Bob Marley’s Washburn 22-Series Hawk guitar, which has been valued at $1.2 million. Has been ranked in fifth place on a list of the world’s most expensive guitars as compiled by wealthygorilla.com. This guitar was one of the two guitars – just two- that the Jamaican reggae superstar legend owned during his lifetime. Marley gifted this particular guitar to his guitar technician, Gary Clausen. It has been said that Jamaica’s government, which named this guitar as a national treasure, bought it at an auction for between $1.2 million and $2 million. The location of the guitar at present is unknown, however.

According to Guitar World magazine, a Yamaha SG1000 electric guitar that was said to have been owned and played by Marley during his first international tour in 1979 was auctioned on November 24, 2008. At the time, the magazine reported that guitar collectors were expected to bid between $30,000 and $40,000 for it at the auction held by Christie’s auction house. The guitar was presented to Marley by Yamaha during a visit he made to the firm’s factory in Hamamatsu, Japan, which was one leg of his world tour. Included with the guitar for auction were photographs of Marley playing concerts in Tokyo and Osaka.

To mark the 30th anniversary of Yamaha’s SG1000 and SG2000 guitars in 2007, the company introduced the SBG1000 and SBG2000, which were exact reproductions of the feted models. These were built by hand, individually by the master craftsmen at Yamaha’s renown Music Craft at the company’s elite workshop in Hamamatsu, which produced top-of-the-line handcrafted and custom-made instruments. The next year, 2008, Yamaha celebrated the 40th anniversary of their guitars in the United States and introduced a limited edition of the SBG3000, which has been called a “masterpiece,” according to Guitar World. In addition to Marley, the Yamaha SG models were played by artists including Carlos Santana, Al Di Meola, Stax/Volt house guitarist Steve Cropper, Phil Manzanera of Roxy Music, Paul Barrere of Little Feat and Al McCay of Earth, Wind & Fire.

The complete list of the 10 most expensive guitars in the world is as follows:
1 “Reach Out To Asia” Fender Stratocaster – $2.7 Million
2 John Lennon’s 1962 Gibson J-160E Acoustic Electric – $2.4 Million
3 Jimi Hendrix’s 1968 Fender Stratocaster – $2 Million
4 Jerry Garcia’s “Wolf” – $1.9 Million
5 Bob Marley’s Washburn 22-Series Hawk – $1.2 Million
6 Gibson Korina 1958 Explorer – $1.1 Million
7 Keith Richards 1959 Les Paul – $1 Million
8 Bob Dylan’s “New Port Folk Festival” 1964 Fender Stratocaster – $965,000
9 Eric Clapton’s “Blackie” – $959,000
10 Jerry Garcia’s Custom Doug Irwin “Tiger” – $957,500

Source: Wealthy Gorilla