In Love With My Guitar

Scott Chinery was 16 years old when he fell in love with vintage guitars. As a boy I was devoted to guitars, he says. While the other kids were out playing sport I was studying and practising guitar.

Then I got a job in a music store, and one day an old man came in with a dusty old guitar case. I was swept away by what was inside. The guitar was a piece of history to pick it up and hold it, and think of all the people who had played it was incredible to me.

Twenty years later,Chinery is still captivated. And the modest collection that began with the old, $20 instrument has grown. He now has about 1,000 vintage guitars; total value, $20 m.

 

Until two years ago, Chinery ran Cybergenics, a US supplier of nutritional supplements. The success of the business enabled him to indulge in his passion for vintage guitars so much so that he has now sold the company to devote his time to his first love.

Parts of the collection are being exhibited at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC, and other instruments are used for concert performances and recording.

Chinery began collecting seriously a decade ago, when he bought a Gibson Explorer electric guitar for $8,000. At the time, that was the most anyone had paid for a non-celebrity owned guitar and people told me I was crazy, he says. But it was just so rare and historically important. The guitar is now worth $175,000.

Historically important is a phrase Chinery uses often. He believes his collection amounts to more than a room full of old guitars, and he has tried to acquire a selection that traces the history of the American guitar. The oldest model dates from 1833.

His favourite guitar is relatively recent. Made in 1957 in New York by John DAngelico, it is a jazz guitar with a bowed, or arched, top. Known as the Teardrop, after its unusual shape, the guitar is unique. Collectors knew the Teardrop existed for many years, says Chinery, but no one had ever seen it. It was like the Holy Grail of guitars. Its sound is incredible it transcends what a guitar should sound like.

He tracked down the Teardrop after getting to know Jimmy DAquisto, a former protege of DAngelico and a legendary guitar builder in his own right. I paid $150,000 for it three years or four years ago, Chinery says. Its now worth $650,000.

In many ways, the Teardrop is the ultimate vintage guitar an innovative design, aesthetically pleasing, not simply rare but one of a kind. But according to author and guitar expert Tony Bacon, there are many factors that affect a guitars desirability and value.

It has to be well made, he says. Any guitar maker will tell you that you can make good and bad guitars from the same tree. Collectors are also very finicky about original parts. In fact, I know some collectors who wont even change the strings on a vintage guitar.

Some of the most popular guitars among collectors date from the 1950s to the 1970s. Bacon says: Most people who collect guitars play them, or have played at some time. Often they want to buy instruments that they remember from their youth classic names like the Fender Stratocaster and the Gibson Les Paul.

The most sought after electric guitar now in the market is the Gibson Les Paul Sunburst, which dates from 1958-60, and prime examples can change hands for $40,000. However, collecting is not just the preserve of the electric guitarist, and acoustic guitars are highly prized. Pre-war models made by the US company Martin can be worth as much as $100,000.

Few enthusiasts have the resources or the time to devote to such valuable instruments. But Bacon says would-be collectors should be able to pick up worthwhile and interesting guitars for under 1,000, though such instruments are unlikely to appreciate in value in the same way that Chinerys have.

But it is important to do some homework before buying. You need to get as much information as you can about guitars before you consider buying anything, Bacon says. Read upon the instruments that youre interested in and try to see as many as possible.

Caveat emptor applies in huge amounts as it does with, say, buying antiques. There are some very good fakes about.

Bacon says true vintage guitar collectors tend to avoid instruments that have been owned or autographed by well-known performers.

Artist-associated guitars are much less intrinsically valuable to the collector. For example, the Hofner violin bass that appeared at auction recently was only there because it was said to have been owned by Paul McCartney while he was in the Beatles. But as an instrument, theres nothing special about it.

Unlike the antiques market, vintage guitars are not commonly found at auctions and Bacon says specialist dealers are the best source.Prices, of course, vary considerably. The American market is the most established which is why prices are often given in dollars and its always worth buying vintage guitars from US dealers, Bacon says. British dealers can be found via the pages of specialist guitar magazines.

Above all, Bacon advises: Buy what you like. Dont buy as an investment and dont expect your vintage car to appreciate in value very quickly or even at all. Its very difficult to predict how the market will go so buy something that you will enjoy owning.

As Chinery says: What makes guitars so wonderful to collect is that you can enjoy playing them.

COLLECTIBLES

GIBSON LES PAUL SUNBURST: The Gibson Les Paul appeared in 1952 and was designed in collaboration with the popular 1950s guitarist whose name it bears. The Sunburst model, which dates from 1958-60, is the most sought after solid-body electric guitar on the market, and prime examples, with the tiger stripe finish, can change hands for about $40,000

FENDER STRATOCASTER: The Stratocaster, designed in 1954 by Leo Fender, is probably the most popular electric guitar ever made, though it is less fashionable than the Gibson Les Paul. Famous players have included Hank Marvin of the Shadows (who had the first one in the UK), Buddy Holly, Jimi Hendrix and David Gilmour of Pink Floyd. The most collectible versions are pre-CBS models made before 1965, which can sell for $3,000 upwards

MARTIN D-45: Martin acoustic guitars are considered among the finest in the world and are popular with country, folk and rock musicians alike. The first Martin D-45 was made for Gene Autry, the singing cowboy, in the 1930s, and the most desirable examples are from the that pre-war period. Pre-war D-45s can be worth $100,000

DANGELICO ARCH-TOP: John DAngelico began making arch-top jazz guitars in New York in the 1930s an many were built to order. All DAngelico guitars are highly prized and collectors can pay $25,000 to $100,000 for them. Scott Chinery estimates his unique DAngelico Teardrop is worth $650,000