JIMI HENDRIX Guitar Auctioned For $168,000

Reuters reports that a Texas bookstore owner won the bidding for one of rock legend Jimi Hendrix's electric guitars — a 1968 Fender Stratocaster — for $168,000, the guitar's strap for $10,800 and a photograph of Hendrix and band members Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell framed by two topless blondes for $5,400 at an auction of rock and pop memorabilia at Christie's on Monday.

Bill Butler lost the bidding for a black leather vest worn on stage by Hendrix. The vest was bought for $28,800 by Don Bernstine, who acquires rock memorabilia for the Hard Rock Cafes, hotels and casinos.

Other big sellers included a notebook containing handwritten lyrics by reggae star Bob Marley, which went for $72,000, and a handwritten poem by DOORS singer Jim Morrison, "The American Night", which was sold for $50,400. Both went to private collectors in the United States. Prices included buyer's premiums.