“These were both huge British bands with international followings so we’re expecting considerable interest”: How the “fingerprint” wood grain of this Warwick bass revealed a connection to not one but two British rock legends (and tripled its value)

Queen perform live in 1986, with Freddie Mercury wearing a yellow basketball vest over a blue T-shirt, Brian May wearing an open collared white shirt, and John Deacon playing a prototype Warwick Buzzard bass, which was designed by John Entwistle and is up for auction in December 2025.

A prototype Warwick bass guitar that was co-designed by the late Who bassist John Entwistle is headed to auction, 22 years after it was originally sold, but this time its value has sky-rocketed after some analysis of its woodgrain revealed it to have also belonged to Queen’s John Deacon.

This isn’t the kind of bass that you would miss, or easily forget. The Warwick Buzzard is a real vibe, a big mood, a shape that looks more metal than ‘80s Queen, and yet it somehow managed to be auctioned off via Sotheby’s in 2003 for just £3,500 (approximately $4,629).