Is Ray Davies helping some random eBay seller flip his old guitar?
It sure looks that way. Late this afternoon, the Kinks frontman posted a link to eBay item 150827046818, a.k.a. on his official with this teaser:
“Here is another guitar of mine for sale which I used over many years touring with the Kinks. It even took a hit for me when somebody threw a poorly aimed bottle….probably intended for one of my fellow bandmates.”
Is the money going to charity? Why is Davies helping eBay user 77panda with his or her sale? Moreover, why is 77panda selling Davies’ guitar in the first place? A quick look at 77panda’s profile makes he or she out to be a high-end fashion flipper, specializing in names like Marc Jacobs, Kate Spade and Tory Burch.
In fact, seemingly every other current item in 77panda’s store is a form of apparel. Then, boom, there in the “Other” category: 24 pictures of the guitar, its case, and a guy who looks like Davies holding the guitar, itself. From the description:
The guitar was damaged when a fan threw a bottle of vodka at Ray and hit the guitar. In Ray’s words, “This guitar was smashed when some drunk threw a bottle of vodka at me while I was playing.” Ray wrote this on the guitar as well as his autograph.
The guitar was repaired and was subsequently only used by Ray in the studio for recording after that. You can see the repaired cracks on the front of the guitar. The guitar is still playable, but is noticably damaged.
At the time of this post, neither Davies nor 77panda have responded to requests for comment. The current bid sits at $1,675 with two days left in the auction.
Is Davies getting something out of this sale, or is he just helping out this pro eBay slinger for the hell of it?
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John Hendrickson is the managing editor of Reverb and an award-winning journalist at The Denver Post. Follow him on , if that’s what you’re into.
