THE instrument that Bee Gees star Maurice Gibb used to write the band’s smash hit Jive Talkin’ will be auctioned in Wiltshire next month.

And experts reckon the acoustic guitar could fetch as much as £10,000 at the sale.

The guitar is signed by all three members of the group, Maurice, Robin and Barry, and was given away as a prize on Bruno Brookes’ Radio 1 show in 1987. It was later sold on an episode of the Channel 4 antiques reality show Four Rooms.

It isn’t the only Bee Gees items to go under the hammer at Gardiner Houlgate’s specialist guitar action next month in Corsham.

Maurice Gibb’s custom-made 1968 Gibson EBS-1250 double-neck instrument will also be up for bidding.

Luke Hobbs, from the auctioneers said: “These guitars represent the two great phases of the Bee Gees’ career.

“The double-neck comes from the 60s and early 70s when they sang popular ballad, the J45 represents their comeback and the disco years.

“It’s not often you get to encapsulate a band’s career so succinctly in a single auction.”

The same sale also features the guitar Beatle George Harrison played when the Fab Four made their last ever appearance at the famous Cavern Club in Liverpool on August 3, 1963 after more than 300 appearances there.

The two-day guitar sale, which includes vinyl records and memorabilia starts on September 12.