It’s a busy time to be Neil Young. He just released a new album, The Visitor on Friday, with a new single called “Already Great,” a mockery of MAGA. On that same day, he performed an intimate show in a small theater in his childhood home of Omemee, Ontario. That show was live-streamed to Facebook, where it still resides, or you can watch it right here on Dangerous Minds, at the end of this post. On top of that, he announced the full-resolution digital release of every song he ever recorded for 100% free-of-charge streaming on neilyoungarchives.com. Note—it’s every song he recorded, not just every song he ever released, so there is an incredible wealth of unreleased music to be enjoyed. Have fun getting nothing done today!
On December 9th, Julien’s Auctions—notorious for once auctioning one of William Shatner’s kidney stones—are brokering the auction of a huge amount of Neil Young’s property. Over half the lots, to the tune of about 250, are model trains; I imagine there are surely Neil Young super-fans out there who knew this was a pastime of his, but I was kind of astonished by the sheer number of toy trains he was making available! There are clothes and some personal effects on offer as well, but of course, Young is a guitarist, and there are a good three dozen brilliant guitars (and some dross, of course) to be had by the tenacious bidder. We’ve gone through the auction and rounded them up for you. We’ve excluded doubles, and we may have elided an acoustic or two—after combing through three dozen guitars, a lot of those can tend to run together. Should you choose to bid, best of luck to you, any of these would make a great score.
This is pretty amazing—it’s called “The Whizzer,” and it’s a set of footswitches that activated servos connected to the knobs on Young’s amp—effectively, a pedalboard that altered amp settings on the fly. The auction catalog states that this was used on the 1975-1976 tour, which means the amp in question was almost certainly a 1959 tweed Fender Deluxe.
1935 Martin F-7 acoustic guitar, serial number 60204.
A 1957 Gretsch Country Club 6182 guitar, in sunburst, serial number 27466.
1999 Gretsch White Falcon SS, model 6136-58, mono reissue, serial number 99113658-3.
Takamine Sunrise w/added pickup, model EF-360S. Played on the “In A Rusted Out Garage” Tour.
1981 Takamine 12-string acoustic guitar with added pickup, serial number 81110013.
1996 Martin D-M dreadnought “Official Neil Young Tour” acoustic, serial number 585128. Used on tour in 1996.
A 1995 Takamine Jasmine acoustic bass guitar, model ES100C-4, serial number 9511447, signed by members of Green Day because de gustibus non est disputandum.
A 1957 Gretsch 6130 Roundup, DeArmond pickups, serial number 16741.
National resonator ukulele, serial number 524.
1960s Amp-in-Case Silvertone. I got one of these with a perfectly functioning in-case amp in the ‘90s for $80. This is estimated to potentially fetch as much as $4,000, so I’m thinking I probably should have hung on to that. Examples not previously owned by rock stars sell for between $400-$1,200.
Homemade 5-string banjo.
Eko E-85, serial number 180382.
Liel mini electric guitar, serial number #5. Gift to Neil Young from “Young Neils,” a Norwegian tribute band.
Vagabond Act Traveler guitar, serial number 902125.
Polla Boy-D electric 12-string.
Vega Arthur Godfrey concert-size ukulele.
Hilo Model 50 ukulele.
1965 Gibson ES-345, stereo w/Varitone, serial number 326158. Left-handed, but with righty vibrato because some men just want to see the world burn.
Kay electric bass.
Maton Bindara Baby Bass, serial number 041 (670). Used on “Love is a Rose.”
1977 Martin D-19 acoustic 6-string guitar, serial number 3991412. Played on “Goin’ Back” and “Human Highway” from 1978’s Comes a Time and on “Lost in Space” from 1980’s Hawks & Doves.
1935 Martin 5-17T tenor guitar, serial number 60151.
Fender 52 reissue Telecaster guitar, serial 35792.
Danelectro bass guitar.
1950 Martin model 5-18, serial number 113332.
Morris acoustic, misidentified by the auctioneer as a solid body electric. Come on.
Martin O-style ukulele.
1984 Takamine Jasmine S33, serial number 84336559, image of Neil Young on the back.
Stradivarius copy violin from Czechoslovakia.
Violin, painted silver.
1976 Fender Precision Bass, serial number 539777, with DiMarzio pickups.
1960s Hagstrom I, serial number 650033.
Fucking ridiculous Dean Budweiser logo guitar, serial number 8600054. Evidently, the author of “This Note’s for You” wasn’t above THIS. I’d love to know the story…
Hurdy-gurdy used on the song “Red Sun” from the LP Silver and Gold.
Hohner Corso Deluxe accordion with “Neil Young” inlaid on the fingerboard.
Previously on Dangerous Minds:
J Mascis is selling off a hell of a lot of really incredible guitars
Neil Young & family discuss model trains & his son’s cerebral palsy on Nickelodeon, 1994
How gumption, stick-to-itiveness, and Neil Young got DEVO on ‘Saturday Night Live’ in 1978