If you don’t play the guitar, you should get on that. For now, you might have to take my word for it when I tell you GUITARS CAN BE EXPENSIVE. For the most part, I would say these instruments generally fall into the category of “you get what you pay for”. There is ample selection to meet the needs and price-points for players of all levels and interests. A cheap Squire (the value line of Fender) or Epiphone (the value line of Gibson) may run you only a few hundred dollars. Start moving into higher end models of Gibson, Fender, Gretsch, and Martin, among many others, and the prices just keep climbing. That’s not even including the used guitar market and what some particular years of certain models can fetch. Today, we are talking about some guitars that you and I will probably never be able to afford. These are storied instruments that have passed through some great hands over the years and created some tunes you are sure to know. So, leave your wallet and enjoy looking at some pictures as I tell you about them.
“Brownie”- Stratocaster: Eric Clapton
This was the “Layla” guitar. One of the first that Clapton began using extensively around 1970 after he made the transition from Gibson guitars to Fender. The instrument sold at auction for $450,000
“The Black Strat” – Stratocaster: David Gimour
This is the guitar that was used to create arguably the greatest guitar solo of all time on Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb”. However, it saw far more service than just that. The guitar was sued extensively on Dark Side Of The Moon, Wish You Were Here, and The Wall. Don’t freak out but the Black Strat sold for $3,975,000 at a climate change auction. That’s enough for almost half a down payment in Vancouver.
“Greeny” – 1959 Gibson Les Paul: Peter Green, Gary Moore, and Kirk Hammett
A 1959 Gibson Les Paul will never sell for anything less than a million these days. It was rare year, few were made, and even fewer of these iconic instruments remain today. Many all-time great guitar players utilized a 1959 Gibson Les Paul at some point. Jimmy Page, Joe Walsh, Slash, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Mick Taylor, and I am going to stop there. Perhaps there are none as iconic, amongst guitar enthusiasts, as Fleetwood Mac Founder Peter Greens model. “Greeny” as it is known was used extensively by Peter on those early Mac records. What set the guitar apart was its nasally, thin-tone which was unlike other Les Pauls. This was the result of a Peter Green inserting one of the pickups the wrong way, meaning they were “out of phase” with each other. Green parted way with the guitar in 1970 after which it was put to heavy use by Irish Rocker Gary Moore before Kirk Hammett purchased the guitar in 2016. It is unknown exactly what he paid for it but $2 million is a reasonable guess.
The “Frankenstrat”- Eddie Van Halen
Eddie was chasing a sound and playing a style that was every as revolutionary to the late 1970s as Hendrix was a decade prior. He was searching for a guitar that had the tone of a Gibson Les Paul but the playability (ease of use) of a Fender Stratocaster. There were no “superstrats” like we have today from brands like Jackson, Ibanez, and Dean. So, he made his own using a Stratocaster-style body he purchased from a guitar store, a single Gibson pickup, maple neck, chrome hardware, a sloppy striped paintjob, and perhaps most importantly a locking Floyd Rose Tremolo system. This allowed him to bend notes to absurd degrees with the tremolo bar without the guitar ever going out of tune. The “Frankenstrat” looks like absolute shit to be frank. However, its one of the most important guitars of all time and should it ever be sold by Eddies son, Wolfgang, I can’t even imagine what it would go for.
Gibson ES-335: Eric Clapton
Clapton will forever be associated with the Fender Stratocaster but the Gibson ES-335, in a cherry red finish, was a mainstay during the earlier stages of his career with the Yardbirds, Bluesbreakers, and Cream. The guitar sold for just under $850,000 at one of Clapton’s many auctions to support his Crossroads foundation.