HOW CAN A 1959 GIBSON LES PAUL SELL FOR $250,000?
ARE THE NEW REISSUES AS GOOD AS THE GENUINE 1959'S?
HOW DID THAT S.O.B. RICH BECK SCORE AN ORIGINAL
1959 SUNBURST??
WHERE DID THE WORD VINTAGE COME FROM??
PART ONE
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| Beck's Articles: What the hell is Vintage? Part one. |
As a craftsman, luthier, repair tech, inventor of several tools and techniques, author, I'm often asked guitar related questions (makes sense to me!) Sometimes these questions can be answered easily on ones own if they take a little time to research for answers. Unfortunately, many opinions/ comments/observations come from reading chatrooms, Gibson forums, guesses, discussions with others, folklore, etc. With that in mind, I feel I have the right to add my 2-bits to the mix!!
I have owned a large assortment of vintage instruments. In fact, I've personally owned GIBSON LES PAULS FROM '52, '54, '55, '57, '59 & '60 (The 1960 looked like an SG)!!!! Not ONLY did I have them in my greasy hands, I took the opportunity (way before it was popular) to measure, check out, carefully examine, weigh, photograph, adjust the necks, read the resistance of pickups, measure the neck shapes, note the fret sizes, and generally spend as much time as necessary to admire the difference in all the progressive years, and all the while I played the hell out of them through Fender amps, Marshals, Voxes; you name it!! I sold each and every one of these guitars, at its then current market value to support my purchasing of more guitars. I also operated my little repair shop in Tempe. I took time to be the head sales manager of Warmoth guitar products in Washington state. I dealt directly with Roger Sodowsky, John Rose, Valley Arts guitars, and shops from all over the planet, as a small time music store owner.
Why did I sell the vintage guitar so cheap?????? I did not have to work at circle K ,or work the night shift at a bar, or listen to some boss telling me what to do. No, I got to enjoy the company of musicians, work around Ken Warmoth (a bit of a psycho, but certainly one of the most brilliant wood workers on the planet!) OH and all of those lovely instruments! Each and every guitar I sold, I believe I got a fair and reasonable price for at the time including the old strats, tele's and Martin's, AND I never heard the word "VINTAGE" used.
So, what the hell is vintage?? Where did the word come from?? Why did GIBSON LES PAULS FROM THE LATE 1950'S BECOME SUCH A SERIOUS COLLECTABLE, ALONG WITH OLD STRATOCASTERS, TELECASTERS, AND SEVERAL OTHER CHOICE GUITARS?? Let's take a minute and describe the actual word "vintage". According to Webster's Dictionary the word VINTAGE means "being or having the best of a particular- quality, rarity, materials, and workmanship." I think you'd agree that's a good definition of Vintage!! Now are the newer Gibson Vintage Reissue Flame tops as good as the original 59's like the one I owned??? Do they weigh the same?? Are the necks shaped in the same way?? Are the pickups made with the same materials and in the same fashion??
I HOLD in my hand the sales catalogs from a few of the dealers of "vintage" guitars from the early 1980's. More specifically GUITAR TRADERS VINTAGE GUITAR BULLETIN and several of GRUHN GUITARS INC. of Nashville, Tennessee's tri-weekly printed lists. These folks were, in fact selling some of the most rare and expensive fretted musical instruments of the period (not really that long ago). In Guitar Trader's Bulletin, 1983, there is a listing for a "1959 GIBSON LES PAUL, very nice CONDITION, SUNBURST FINISH WITH TIGHT FLAMEY TOP, TYPICAL 1959 FEELING NECK, PAF PICKUPS, A LOVELY MUSICIANS INSTRUMENT!"(Note: this was just one of the many '57, '58, and '59 Les Pauls on their list FOR SALE) . The Price???? $10,000 US dollars!!!!! In 1983, this was a shitload of cash!!!! I never met anyone else WHO had actually owned, played, and repaired late 50's guitars of this style and year other than in some magazine, or MTV! I did a refret on the '59 and the '54; as the frets were so worn.
Now here we are in 2009 (a year some of us thought would never come) and the prices of many of these "vintage" instruments have become astronomical!!!! I suggest at this time you take a look at my pictures of Sunburst Les Paul, serial # 9-1923. I'm sure you will agree it is certainly a beautiful instrument. Lets take a step back with me, if you're still reading my article, not SOME chat room BS, or writing about your 1959 ( REISSUE) LES PAUL!! In the mid 1980's I owned and operated a shop called Beck's Guitars (sort of like the current one I now own). Not only did we have a large workload of quality repairs, restoration, (ACTION AND REFRETTING are MY SPECIALTY) etc, but we also dealt in older used guitars. We didn't even use the word vintage!
One lovely day, a young man entered the shop, with a typical brown case, one I immediately recognized as an older style case, generally housing an older Gibson. Sure enough, when he opened the case, I nearly peed my pants. There in front of me was the loveliest 1959 Sunburst Gibson Les Paul, the Holy Grail of collectables!!!! Of course Gibson wasn't even attempting to replicate the reissue 1950 series yet. When my heart calmed down I asked the young man "was this guitar for sale??" He replied, "Well, I just moved here from Indiana, and my friend who gave me the Gibson said if I ever get stuck and broke, I could likely get about fifteen hundred dollars ( $1500.00 ) for it."
Without hesitation but knowing its actual cash value, I went to the safe, and, Holy Jesus, Mother Mary of God being my witness, I had about $1508.00 dollars to my name. I mean, that was it. No savings, no stocks, no other cash. BUT I KNEW IF I PURCHASED THIS GUITAR, I COULD MAKE A PROFIT OF AT LEAST A FEW THOUSAND DOLLARS.
I gave him the cash; he gave me the guitar!! Within 5 minutes, I was the proud owner of my first original 1959 sunburst flame top Les Paul!!!! Talk about excitement! As the word got out, I believe every guitar enthusiast and player/expert in the valley came in to see the guitar. I had scored!!!.
Beck's '59 Gibson Les Paul 'Burst |
Now, realize there was NO EBAY, NO AUCTION HOUSES SELLING ROCK AND ROLL MEMORABELIA, ONLY a handful of VINTAGE INSTRUMENT DEALERS, GUITAR PLAYER MAGAZINES, AND SOME OTHER DEALERS AROUND THE COUNTRY WHO WOULD ACTUALLY PURCHASE THESE OLDER Instruments. Ya still with me??? Please read on!
NOW, AS I HAD SPENT ALL THE CASH I HAD, IT WAS IMPORTANT TO ME TO RECOUP MY CASH, TO KEEP MY LITTLE BUSINESS RUNNING. I NEEDED TO SELL THE LOVELY GUITAR AS SOON AS reasonably POSSIBLE. (Of course they say hindsight is 20/20, and if I'd been smart, and a crystal ball reader, I would have just stashed it under the bed and been patient). But who on the planet could possibly believe that many of the late 1950's Gibson guitars would rise in value that much??????????
Thru the grapevine, I discovered a gentleman named TOM WHITROCK, THE OWNER OF SEVERAL BURSTS, and a wealthy young man who was interested in the guitar. (And as I said, this guitar can be seen in his Burst Book, Guitar number # 9 1923.) We talked, I sent him pictures, a description of the guitar, and it was near settled. He would pay me $10,000 dollars cash for the 1959 Gibson Les Paul. CASH!!! I could nearly not believe it.
Beck's '59 'Burst |
But first, I called one of the best resources I had, Mr. George Gruhn, OF Gruhn Guitars, ( if you haven't heard of George Gruhn, quit reading, otherwise go on) a man I had sold several rare and interesting guitars to and is globally recognized as one of the foremost experts on old guitars. He had supplied me with excellent answers to tons of questions I had asked him, and I had a great deal of trust in him. I believe he had the same of me.
I called Mr. Gruhn, and said, "George, I have a gentleman named Tom Whitrock who has offered me $10,000 cash for the 1959 Les Paul. Do you believe this is a fair and reasonable retail price for the instrument???"
In reply he said, "Well Richard, I have heard of this young man purchasing several Les Pauls, and quite honestly, I find it hard to believe that the prices of these guitars could ever possible increase. I have one on my list right now which sounds very much like the one you are trying to sell, and my asking price is $9,500 for it. The only one I have ever heard of selling for this much, is one sold by Norm Harris of Norm's Rare Guitars to Steve Lukather, in TOTO, for $10,000." He continued,
"I understand Gary Busey purchased the original Gibson owned by Buddy Holly for over $200,000, but instruments with celebrity attachments can go for much more than their intrinsic value & Mr. Busey has a steel plate in his head!"
So I replied, "You think this is a reasonable price to sell this guitar for????? Mr. Gruhn said, "I certainly think it would be a high price and I personally would hammer the deal."
Beck's '59 'Burst - straight on |
It was with this confidence and education from one of the world's most trusted and informed experts on old guitars that I would be in the correct ball park, selling this instrument for $10,000 especially since I only paid fifteen hundred dollars for it. An $8500 profit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The next morning, a white van pulled up to my store, a gentleman came in, he asked if I was Richard Beck, and to show him some I.D. He was satisfied, and asked me to open an envelope. There in the sealed envelope was TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS CASH!!!!!!. I GAVE HIM THE GUITAR, AND I COULD FEEL THE EARTH MOVE. I HAD COMPLETED THE MOST EXPENSIVE GUITAR DEAL OF MY LIFE!!!!
The main reason I repeat such an unbelievable tale (any of you who know me, knows this to be true) is the same guitar's current value could be assessed somewhere in the $250,000 price range. Again, that's two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. I'm quite sure that everybody who owns late 1950's Les Pauls has taken a ride on the inflation railroad. One would be hard-pressed to name me some other item that could bring this kind of return on their money$$ but an even more interesting question is: Who is buying these guitars???? What has driven the price up??? Has the price of flame maple increased to $5000 per board foot? Has the price of African mahogany increased to $7000 a board foot?? Is fret wire a thousand dollars a pound??? Of course not; these instruments, as beautiful as they are, are being purchased by doctors, lawyers, surgeons, dentists, engineers, professional athletes, stockbrokers, professional people who have little or no spare time to play, yet purchase these collectables to recapture their youth. "I had to sell my old Les Paul, to pay my way thru med school, and now I wish to recapture part of my youth!!" (I've heard it a million times.)
At the $10,000 price, some of these instruments could be purchased by your RICH ROCK STAR. BUT WHEN they crawled up to $20,000, some in the buying market started to grumble. When they stumbled up to $40,000, true investment speculation started. Remember, this was pre-E-BAY, an on line auction with GLOBAL ATTRACTION AND ATTENTION. By the time they reached $100,000, some Les Paul owners couldn't believe their eyes, or ears. It was when I heard about a late 50's sunburst selling for over a million dollars, and a basic nice one, like the one I sold so foolishly to Tom Whitrock, going for $250,000 that is when Les Pauls began being viewed as vintage investment quality items. The rude collectors like Scott Chancery were purchasing like crazy.
Well, I can only say there are days I think about putting a guitar cable around my neck, hanging it over a tall railing, standing up on a chair, and with one quick movement, jumping off, only to strangle myself, like an old cowboy rustler from the old days.
Beck's '59 Gibson Les Paul 'Burst and '54 Gibson Les Paul Goltop |
'59 'Burst and '54 Goltop - full length shot - with original hang tags! |
WHAT IS MY POINT???? ARE THE NEW "REISSUE" FLAME TOP LES PAULS ANY BETTER THAN THE ORIGINAL OLD ONES????? WOULD YOU BE SPENDING YOUR DAYS READING OVER CHAT LINES AND THREADS COMPARING NEW GUITARS TO THE OLD ONES YOU'VE HEARD ABOUT??? Have you ever owned a real '59 plugged into a plexi Marshall 100 watts to really get that Jimmy Page sound, that Eric Clapton tone?? That Peter Green blaze of rock tone???? Likely not. I can't count the number of players, young and old, rich or poor, talented or crappy, that truly see themselves as pro-players, and experts on things they have only read about in books, and heard on records or CD's. Lots of misinformation is being bantered around on chat lines and forums by people who have never actually owned the authentic vintage guitars they speak of.
'59 Gibson Les Paul 'Burst
back of headstock
serial # 9 1923 |
'54 Gibson Les Paul Goltop
back of headstock
serial # 4 1771 |
Is a 10 top, custom shop LES PAUL with outrageous flame worth $200,000 or more? To a rich doctor or lawyer, or accountant owning a 1959 Les Paul is like owning a Patek Philippe watch; you will never wear it, but just having it to show off is really the shit!!!. Please read my continuing article, on the rather touchy subject of Is a VINTAGE WORTH THE MONEY?? ?
'54 Goltop and '59 'Burst in their cases |
'54 Golden baby - in case |
Beck with '59 Burst - his expression says it all! |
Regards for now, Luthier Richard Beck of Beck's Guitars in Tempe, Arizona.
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