singlehum Posted March 30, 2013 Posted March 30, 2013 I caught a couple of episodes of a new series on CNBC. Not that TV needs any more "reality" shows, but this on caught my attention.It is based on a small team of people who attempt to verify the authenticity of various items, including music memorabilia and instruments. The episodes I saw featured a Stradavarius violin, a James Brown stage-worn cape, and a Les Paul Custom bought at the LP estate auction. The LP segment was the most interesting - check it out if you can. IMO, it's guys like the owner of that LP that ruin the guitar hobby...lol.
David B Posted March 30, 2013 Posted March 30, 2013 So what did the Les Paul owner do?Acted like a dick 'cause it wasn't worth $500,000
crunchee Posted March 30, 2013 Posted March 30, 2013 I saw it very briefly, when they had the LP segment. Seemed to me, just from appearances, that the owner was hoping to find out how big of a cork he had bragging rights to sniff. I was writing this when David B made his post, I didn't watch more than a minute of it, as what he said is what I figured would happen.P.S. They only had the Les Paul auction just last year, didn't they? It's a little early to be asking if it's "appreciated", especially in THIS economy.
cynic Posted March 30, 2013 Posted March 30, 2013 That guitar sold for $7040.00 at the Les Paul auction nine months ago. If it was worth more than that to a collector, they'd have bid.
singlehum Posted March 31, 2013 Author Posted March 31, 2013 ^^^ Exactly, I think the guy was trying to use the show as a marketing tool so he could cash out with a big profit...it backfired and he threw a fit. Pretty amusing, actually.
GC Ron Posted April 1, 2013 Posted April 1, 2013 http://www.ebay.com/itm/LES-PAULS-PERSONAL-GIBSON-WHITE-CUSTOM-FROM-THE-COVER-OF-HIS-AUTOBIOGRAPHY-/221078874232?pt=Guitar&hash=item337953e878
crunchee Posted April 1, 2013 Posted April 1, 2013 No mention of the "Treasure Detectives" show that I can find in the FeeBay auction, maybe it's buried somewhere in all the factoids? Or not.
fractal Posted April 1, 2013 Posted April 1, 2013 http://www.ebay.com/itm/LES-PAULS-PERSONAL-GIBSON-WHITE-CUSTOM-FROM-THE-COVER-OF-HIS-AUTOBIOGRAPHY-/221078874232?pt=Guitar&hash=item337953e878I really want to ask this guy a question: "Are you the same douche that was in the show?"I also thought about offering him $3.50 for it.Too bad the auction is over...
LucSulla Posted April 1, 2013 Posted April 1, 2013 http://youtu.be/nOTOwPilkNYThe sound comes in after about 20 seconds or so.
LucSulla Posted April 1, 2013 Posted April 1, 2013 This actually gets much better. Set phasers to Schadenfreude. https://www.facebook.com/max.shane.7"Tom Doyle holds Les Paul's White Custom Guitar and Les' Autobiography that features the very same guitar. Tom authenticated this guitar 100% as being THE ONE that Les Paul experimented with, played in his bedroom and living room and posed with for his one and only autobiography."
BadgerDave Posted April 1, 2013 Posted April 1, 2013 I believe the guitar has been on ebay continuously since a few days after the Julien's auction ended. The purchaser believes (or is pretending to believe) that he was the only bidder to recognize this white Les Paul Custom as the one that Les is photographed with on the cover of his autobiography.The Treasure Hunters show was interesting, but obviously scripted. I don't think there was ever any doubt that the guitar was the one on the cover of the book, though they went through a lot of effort to prove it. Ultimately, they matched the unique pearl inlay patterns on the fretboard.The douchebag blow up at the end may or may not have been scripted. It didn't feel right to me, but people don't act normally on camera - who knows?As for the guitar, the purchaser paid roughly 200% of the value of a used LPC. Seems to me that's about the correct premium for a celebrity owned guitar, even if it did appear on the cover of a book. The owner seems to be convinced that this guitar is comparable to iconic guitars like Clapton's Blackie. It's not.The problem is, the guitar wasn't one that Les was closely associated with or played regularly. It was not used in any popular recordings or performances. Les usually performed with guitars with low impedance pickups similar to the Les Paul Personal and Recording models. Add to that the fact that Les' status as a celebrity is (undeservedly) nonexistent, even among most guitar players and there just isn't much collector value.
cynic Posted April 1, 2013 Posted April 1, 2013 If Gibson was making something "commemorative" for LP, wouldn't it have been handled by GCS and not GUSA?
Steve Haynie Posted April 1, 2013 Posted April 1, 2013 The only Les Paul owned guitars that would make me consider them special would be the Recording model (or whichever variation) that Les played on his Monday night gigs or one with a Les Paulverizer attached. A sign of whether or not he really used a guitar would probably be marks and holes from where he tinkered around with it. Les would screw a pencil sharpener to a headstock if it suited one of his experiments.
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