When Jeff Beck’s wife put the late virtuoso’s guitar collection up for auction last year, she did so in the hope that they would be “shared, played, and loved again”.
Even before that, John Mayer used his 2014 Custom Strat during Dead & Co’s shows at The Sphere, and, now, having bought Beck’s famed Yardburst Les Paul for $490,000, Matt's Guitar Shop is ensuring the guitar’s days continue to play out on stages across the world by lending it to Lenny Kravitz’s foil, Craig Ross.
The French store and showroom, owned by Matthieu Lucas, has been getting into the habit of acquiring hsitoric six-strings and lending them out to gigging guitarists, with Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong, and Sum 41's Deryck Whibley among those recently taking Steve Jones’ 1974 Les Paul Custom for a spin.
While Beck’s prized Oxblood Les Paul went for a staggering $10.7 million – making it the most expensive Les Paul ever sold at auction – Lucas felt bidders didn’t heed his Yardburst LP enough attention during the auction.
“To me, with my taste for Jeff Beck’s journey and my love for the British Blues Explosion, this guitar was the sleeper hit of the whole auction,” he tells Guitar World.
“Everyone was focused on other pieces, but the Yardburst showed up early in the sale – and that’s what made this beautiful, unexpected story possible. It felt like fate. A moment where everything aligned.”
Honored with a merticulous Gibson Murphy Lab reissue last year, the 1959 build was his weapon of choice during his short fire, but reputation enhancing, Yardbirds days, during which he enjoyed a fleeting partnership with Jimmy Page.
Ross became the first loanee of the history-steeped guitarist, putting it through its paces across the full European leg of the Lenny Kravitz’s recent Blue Electric Light tour.
“Funny thing – this is actually the first time I’ve ever lent one of my guitars out for an entire European tour,” he says. “I called Craig – I think he was in Germany – and told him the idea. He was immediately into it, super-happy.
“We locked it in a few weeks before the Paris show. Just days after the auction, I sent Craig a photo of the guitar, and he had the same reaction I did – this guitar is a living icon.
“Lending him the Yardburst meant as much to me as if it were going to Slash and Billy Gibbons” he extends, holding Ross’ talents in hig hregard. “People don’t always realize how lucky they are to hear Craig Ross live.
“Craig even mentioned that Jeff Beck used to love seeing him and Lenny play live! So it feels full circle. Especially when Craig played the Yardburst at Paris La Défense Arena – 45,000 people hearing that epic solo on ‘Bring It On’. Unreal.”
Ross, who co-wrote Kravitz's smash hit “Are You Gonna Go My Way” among many others, started his career playing days in Los Angeles, with his early band Broken Homes supporting the likes of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Guns N' Roses before a chance meeting with Kravitz changed his course. He also guested on The Black Crowes' 2001 album “Lions” playing on “Greasy Grass River”.
Though the guitar is back in Lucas’ possession, he doesn’t want it to be for long, promising, “it will be played again. On stages. In front of people. That’s the only future I see for it.”
In related news, former Manfred Mann's Earth Band guitarist Mick Rogers beleives he owns the last recording Jeff Beck ever made, but confesses that releasing it is another matter.
