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A piece of Winnipeg's rock 'n' roll history is on the auction block.
Randy Bachman's first electric guitar is being sold at a Toronto musical memorabilia auction tomorrow by a local man who acquired it from his father.
"My dad happened to be around some of those guys at the time, and one of the members of The Viscounts bought it from Randy and sold it to my dad for $10," said Ryan Osadchuk.
Bachman wasn't available for comment yesterday, but his manager confirmed it was his first guitar and the signature on it is his.
Bachman told Osadchuk he got the red Sears Silvertone as a gift from his parents in the late 1950s. At some point he converted the six-string guitar to a four-string electric bass by removing two tuning pegs.
Bachman sold the guitar in 1964 or 1965. Osadchuk's father took some lessons from the Guess Who guitarist and then put the instrument into storage until 1989, when Osadchuk, 27, expressed interest in playing the bass.
SIGNED AND AUTHENTICATED
The younger Osadchuk played it for a few years before it was put away again. The guitar was signed and authenticated by Bachman with the words, 'First Electric Guitar,' following a show at McPhillips Street Station in 2001.
"When I showed it to him the one thing I regret is the strings I had on it weren't strung to be played, or he would have plugged it in and played it. He did play it a little bit and got a kick out of, just fooling around and plucking at it," Osadchuk said.
The photos of the signing session are included in the auction, which takes place tomorrow at Empire Auctions in Toronto at 5 p.m. It is estimated the guitar will sell for $3,000 to $4,000.
Osadchuk is selling it because it has just been collecting dust in his closet and knows there are people out there who would treasure it. He hopes it goes to a musician or someone who will donate it to a museum.
The entire auction can be viewed online at www.empireauctions.com/toronto-rock-01.html.
Other items of note to Winnipeggers are a microphone autographed by Neil Young expected to sell for between $400 and $500 and an autographed Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young poster.