Guitar Center Vintage Room experts

  • Thread starter Thread starter ido1957
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I know it's just pictures maybe, but my neighbor had, a one owner strat like this (it was him) and he sold it to GC for $10,000 or close to.

He brought it to me before the sale and it had a greenish tint which is common.
The pictures you showed didn't seem to have the green tint? I'm no expert at all and have only held one of these rare early icons.

danngg!! $40k.....his was mint compared to the one in the ebay link? his included the case and booklet too, as he never played it, just kept it in the closet and sold it recently for his 3rd or 4th heart surgery bills$$$....sad story is he still wound up filing bankruptcy and lost his house.

so in the end he may as well kept the guitar in the closet! doh!
 
I used to own a 59 strat at one time, wonder where it is now?
 
dragonworks said:
I used to own a 59 strat at one time, wonder where it is now?
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For some reason, when I read that, I thought to myself "Why, the stomach of Godzilla, of course!".

Its been a long day :rolleyes:

godzilla.jpg
 
A'course, you could probably just get the world's largest kitten to fight him and get it back??? :confused:

funny-picture-Godzilla-cat-picture-Gen-Kanai.jpg
 
ido1957 said:
...have verified this guitar is a '57. Never heard of this division of GC before. Have you?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-1957-2-...ryZ47069QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
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the relic guys and copycats are so good these days I doubt you can even tell if it's real. I don't think I'd spend $40K on an Ebay guitar....I'm way too skeptical.

So how have you verified this is a real one?

or is this a real post?

and the Kitten and Godzilla....isn't that from a Blue Oyster Cult movie? Go Go Godzilla....it had the cowbells....really great cowbell track.....probably the best cowbell band I ever heard.
 
Some guitar centers do in fact have vintage rooms, usually in the larger market. The GC I worked at actually had a "specialist" who had over a hundred vintage and rare guitars and he'd authenticate each piece the best he could. At any one time we'd have 30 or more vintage guitars and amps in our fairly modest store.
 
COOLCAT said:
the relic guys and copycats are so good these days I doubt you can even tell if it's real. I don't think I'd spend $40K on an Ebay guitar....I'm way too skeptical.

So how have you verified this is a real one?

or is this a real post?

and the Kitten and Godzilla....isn't that from a Blue Oyster Cult movie? Go Go Godzilla....it had the cowbells....really great cowbell track.....probably the best cowbell band I ever heard.
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haha wow...

Anyway. I don't think he is seriously considering buying the thing. I don't think anyone is.

And in regard to not paying 40,000 dollars for an ebay guitar... what guitar WOULD you buy for 40,000 dollars, in person or not?
 
COOLCAT said:
I know it's just pictures maybe, but my neighbor had, a one owner strat like this (it was him) and he sold it to GC for $10,000 or close to.

He brought it to me before the sale and it had a greenish tint which is common.
The pictures you showed didn't seem to have the green tint? I'm no expert at all and have only held one of these rare early icons.
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I'm pretty sure that the (earlier) single ply/8 screw pickguards like the one in the above auction don't get the green tint over time... That's the 3-ply/11 screw pickguards, which came a little later (I think due to different materials).
 
COOLCAT said:
sold it recently for his 3rd or 4th heart surgery bills$$$....sad story is he still wound up filing bankruptcy and lost his house.

so in the end he may as well kept the guitar in the closet! doh!
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I think.... that's the saddest story I've ever heard.

Damn that sucks.
 
Ritzy said:
I'm pretty sure that the (earlier) single ply/8 screw pickguards like the one in the above auction don't get the green tint over time... That's the 3-ply/11 screw pickguards, which came a little later (I think due to different materials).
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the sunburst wood tone goes greenish too ..that was what I noticed first.

not sure about the pickguard....yeah single ply they looked like shit....but for only $40,000 a person can't expect everything!

I have heard the single ply sound better becaue the tone can creep through the gaps where the pickguard doesn't lay flush to the body...

what guitar is worth $40,000?

one that I can sell for $40,010?
 
Why would you pull it apart - it's just parts if you just pulled it apart & put it back together again. Could be a 57 neck and a 2007 distressed rest.
It does seem dicey. Smudgy 5 in the 57 etc.
Mind you if you could afford 40 grand to spend on a guitar without having played it you're welcome to it.
 
rayc said:
Why would you pull it apart - it's just parts if you just pulled it apart & put it back together again. Could be a 57 neck and a 2007 distressed rest.
It does seem dicey. Smudgy 5 in the 57 etc.
Mind you if you could afford 40 grand to spend on a guitar without having played it you're welcome to it.
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I know plenty of musicians play instruments that are much, much older than what this guitar claims to be, but when you buy something like this, are you really buying it for its playability? I don't think any weekend-warrior musicians are going to be hauling something like this to bars to play Modern English covers.

Sure, people might look at them as having that otherwise unattainable tone, but to a point, aren't you just buying an old strat? I guess I'm starting an argument in a touchy area... :D

This is also an untrusted ebay guitar... if you are any sort of discerning player, you'd likely be going to vintage shops and trying stuff out - when guitars get this old they can be reaaaally flakey if not cared for properly.
 
My grandpa gave me a 1953 Gibson F-Hole Acoustic.

It looks pretty bad, it completely playable.

We know it's a 1953, because he personally bought it new from the store, back in 1953.

It's a family heir loom and will never be sold, but any idea what value this could have?
 
mattkw80 said:
My grandpa gave me a 1953 Gibson F-Hole Acoustic.

It looks pretty bad, it completely playable.

We know it's a 1953, because he personally bought it new from the store, back in 1953.

It's a family heir loom and will never be sold, but any idea what value this could have?
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You might be served to email some places that sell instruments from that time period, one place being umanovguitars.com

Not sure if you'll get a response, but its worth a shot. I'd love to see some pics of the thing, and even some recordings if you get around to it :)
 
Yeah, can do for sure.

I've got lots of recordings on it, as it's the first guitar my friend's grab when the come over to record.

It sounds good, but not a character or tone you would want on everything, that's for sure. It sounds..... "old".

Pretty unique sounding - makes me wonder if that is how acoustic guitars sounded back then, or if that's just how this thing one sounds now that it's been around for so long.
 
mattkw80 said:
Yeah, can do for sure.

I've got lots of recordings on it, as it's the first guitar my friend's grab when the come over to record.

It sounds good, but not a character or tone you would want on everything, that's for sure. It sounds..... "old".

Pretty unique sounding - makes me wonder if that is how acoustic guitars sounded back then, or if that's just how this thing one sounds now that it's been around for so long.
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Probably a combination of the two, but if its an F-hole acoustic, I'd imagine its an archtop/carved top, not a flattop acoustic? Those sound significantly different from a flattop, but with a very distinct character... playing a lot of folk, I'd love something like that, but in good condition old ones are a fortune :p

Does it look anything like this?

http://www.umanovguitars.com/store/details.asp?prodid=3189&cat=690&path=600,690
 
Post some pictures of it here and I'll try and help you identify it.
As for the GC Vintage experts - I was in the Hollywood store and holding a 1956 Les Paul Custom that had OBVIOUSLY been refinished. They swore that it was original paint. You could even see where the binding had been messed with.

I've never been back - that was in 1998 - so they may have got a little better since then.
 
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