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#31
08-02-2020, 11:31 AM
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Provenance can be a tough thing to verify. I’ve talked to people who bought an instrument that was supposedly owned by (fill in the blank) and they are happy thinking they have the real deal with very little actual documentation.
My story is not of a guitar, but an amp. I don’t want to be too specific about the circumstances, but in 1967, I came across a JMI VOX AC50 amp head and speaker cab with 2 – 12” Celestions and a Goodmans mid max horn. Most likely stolen from the Fab Four on their 64 American tour and therefore would have been one of the amps used on the 64 Ed Sullivan show. I bought it, not because of the supposed link to the Beatles, but because the guy wanted to move it fast and I couldn’t resist the price. He never made the claim of the Beatles connection because that would be admitting to possessing stolen goods. That info came from another source a little bit after the purchase. Within a couple of years I had the need for bigger amps (as ridiculous as that sounds today with superb sound system PAs), so I traded it in on huge Sunn equipment that was hot at the time, but circuitry proved to be problematic, but I digress. I can’t prove provenance on this amp and I wouldn’t have bought it if I knew it was stolen. It is just something that happened and it haunts me all these years later because what I most likely owned was the real deal and I’m not sure what I would have done with it if I knew for a fact it was stolen from them. 
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#32
08-02-2020, 12:28 PM
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I have a road worn, well loved 1983 D-35 that I bought from Rick Levy(currently touring with The Boxtops) and originally owned by Long John Higginbotham, who played with David Allen Coe, Jerry Jeff Walker, and Waylon Jennings.
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Ed, the Certified Curmudgeon
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#33
08-02-2020, 10:03 PM
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There is a guitar model that I have never admired, but which recently set the record for the most money ever spent on a guitar. That is the 1958/59 D-18E. It looked like something that Martin just threw together and instead of designing an attractive pick guard, they just cut a couple of chunks out of a regular dreadnought guard. It has three big knobs and two DeArmond magnetic pickups. Martin marketed this as an electric guitar, which it was, but not a great sounding one. It never did catch on and only stayed in their line for two years.
The first one I ever saw was one being played by Tracy Chapman a little over 3 decades ago. Kurt Cobain owned one (the one that set the price record), but he didn't like the sound of the DeArmond pickups, so he disconnected them and installed a better quality Bartolini soundhole pickup and played the guitar through it. So even though you see three pickups on this guitar, you will only hearthe Bartolini. This was not a great quality guitar, but the fact that it belonged to Kurt Cobain drove the price up to $6,000,000.00. Although many of you own far better quality guitars, the provenance is what makes this such a valuable guitar. I'm sure the person who bought it didn't buy it to play. 
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Jim _____________________ -1962 Martin D-21 -1950 Gibson LG1 -1958 Goya M-26 -Various banjos, mandolins, dulcimers, ukuleles, Autoharps, mouth harps. . .
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#34
08-02-2020, 10:30 PM
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I have a black Glendale telecaster that belonged to Walter Becker of Steely Dan. Provenance was easy as I purchased it from his estate auction after he passed. It's a great playing and sounding electric guitar. Walter had a very large guitar/amp/effects collection.
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-Tim
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#35
08-03-2020, 04:21 PM
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Out of curiosity did anyone here bid or consider bidding on the recent David Gilmour auction? There were a few nice lesser used Martins and Gibsons with estimates that were about their second hand value anyway so naively I registered to bid. Thought I might pick up a bargain owned by one of my favourite artists! Anyway the guitars went for at minimum $50,000 as opposed to the predicted $2000 - $3000, so sadly I do not own one at present...
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#36
08-03-2020, 04:52 PM
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I once sat in on a Martin guitar sponsored workshop that was being given by Chris Hillman of the Byrds. After the workshop was over I got to jam with Chris on my Martin 12-20 while he played that exact same model next to me. It was great fun and then he said, "I like the sound of your 12-20 twelve string more than mine. And I said, "Lets trade" so we did.
So I ended up with Chris's Martin 12-20 and he ended up with mine. I ran into him years later and he still remembered that exchange.
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#37
08-03-2020, 05:24 PM
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Quote:
Is there anything else you want to tell us?.............. 
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#40
08-03-2020, 08:08 PM
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Quote:
Like THAT was going to happen... THIS looks more like the guitar in the UMGF post. And has a different serial number. Last edited by Mycroft; 08-03-2020 at 08:17 PM.
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#41
08-03-2020, 08:16 PM
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'59 D-28
I bought a well-played '59 D-28 from Bryan Sutton in 2003 (or so) that I still love, and play at home, in jams and in all my shows. It's a beast. I have thanked him many times for selling it to me!
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#42
08-04-2020, 08:23 AM
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Quote:
When you first got the guitar, did it have Don's signature 3/8" action height? Don's signature heavy gauge strings? On a baritone? Don Ross is a beast. A very talented beast, but a beast. And Marc Beneteau makes guitars fit for such talent. You must really enjoy this one.
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#43
08-04-2020, 09:53 AM
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The last guitar I acquired was eighty years old. While I was poking around to find one of that model I was actually offered two of roughly the same vintage, one of which had been owned by a rather famous player whom I had actually seen perform. When I compared the two I found that while the one formerly owned by a famous player was considerably less expensive and yet offered more collector's value, it was also less suited to my needs. I ended up opting against it and going with the other one that had lived a quieter life. Ironically, I was tremendously drawn to the guitar owned by the famous player for the sentimental value alone.
So it goes. Bob
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"It is said, 'Go not to the elves for counsel for they will say both no and yes.' " Frodo Baggins to Gildor Inglorion, The Fellowship of the Ring THE MUSICIAN'S ROOM (my website)
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#44
08-04-2020, 10:09 AM
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I have referenced this story on the AGF before:
I nearly bought one of Julian Lage’s main guitars a week before he did. I went to Retrofret in Brooklyn to find an old Martin 000. I tried the 7-8 they had (wonderful inventory there). The one that grabbed me immediately was a '39. Neck was slightly thinner than my preferred chunky, but it had something. After a lot of playing around, the other one in the running was a '47 000-21. Neck was perfect and it was special in its own way. But that '39 000-18 - man. As I went over it, it was clear that the bridge had been off many times, to the point that there was obvious patching in the spruce underneath. Since I had had a '46 Gibson LG-2 whose bridge popped off, I was wary, so I went with the '47. I learned later that Lage had a '39 000-18 that was his main guitar with Critter (Chris Eldridge of Punch Brothers), and that he got it from Retrofret. So I called and confirmed it was the same guitar. And that its bridge work was by TJ Thompson, so, yeah, likely won't pop off, eh? So, I learned a bit, but am *so* glad I passed on the guitar because, well, Julian Lage. I do have to say, it was totally cool to realize I picked out a guitar that Julian Lage also picked out. This one:
__________________
An old Gibson and a couple of old Martins; a couple of homebrew Tele's
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#45
08-04-2020, 10:52 AM
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No...
But I bought a Peavey Nashville 400 amp from Doug Livingston... https://www.latimes.com/socal/burban...209-story.html That was previously owned by Jay Dee Maness... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JayDee_Maness 
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