Jimi Hendrix's torched guitar to up for grab

London (ANI): The first guitar to ever be torched by late American guitarist Jimi Hendrix is expected to fetch at least 500,000 pounds when it goes under the hammer. Hendrix torched the guitar during a gig in 1967, when he poured lighter fuel over the 1965 Fender Stratocaster and then lighted it. While he got treatment for his burns, his pal Tony Garland retrieved the guitar and it landed up in his garage for 41 years.

Garland had later stored the instrument at his parents garage in Hove, East Sussex, where his nephew found it last year. "The owner had forgotten he had it. When he found it he thought, 'Bloody hell, I remember what that is.' He thought it might be worth £10,000," the Sun quoted rock memorabilia expert Ted Owen as saying.

The guitar, which made history at the Finsbury Astoria, North London, was one of several Hendrix burned and will be auctioned at the Idea Generation Gallery, East London, in September. Other lots include Jim Morrison's last notebook and a song-sheet of USA For Africa's 'We are the World' signed by Michael Jackson and Bob Dylan.