The Specials' Ghost Town bass guitar could fetch £20k at auction
19th February 2026
The Ghost Town bass guitar could fetch £20k at auction
The electric bass guitar featured on Ghost Town, The Specials’ 1981 hit credited with summing up the depressed mood of Britain at the time, is to be auctioned next month.
Expected to fetch up to £20,000, the 1971 blue Fender Precision is being sold by The Specials’ bass player Horace Panter who played on the track and was seen driving the band around London in the accompanying video. Panter, who originally paid £200 for the instrument in 1981, said: “I’m not overly attached to the bass but it would be nice if it went to someone who’ll play it rather than shut it in a vault. It plays really well.”
Linked to the British riots of 1981, Ghost Town spent three weeks at number one in the UK chart and 11 weeks in the top 40. All three of the UK’s major music magazines named the song Single of the Year in 1981.
Auctioneer and department head Luke Hobbs said: “This is a bass guitar that’s going to stir up quite a lot of interest among fans and collectors. Ghost Town is such an evocative track reflecting the social and political unrest of Britain at that time – and Horace Panter’s bass is a big part of it.”
After The Specials broke up in 1981, Panter used the bass with new wave supergroup General Public, which had a US hit in 1984 with Tenderness. General Public featured former members of The Beat, Dexy’s Midnight Runners, The Clash and The Specials.
In 1988, Panter sold the bass, repurchasing it in 2010 to use when The Specials reunited.
Formed in Coventry in 1977, The Specials were a pioneering force in the British 2-Tone movement, fusing Jamaican ska and rocksteady with the urgency of punk. Founded by keyboardist and principal songwriter Jerry Dammers, the classic line-up achieved significant commercial and cultural impact with hits including Gangsters, Too Much Too Young and Ghost Town.
Horace Panter’s bass will be auctioned in our next sale, taking place on 10th March 2026.
The bass guitar will be available for public viewing on Friday 6 March and Monday 9 March from 9am–5.30pm and on the day of the sale itself.
For more information contact Luke Hobbs or Chris Wilmut on 01225 812912 or auctions@gardinerhoulgate.co.uk.