Ian Curtis’ Iconic “Love Will Tear Us Apart” Guitar is Headed to Auction

Ian Curtis’ Iconic “Love Will Tear Us Apart” Guitar is Headed to Auction

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ian curtis
Ian Curtis playing the Vox Phantom Special VI guitar. Photo by Chris Mills/Redferns.

Ian Curtis’ white Vox Phantom VI Special Guitar, famously played by the late Joy Division frontman in the band’s seminal “Love Will Tear Us Apart” music video, is headed for auction at Bonhams Entertainment Memorabilia Sale on October 13th

The iconic pentagonal-shaped instrument is expected to fetch somewhere between $110,000 – $140,000 (AUD), but if recent auctions of rare guitars (such as Kurt Cobain’s MTV Unplugged acoustic guitar that sold close to a jaw-dropping $9M AUD earlier this year) are anything to go by, it may prove to be worth much more! 

Joy Division | “Love Will Tear Us Apart”

The guitar currently belongs to was given to Curtis’ daughter, Natalie and was given to her by her father’s bandmate, Joy Division guitarist/keyboardist Bernard Sumner (now in New Order); and spent some time in the possession of The Smiths’ Johnny Marr, who formed a group with  Sumner in the late 80s called, Electronic. Many years later, Marr returned it to Sumner, who in turn passed it on to Natalie. She said in a statement:

“The guitar came to me at a time in my life when I was keen to learn more about my late father. I'm not at all musical, yet it is fascinating to see my father's guitar, I mean, it's such a personal thing. Since I'm a visual person, the Phantom is especially interesting to me, as the design is rather unusual. I grew up around and have worked with musicians, and although I've seen a lot of guitars, I've never seen anything like this.” 

“From everything I've been told about my father, he was very obsessed with how things looked, and so to me the Phantom makes sense as it very much feels like Ian Curtis's guitar. It's obviously super cool, regardless of its previous owner, and it sounds great, and even though I wouldn't know what the hell to do with them, the geek in me loves all the built-in effects. If I had any kind of aptitude, it's the sort of guitar I'd want for myself! As I didn't know my father, it's quite special to gain this further insight and to discover that our tastes align.”

ian curtis guitar
Image via Bonhams Entertainment. 

Curtis’ trademark axe features Jennings’ Bigsby B5-type tremolo, Tune-o-matic roller bridge, push-button controls (including the misprinted ‘Replat’ for ‘Repeat’), headstock with Phantom VI Special decal and many more unique details which you can check out at Bonhams Entertainment Memorabilia, here. 

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