“The reaction to Ian Bairnson’s collection has so far surpassed interest to some of these mammoth names in the guitar world”: The Les Paul used on Kate Bush’s Wuthering Heights smashes estimates at auction

Ian Bairnson's Gibson Les Paul, as played on Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights – close-ups.

The 1974 Gibson Les Paul Custom featured in Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights has just sold for £21,500 ($27,480) at auction. Pre-auction, the guitar was expected to fetch £10,000 ($12,781), before going under the hammer for £17,000 ($21,728).

As the story goes, Ian Bairnson used this guitar to play the solo at the end of Kate Bush's breakthrough single, while his arm was in a plaster cast.