A twelve-string Yamaha acoustic guitar once owned by Pink Floyd founding member Roger ‘Syd’ Barrett has been sold for a whopping £19,920 (Rs 20,58,052) at the Cheffins Art & Design Sale on Thursday, 28 October, in the UK. The rare iconic guitar has fetched an amount two times of its pre-sale estimates of £5,000 to £10,000, and the proceeds are expected to be divided between two parties– charities Mind and the Arthur Rank Hospice.

Martin Millard, Director, Cheffins said in Cheffin’s release: “We had a number of Pink Floyd superfans present at the sale and successful bidders from across the globe, the legend of Syd clearly lives on.” She stressed, that the guitar had received a huge pre-sale interest on an international scale and “goes to show that his cult-like status as one of the greatest icons in the world of music still holds true.”

The instrument, once used by the world-famous London-based rock band Pink Floyd’s founding member Syd Barrett, was bid the highest by a man in France. It was sold by Syd’s nephew, Mark Barrett, according to a release by the auction house. Pink Floyd’s former lead singer and band’s frontman had spoken about his guitar in a popular 1971 Rolling Stone Magazine interview by Mick Rock. Barrett also went on to record two solo albums with the now auctioned guitar. The instrument carried a serial number of 1090448 and has a date code for 21 October 1969 inscribed on it. “It’s my new 12-string guitar”, the musician at the time had told the Rolling Stones magazine, adding that he polished the instrument every day and was still getting used to it.

Mark Barrett, Roger Barrett’s nephew said “We were thrilled with the result of the guitar and are pleased that it will be going to someone who will appreciate it. It’s been in our family loft for years so I hope that it will give someone else as much joy as it did my uncle. The funds from the sale will be going to two really important causes, MIND in memory of my uncle Roger and The Arthur Rank Hospice in memory of my father.”

The rockstar, later in his career, also used a mirrored Fender ‘62 Esquire guitar that became extremely popular in the 60s. Barrett, however, quit the band Pink Floyd in 1968 and went on to reside a normal life in the basement of his mother’s house in Hills Road in Cambridge. The former Pink Floyd singer suffered a mental health deterioration and kept his guitar with his father, Alan Barrett as he sold his Hills Roadhouse in 1974. His nephew, Mark Barrett informed that he has been in possession of Syd’s instrument since November 2020, as the singer had asked to sell it later on at auction for charity. The bidder who purchased the guitar had earlier bought a table designed by Barrett for £2,365.50 in a separate auction, as well as a pair of wall-mounted spotlights from Barrett’s recording studio.

Cheffins had earlier managed to sell a painting titled Orange Dahlias in a Vase by Syd Barrett in May 2021 for a whopping £28,270, which was over five times its pre-sale estimates by the auction center. Several objects from Berrett’s home in Cambridge at no. 6 St Margaret’s Square, where he had lived since 1981, were also auctioned earlier. “Despite Syd’s Pink Floyd years being marred by drug addiction and struggles with mental health, he was one of the UK’s greatest musical talents and one of Cambridge’s greatest exports and we were honoured to have had the opportunity to offer these important items for sale“, Cheffins stated in a release.

In early 2022, Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets — the avenue for the legendary drummer tour the world playing classics from the early days of Pink Floyd to rapturous crowds — will head back out on a 26-show tour in major cities across the United States and Canada.

Detailed on Tuesday, the tour will again feature Mason flanked by a number of high-profile musical colleagues including bassist Guy Pratt, guitarists Gary Kemp of Spandau Ballet and Lee Harris from Ian Dury’s Blockheads and keyboardist Dom Beken. This outing is billed as The Echoes Tour 2022, and looks to be another must-see event for fans of early-era Pink Floyd.

The Saucerful of Secrets project was launched in recent years by Mason and his pals and featured some excellent live performances in venues around the world — with a live album, Live at the Roundhouse, released in Sept. 2020 capturing the magic from a night at the London club.

The tour starts on January 18th in Toronto and concludes on February 28th, 2022 in Vancouver.

Nick Mason said: “We enjoyed our 2019 tour in America so much. We’re happy to be back at it and playing Pink Floyd music fans may have never had the chance to experience live.”

Tickets for the first half of the tour go on sale this coming Friday, October 29th, with the exception of Philadelphia which goes on sale with the other half of the dates on Friday, November 5th. Tickets can be purchased over at The Official Saucerful Of Secrets website by clicking here.

And the dates:

Jan. 18 – Toronto, ON Massey Hall
Jan. 19 – Montreal, QC Théâtre Saint-Denis 1
Jan. 21 – Boston, MA Shubert Theatre – Boch Center
Jan. 22 – Providence, RI Providence Performing Arts Center
Jan. 24 – Port Chester, NY The Capitol Theatre
Jan. 25 – Philadelphia, PA Merriam Theater
Jan. 26 – Pittsburgh, PA Benedum Center
Jan. 28 – New York, NY Beacon Theatre
Jan. 30 – Washington, DC The Anthem
Feb. 1 – Cincinnati, OH Music Hall
Feb. 2 – Akron, OH Akron Civic Theatre
Feb. 4 – Chicago, IL Chicago Theatre
Feb. 6 – Milwaukee, WI Riverside Theater
Feb. 8 – St. Louis, MO Stifel Theatre
Feb. 9 – Memphis, TN Cannon Center
Feb. 10 – Kansas City, MO Muriel Kauffman Theatre
Feb. 12 – Grand Prairie, TX Texas Trust CU Theatre at Grand Prairie
Feb. 15 – Denver, CO Paramount Theatre
Feb. 17 – Phoenix, AZ Orpheum Theatre
Feb. 18 – Los Angeles, CA The Orpheum Theatre
Feb. 21 – San Diego, CA Balboa Theatre
Feb. 23 – Sacramento, CA Memorial Auditorium
Feb. 24 – Oakland, CA Fox Theater
Feb. 26 – Seattle, WA Moore Theatre
Feb. 27 – Spokane, WA First Interstate Center for the Arts
Feb. 28 – Vancouver, BC The Orpheum

Rockonteurs is a podcast all about the real stories behind real music.

Presented by Spandau Ballet’s Gary Kemp, who wrote and performed megahits like ‘Gold’ and ‘True’, and Guy Pratt, a bass player who shaped songs for the likes of Madonna and Pink Floyd, you’ll hear exclusive stories of life on the road, in the studio and what really happened behind the scenes from artists who wrote, performed and produced the some of the biggest classic rock and pop tracks of all time.

Rockonteurs is a podcast all about the real stories behind real music.

This weeks upcoming episode is Number 58 and features guest Sir Tim Rice

Available from 24th October 2021 on Itunes, Spotify and all other Listening Platforms. Click Here to be taken to Apple Musics Listening Page

Ashdown has unveiled a new signature bass amp head for Guy Pratt, the Interstellar-600.

The esteemed British bassist, who has played with everyone from Pink Floyd to Madonna and Gary Moore, has long favored customized Ashdown’s ABM 900 heads, and the new signature model is based on that amp.

That said, there are some extensive modifications packaged with the Interstellar-600. The face of the amp contains two VU meters, for both input and output levels, then there’s a nine-band EQ section and, on the rear, an input for Pratt’s Moog Taurus pedal.

In addition, Ashdown says the amp can be used with an optional footswitch to engage “the compression and the sub harmonics at fixed values to Guy’s exacting specifications when required”.

The large Tube Drive knob on the front of the amp allows players to blend Dual Triode Tube amplification/overdrive section into the signal, allowing you to tweak it from valve-based warmth, to full on distortion.

Pratt also specified a more vintage ’60s aesthetic, so the amp comes with a custom wooden sleeve, which can be removed to place it in a rack unit.

“I can’t tell you how proud it makes me to have a signature amp with my Ashdown family, who’ve been with me every step of the way of my 40 year career,” says Pratt.

“We’ve been tinkering with bits and pieces for years, and this combines our shared passion for great traditional British amps with everything I know and trust about my ABMs. It’s not about bells and whistles, well apart from the dedicated Taurus input, it’s about solid, shapeable, deliverable power. Along with my 3x10s this is my ultimate dream rig. Turn on and trip out!”

The Ashdown Interstellar-600 is handmade in the UK and available for pre-order now.
Head to Ashdown’s official site for more information.