between Jeff’s visits to the West Coast.
REUNION WITH ROD STEWART
Jeff Beck toured Wired through 1977, resulting in his next album Jeff Beck with the Jan Hammer Group Live being released that year; 1978 saw him tour to Japan with Stanley Clarke; and following that he worked on his next solo studio album There and Back, which was released in 1980 and was also toured extensively. The early 1980s, by contrast, saw a hiatus in terms of solo material and instead several years of notable collaborations – including in 1983 with the tremendously successful series of benefit concerts for Ronnie Lane’s ARMs, for which the three Yardbirds guitarists (Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page) appeared on stage together for the first time. With his solo career on pause somewhat, by 1984 Jeff Beck was in high demand as a session guitarist and appeared on the records of major artists such as Mick Jagger and Tina Turner. Having sporadically kept in touch since their days together in the Jeff Beck Group, including seeing each other in Los Angeles for the west coast dates of the ARMs tour in late 1983, Jeff Beck reunited with Rod Stewart in 1984 for their first collaboration since the 1969 breakup of the Jeff Beck Group. They recorded a cover of the 1965 Curtis Mayfield composition ‘People Get Ready’, which would be released as the lead single from Jeff’s 1985 album Flash, peaking at no. 48 on the Billboard Hot 100. Explaining how the reunion came about, Jeff told Gene Santoro: ‘I kept bumping into him in different places in Los Angeles. He was always friendly and saying, “Well, when are we going to do something together?” So I said, "Put your money where your mouth is." So then he organized the studio and we went in and did a thing called "People Get Ready." That turned out really well, and Warner Bros. and everybody just went crazy.’ Jeff played his pink Jackson Soloist to record guitar parts for three tracks on Rod’s 1984 album Camouflage, including the hit single ‘Infatuation’. ‘That album was done with the Jackson,’ Jeff confirmed to Guitar Player in 1985. ‘It was the only guitar I was using at the time.’
When it came to recording the video for ‘People Get Ready’, filmed in Randsburg, California, an old gold mining town, Jeff borrowed a different guitar for the purpose – this 1950s Telecaster which was owned by his old friend Seymour Duncan and had previously belonged to Buchanan. The video, shot in sepia tones, told the story of two friends reuniting, with Beck riding a boxcar playing his guitar while Stewart waited at a train station, featuring several characters which both friends meet along the way and culminating in their emotional reunion. Seymour was on hand for the video shoot, as was Jeff’s long-time road manager Al Dutton. Dutton remembers the shoot well and confirms that Jeff borrowed the Telecaster from Duncan. Photographer Robert Knight was also present to capture several shots of Jeff with this guitar seated at the open side of a train boxcar (see below) and in front of the red hotrod that he kept for California use. ‘BECK’ was stencilled onto the guitar case for the occasion – likely by the video crew/roadies – and remains to this day. The photos were subsequently used in advertisements for Seymour Duncan’s Convertible amplifier, which was released later that same year.