John Abbett Posted February 4, 2009 Report Share Posted February 4, 2009 I went to a local music store that sells collectable guitars. There it was, a 1952 gold top Les Paul. They were asking 25,600 for it, I ended up buying new strings. The bridge was loose and the finish was worn out. If it wern't collectable it would be worth 50 bucks plus need a couple hundred in fix ups. My buddy said I would kick myself in 20 years for not buying the guitar that's worth 150K for only 26k. I said I could afford new strings, dug out a five and some singles. Such is life. -J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toneblind Posted February 4, 2009 Report Share Posted February 4, 2009 I went to a local music store that sells collectable guitars. There it was, a 1952 gold top Les Paul. They were asking 25,600 for it, I ended up buying new strings. The bridge was loose and the finish was worn out. If it wern't collectable it would be worth 50 bucks plus need a couple hundred in fix ups. My buddy said I would kick myself in 20 years for not buying the guitar that's worth 150K for only 26k. I said I could afford new strings, dug out a five and some singles. Such is life. -J The guy I bought my Oscar Schmidt from had a '59 Gibson Les Paul burst and a '56 Gold Top on display in humidity controlled, vault glass cabinets. He claimed the '59, with the original Gibson documentation, receipt & case, was worth over a half million. He didn't have any original documentation for the '56, but was expecting to get at least $86,000 at an upcoming auction in London. Both guitars were 100% original, except for the strings. He was a big shot with National City Bank and was forced out when they folded. Despite his 5000sf Mc-Mansion and the 3 matching Lexus SUV's in the driveway, he was selling off some of his collection to pay the bills. Also to go on the auction block was an old red Gretsch signed by, and authenticated to have been owned by Chet Atkins and a black acoustic authenticated to have been owned by Elvis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Abbett Posted February 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2009 Hard to believe a guitar can be worth half a million. But anything is worth what people are willing to pay I guess. I look at new guitars, the price range is vast by maker name. Anything with Gibson on it is so much more expensive. I know that opinions vary on this, but there are guitars that are just as nice as a Gibson Les Paul for a lot less money. I have an Epiphone Les Paul that I paid about 600 bucks for, it's a custom with quilted maple top, fretboard binding, with a nice case. It's great. The same guitar in a Gibson brand would have been a lot more. What I'm saying is when you start to get into collectable guitars, the price seems to be about the collectable part, not the quality part. A 63 Gibson Les Paul may be the guitar people want, but it's costly because of collectability and rarity. Anyway.. I wouldn't throw it out if they were giving it away =) -John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted February 5, 2009 Report Share Posted February 5, 2009 John, what store did you see that guitar in? If they have a '52 GT @ $25k it must have issues - but there are lots of folks who would snap that up in a second as a conversion candidate. The deal with vintage instruments is this - it is not so much that it is a "Gibson" or a "Fender" - all the baby boomers who now have cash are able to drive up the prices on the instruments their guitar heros played when they were coming of age. If you cut your teeth on Led Zeppelin, you're newly retired and you have $200k lying around, you'll pull the trigger on a '59 LP. That said, the guy who said his '59 is work $500k is blowing smoke, unless it can be verified to have been owned by a famous musician. The Peter Green LP went for $500k a few years ago, and it is said that the only LP out there that could command $1M would be Page's #1. But I imagine the economic situation has helped to burst the vintage guitar bubble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted February 5, 2009 Report Share Posted February 5, 2009 Until wood becomes extinct,you mean? Once it becomes illegal to use real wood,ALL of our guitars will fetch enough for us to retire on... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Abbett Posted February 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2009 http://www.bernunzio.com/ You can still grab it. =) It's prbably a good investment unless Billy Gibbons unloads 50 of them or Slash or somebody has a garage sale. The bridge was loose. Needed reseating (Probably filling, drilling, etc). Other then that, it just looked like a cool old guitar. -John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Abbett Posted February 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2009 http://www.bernunzio.com/item.php?sku=0811821 Ahh, the top was refinished in 1980. Not all original. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toneblind Posted February 5, 2009 Report Share Posted February 5, 2009 That said, the guy who said his '59 is work $500k is blowing smoke, unless it can be verified to have been owned by a famous musician. The Peter Green LP went for $500k a few years ago, and it is said that the only LP out there that could command $1M would be Page's #1. But I imagine the economic situation has helped to burst the vintage guitar bubble. The story on the '59 in the glass case, it was originally ordered by Les Paul himself as a test guitar, there's a note included, supposedly hand written by Les Paul himself to the Gibson tech, explaining the capacitor & winding configuration he wanted. The owner said he bought it while in college in Louisville, MO in 1970 at an estate auction for $175.00. The auctioneer told the crowd it was "a complete guitar, but would need work because it was so far out of tune". No one had taken the time to look in the case pocket, where the paperwork was. In the late 80's, he took it back to Gibson to have it verified. After that, and realizing just what it was worth, he had the display vault built (it can hold 4-5 guitars) and got it insured. He said that he'll take it to auction in about 6 years when he's ready to retire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted February 5, 2009 Report Share Posted February 5, 2009 Found it: http://www.bernunzio.com/item.php?sku=0811821 Here are the issues I see that take away from it's vintage worth: 1- non-original finish all over 2- serial number has been restamped (after refinish), which calls into question it's authenticity 3- non-original tuners 4- switch ring, pickguard & pickup covers look too white for 50s (compare with the binding in photo #06), and so maybe pickups are not original 5- switch tip, knobs, bridge look OK but I would need a closer look They don't show a control cavity shot that would be required to authenticate the 50s vintage and electronics-which might mean there are pot/cap authenticity issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Abbett Posted February 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2009 There goes my fantasy of holding a 52 Gold Top.. Thanks a lot =) Ok, Maybe the wood was from a 52. I can say that! -john Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted February 5, 2009 Report Share Posted February 5, 2009 There goes my fantasy of holding a 52 Gold Top.. Thanks a lot =) On the contrary - it means you can talk them down in price! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toneblind Posted February 5, 2009 Report Share Posted February 5, 2009 Stumbled across this while surfing Craigslist at lunch... http://mansfield.craigslist.org/msg/1020418861.html Seems like a deal at first glance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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