Vintage guitars: Sweet sounds of music, magic — and money

By Jack Broom
Seattle Times staff reporter

I'm in Jay Boone's Pioneer Square shop for maybe 60 seconds when he calls me over to look at an empty guitar case lying open on a counter, its rose-colored velvet lining exposed.

"Here's one thing I always do," he announces, dipping his face deeply into the 48-year-old case. And when he takes a long, slow sniff — and emerges with a satisfied smile, I'm thinking: Ooooh-kay. Do I still have time to back out?

Nope, too late. I'm here to learn about the lure of vintage guitars, and that means understanding what Boone smells in the case of this guitar he just acquired: History. Tradition. Lore. An air of authenticity.

"It smells like the 1950s," says Boone, owner of Emerald City Guitars. "It's either the real thing or a very good imitation."

So just what do the 1950s smell like? In one sense: Money. After Boone's technicians gave this 1959 Gibson Les Paul Special a thorough exam — finding it genuine and in pristine condition, its cherry-stained mahogany gleaming — Boone popped it into a display case with a $23,500 price tag, including the musty-smelling case, of course.

And if that seems spendy, don't even ask about the 1960 Gibson Les Paul Standard "Flametop," a highly sought-after model nicknamed for its fiery streaks of amber-colored maple. In mint condition, Flametops have gone for up to half a million bucks, but because this one shows wear, Boone, selling it on consignment, is asking $280,000.

Hot items

This kind of stuff has been happening across the country.

Fueled by the nostalgia of baby boomers whose childhoods played to soundtracks laid down by Elvis or the Beatles or Eric Clapton or Jimi Hendrix, vintage guitars have become a sizzling commodity.

"A guitar is the ultimate piece of art," said George Gruhn, of Nashville, one of the country's leading experts in the field. "You can look at it. You can play it. And if it's a good one, you can feel it come alive."

Boomers in particular, Gruhn said, have contributed to a "feeding frenzy" that has doubled or tripled some prices in a single year.

When guitar enthusiasts gather, as they will Sunday for the 16th annual Greater Seattle Vintage Guitar Show, it's not nearly enough to know the differences between a Gibson and a Gretsch, or a Martin, a Rickenbacker and a Fender. One must also know, at a minimum, that truly prized Stratocasters — possibly the pre-eminent rock-and-roll guitar — were made before Leo Fender sold his company to CBS in 1965.

Where did this all start? Ancestors of the modern guitar have been traced back centuries, to strummed, stringed instruments of the Middle East, Rome and Greece.

But it was an accomplishment of 20th-century America to take their relatively soft sound and, through the miracle of electricity, crank it up to a volume that can fill a concert hall — or annoy the heck out of your neighbors a half-block away.

And when it comes to what a guitar can fetch, particularly one associated with a certain musician, even the sky is no limit.

Big prices

Jaws dropped when "Blackie," a favorite Stratocaster of Eric Clapton, sold at a charity auction for $959,500 in 2004. But that was eclipsed the following year when the royal family of Qatar paid $2.8 million for one signed by a dozen high-profile musicians as a benefit for Asian tsunami victims.

One of Seattle's "royals," Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, has done his part to boost guitar prices, too. His Experience Music Project, home to some 200 guitars, paid nearly $500,000 for another Clapton Stratocaster, "Brownie," in 1999. It's likely worth much more today, Clapton cigarette burns and all, though the EMP staff won't talk numbers.

Those super-souvenirs represent a tiny portion of the vintage guitar market, but even instruments accessible to mere mortals have seen steep increases.

Take that hollow-bodied 1959 Gibson ES-335 owned by collector Randy Peterson, a Boeing maintenance electrician in Lynnwood. It was recently appraised for $45,000 — about four times what Peterson paid for it in 1994.

Peterson, 52, has played guitar since high school and traveled with various bands for about six years before taking a "regular job" at Boeing in 1979 and putting guitars and music on the back burner.

But starting in the late 1980s, he began putting his extra cash into collection-quality guitars, and has seen some appreciate sharply. Twelve years ago he paid $12,600 for a 1954 Stratocaster — the model's first year — and figures it could go for $60,000 to $100,000 today.

"A lot of people like myself are seeing them as good investments, better than a 401(k) when the stock market crashes, like it did in 2001," said Peterson. "If I'm going to have my money wrapped up in something, I want it to be something I can have my hands on and enjoy."

Peterson, with friends Brian Bell and Brad Hale, created the Seattle vintage guitar show partly because "My guitars were outgrowing my house." Some 80 to 100 dealers, makers and equipment specialists will show their wares, and many attendees will bring models from their attics and basements to sell, swap or have appraised.

Just being around the magic symbols of their youth is a tonic for aging rockers, says Peterson, who still hosts a couple of rock-and-roll parties every summer. "We all plug in and jam, guys in their 50s now," he said. "They have the responsibility of their day jobs, but back in their minds they'd like to go back up on the road and play."

ERIKA SCHULTZ / THE SEATTLE TIMES
Jonathan Warman, an Emerald City Guitars employee, holds a 1955 Fender Stratocaster that will be for sale, priced at $75,000, at this weekend's event, expected to draw more than 80 dealers and other vendors.

ERIKA SCHULTZ / THE SEATTLE TIMES
Classic Fender Stratocasters, this one from 1955, have soared in value.

ERIKA SCHULTZ / THE SEATTLE TIMES
Jay Boone, owner of Emerald City Guitars, with a Gibson 1960 Les Paul "Flametop," for which he is asking $280,000.