Randy Bachman will auction 200 of his guitars

(Toronto) Randy Bachman is saying goodbye to some of the instruments that shaped his legendary music career, including the guitar that wrote The Guess Who’s classic. American woman.

Two hundred of the Winnipeg-born musician’s iconic guitars will be auctioned at New York’s Hard Rock Café and online on May 29 and 30.

The instruments include a 1959 Les Paul Standard guitar, which he acquired in 1968 when a performance in a church basement in Nanaimo, British Columbia, took an unexpected turn. Then the neck of his guitar cracked so badly that an audience member suggested he use his own Les Paul instead.

It later inspired the song’s famous “riff”. American woman ” during a performance at the curling center.

The guitar has an estimated value of $200,000 to $400,000, according to Julien’s Auctions.

Other items up for auction include his 1968 Fender Hardtail Stratocaster, used for the song “Let It Ride,” and a 1957 Sunburst Harmony acoustic guitar, the first he bought as a young violinist and which is designed to resemble a violin. .