{"id":61913,"date":"2026-04-08T12:36:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T12:36:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/08\/elvis-presleys-1968-comeback-special-guitar-headed-to-auction\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T12:36:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T12:36:08","slug":"elvis-presleys-1968-comeback-special-guitar-headed-to-auction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/08\/elvis-presleys-1968-comeback-special-guitar-headed-to-auction\/","title":{"rendered":"Elvis Presley&#8217;s 1968 Comeback Special Guitar Headed to Auction"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p>The Hagstrom Viking II cherry red electric guitar\u00a0that Presley played during one of the most important performances of his career is expected to sell for somewhere between $1 and $2 million<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n\t\t<!-- do not apply CSS styles to this element! --><\/p>\n<div class=\"pmc-paywall\">\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tThis Hagstrom Viking II electric guitar that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/elvis-presley\/\" id=\"auto-tag_elvis-presley\" data-tag=\"elvis-presley\">Elvis Presley<\/a> played during his 1968 Comeback Special is headed to auction. Sotheby\u2019s is selling the Swedish-made semi-hollow-body instrument that Elvis used throughout the famous broadcast, on songs like \u201cBlue Suede Shoes,\u201d \u201cTrouble,\u201d and \u201cGuitar Man.\u201d He\u2019s also holding the guitar on the cover of his 1969 LP <em>Elvis in Memphis.<\/em> It\u2019s estimated to sell for somewhere between $1 and $2 million.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t\u201cThis guitar became a symbol of Elvis\u2019 legendary comeback,\u201d says Sotheby\u2019s Music and Pop Culture Specialist Craig Inciardi. \u201cGuitars have always been central to his image, but seeing Elvis return to the stage after years away, dressed in his iconic black leather outfit and playing this guitar, created one of the most enduring images in rock history. It marked a pivotal moment, reconnecting him with a generation of fans and cementing his status as the King of Rock \u2019n\u2019 Roll.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Elvis Presley - Blue Suede Shoes (&#039;68 Comeback Special)\" width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/O6BbL4DrrBo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tBidding for the online auction opens April 9 and will conclude April 23. The guitar will be on display at Sotheby\u2019s New York Breuer Building from April 13 \u2013 20. \u201cUnlike most of Elvis\u2019 guitars, which were acoustic, this is an electric Hagstrom, known for its distinctive look and sound,\u201d says Inciardi. \u201cIts rarity and its association with that singular performance make it one of the most iconic instruments linked to Elvis.\u201d<\/p>\n<section class=\"brands-most-popular \/\/ recirculation-modules trending-in-article lrv-u-margin-tb-2 lrv-u-border-a-2 u-box-shadow-5-5 lrv-u-padding-lr-1 a-span1 u-padding-b-1@tablet u-overflow-hidden\">\n<h2 id=\"section-heading\" class=\"c-heading larva  lrv-u-text-align-center u-border-color-black a-font-theme-primary-xxs lrv-u-color-black lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase u-letter-spacing-0063 lrv-u-padding-t-050 u-padding-b-0375@tablet lrv-u-padding-b-050@mobile-max lrv-u-border-b-2\">\n<p>\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tPresley originally planned to play a different guitar on the broadcast, but it didn\u2019t quite work with the red and black colors of the set. Director Steve Binder and producer Bones Howe asked session guitarist Al Casey if Presley could instead play his cherry\u00a0red\u00a0Hagstrom. It\u2019s the only time that Presley used the guitar, and it has passed through several private collections over the decades. It was displayed in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame between 1998 and 2000.<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-content-image \/\/  \">\n<figure class=\"o-figure   size-large alignnone lrv-u-max-width-100p\" style=\"width:1024px\">\n<div class=\"c-lazy-image  lrv-u-border-a-2\">\n<div class=\"lrv-a-crop-16x9\" style=\"padding-bottom:calc((1024\/1024)*100%);\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div><figcaption class=\"c-figcaption  lrv-u-flex lrv-u-flex-direction-column lrv-u-align-items-center\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<cite class=\"lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase lrv-a-font-body-xs lrv-u-margin-t-050 lrv-u-text-align-center\">Courtesy of Sotheby\u2019s<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tThe auction comes just weeks after David Gilmour\u2019s Black Fender Stratocaster <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-news\/david-gilmour-black-strat-sells-14-million-auction-1235529794\/\">sold for a record-shattering $14,550,000.<\/a> At the same auction, Jerry Garcia\u2019s Tiger <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-features\/derek-trucks-jerry-garcia-tiger-guitar-1235528232\/\">went for $11,560,000.<\/a> They were both part of the Jim Isray Collection, and are two of the most expensive guitars ever sold. They both went for significantly over their initial estimates, and it\u2019s very possible that Presley\u2019s Hagstrom will also exceed expectations.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-news\/elvis-presleys-1968-comeback-special-guitar-auction-1235543029\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Hagstrom Viking II cherry red electric guitar\u00a0that Presley played during one of the most important performances of his career is expected to sell&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":61914,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-61913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pop","article","has-excerpt","has-avatar","has-author","has-date","has-comment-count","has-category-meta","has-read-more","thumbnail-"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61913"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61913\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61914"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}