As reported in January – read the full report here – Pink Floyd’s guitarist David Gilmour is auctioning over of 120 guitars on June 20 at Christie’s in NYC, and are expected to collect millions for charity.

The collection includes the Black Strat, on which David recorded “Money,” “Shine on You Crazy Diamond,” and the iconic “Comfortably Numb” solo. Other instruments featured in the collection include Gilmour’s 1954 white #0001 Stratocaster, the “Wish You Were Here” 1969 Martin D-35 and more.

“It’s something I’ve thought about for years,” the musician said. “These guitars have served me very well. They’ve given me songs and tunes, but I thought it would be good for them to move on and create new music with different people.”

When asked the obvious question: “How could you?!?”, David replied with a laugh:

“The big picture is I want to raise some money. There are a lot of major problems in our world today in terms of refugees and starvation. I have a charitable foundation and the money will be distributed from there to the people that need it most throughout the world.

“It will be just a drop in the bucket, but many will potentially benefit from this sale. That’s more important to me these days.”

Asked if he has a “sentimental attachment” to his instruments, or if he considers them more as “tools of the trade,” the guitarist said “that’s a difficult one,” adding:

“I had my teenage dreams of having a Fender Stratocaster, and then I bought one and it was great. I still romanticize Stratocasters and some of these guitars to some extent, but the more rational me does think of them as ‘tools of the trade.’

“While my Black Strat is special, I don’t feel I won’t be able to achieve just as much on a different guitar. So, yeah, I guess I’m not overly sentimental. [Laughs]”

Saying that he “obviously” considers the Black Strat as the most valuable instrument in his collection, David also detailed the changes made to the instrument throughout the years, saying that the modifications are “part of the reason it’s my special guitar.” He said:

“The neck has changed two or three times, and I think maybe more than one pickup has been changed on it. … I worked out all my crazy ideas on it. I did add a little switch that allows you to select just the bridge and neck pickup, which isn’t possible on a normal Strat. It was an idea. I haven’t removed that idea, but I rarely used it.”