The Stradivarius Syndrome
This is the “Baron Knoop” Stradivarius built in 1715. Must be cheap because it’s re-necked and has been refinished twice. Is that “buckle rash” on the back?
It could be said that a Les Paul burst is the Stradivarius of the guitar community. Or maybe it’s a pre War Martin D-45. Or maybe it’s David Gilmour’s black Strat that sold for $14.5 million. But the criteria for vintage guitars is very different than it is for three hundred year old violins. The record price for guitars is clearly driven by provenance. Gilmour’s refinished Strat would be worth maybe a few thousand if it wasn’t Gilmour’s. The record price of a top tier violin (Stradivari, Guarneri, Amati and a few others) is $23 million. Clearly, the price doesn’t have much to do with who owned and played it because it hasn’t been owned by anybody you’ve heard of. It’s all about tone.
We, in the vintage guitar community are obsessed with originality. I remember maybe fifteen or twenty years ago when it became a big deal to check the solder joints to be sure they were original,. A lot of folks thought that was a bridge too far (and I tend to agree). I recall selling what I called a mint guitar only to have it returned because somebody dabbed the top of the headstock with a Sharpie. I didn’t argue with the buyer-mint means mint and a touchup is a touchup. I would have taken a little bit of alcohol and removed it but that isn’t the point. That brings me to the old violins. As I mentioned earlier, the record for a Stradivarius is $23 million for “The Baron Knoop”. Another sold for $15 million and plenty of them are a million or more. None of them are original. There is a rumor that there is one that is actually unplayed but there is controversy regarding it. I can still make the point. How can none of them be original and still fetch those prices? It’s not the celebrities who have owned them. How famous is Baron Knoop (original owner of the $23 million Strad)? Not very. Virtually all of the violins have had a neck replacement. The story goes that Niccolo Paganini lengthened the scale of his violin in the hope of improving the tone. And, in fact, it did just that. Soon everybody was doing it and it became the standard. It is clear that vintage violins are judged primarily by who made them and how they sound. Think about that, Les Paul burst owners. What’s more important to you? Tone or originality. I can guess. Someone will write me and tell me about side by side tests where folks were asked to pick the better sounding violin between a Stradivarius and a well made modern violin. Many picked the modern violin. And I’ve played R9’s (and 335’s) that sound better than some of the bursts that I’ve played. Tone is worth something to guitar collectors but clearly not as much as originality.
So, the big point is that guitar aficionados and violin aficionados are very different creatures. Guitars made by hand by the best luthiers are revered by some (D’Angelicos and D’Aquistos for example) but they don’t even come close to the value of a burst (or even a 59 335). Great sounding guitars can command a premium but the tone of an electric guitar is very subjective (and highly influenced by the amplifier). Vintage acoustic guitars are more like violins. A pre war Martin D-45 or a ’39 Gibson Advanced are highly valued because they sound amazing. But originality is a still a huge factor. I had a 1942 or 43 Gibson SJ that sounded as good as any guitar I’ve ever played (and I’ve been playing since 1964). But it had a half dozen repairs and was beat to hell. It wasn’t worth much. So I guess originality still beats tone in the guitar world.
This wartime Gibson SJ sounded absolutely amazing. It sold for cheap because it had multiple repairs to the top and back and was oversprayed.
So, The “Baron Knoop” Strad that sold for $23 million has had a neck replacement and was completely refinished…twice. A burst that was refinished with a replaced neck that I owned sold for $85,000 a few years ago. It probably would have been worth $300K if it had the original neck and quite a bit more today. So, the next time you spend a lot of money on a vintage guitar, ask how it sounds before you ask about originality. Both are important even if we guitar enthusiasts seem to have it backwards.
Refinished and re-necked 1960 Les Paul. Sold for $85,000 a few years ago. Not exactly cheap but the deduction for the finish and the repair was around $250,000.
Well-said Charlie! Questions 1 and 2 to a player, including one who can appreciate a vintage guitar should be “howzit sound?” and “howzit play?” But many only care about its looks…let’s not forget these guitars we obsess about were crafted to make music…like Frank Zappa wisely intoned, “shudup and play yer git-tar!”