SOUND INVESTMENTS
GEORGE GRUHN
Collectors vs. Musicians
In the vintage guitar business, we often
hear the complaint that rich collectors have
pushed prices so high that the finest guitars
have been taken out of the hands of deserving musicians. This is hardly a new complaint.
It’s been circulating for almost 200 years,
ever since the emergence of violin collectors
in the early 1800s. And the argument was as
groundless then as it is now.
for this, because few would knowingly damage a valuable instrument. More often, they
are merely “upgrading” a utility instrument
that later becomes collectible.
Let’s address the last part of the argument
first. Are musicians really deserving of these
instruments? Well, yes and no. We would all
like to hear the finest musicians playing on
the finest instruments, of course. But some of
the greatest musicians have been among the
biggest abusers of guitars—at least from a
vintage collectible standpoint. They’ve routed and drilled and refinished and renecked
and modified instruments until there’s no
originality left, and the only vintage value of
the instrument is its celebrity association.
Ironically, the same group who “damaged”
vintage instruments were also the first to
recognize their value. It was musicians in
the early 1800s who discovered that older
Italian instruments sounded better than new
factory-made violins, and it was musicians in
appreciated by the masses. The nature of
rock and roll performance makes this a more
dangerous proposition for a Les Paul or
Stratocaster than for a Strad in a symphony
setting, but owners of great guitars generally
like to hear them played.
Collectors make a great
contribution in the area of
The late Scott Chinery, for example, had
a fabulous collection that he kept in glass
display cases, but when he hosted a party
to celebrate his Blue Collection of commissioned archtops, he opened up those display
cases to provide such notable guitarists as
Tal Farlow, Arlen Roth, Jimmy Vivino and
G.E. Smith with instruments for a jam session. He also sponsored recordings that used
his instruments. So while Chinery may have
taken instruments out of general circulation,
he by no means retired them.
education. Their passion has
We really shouldn’t vilify musicians for that
sort of treatment. After all, in most cases
they’re just being pragmatic. As professional
musicians, they have to make a living with
their instruments, and the instruments must
be up to the task at hand. Often, the instrument had no significant value at the time
they had their way with it. Nevertheless,
musicians often customize instruments in
ways that destroy originality.
driven much of the research
In addition to protecting instruments, collectors make a great contribution in the
area of education. Their passion has driven
much of the research that has been published on vintage instruments. Many of
those who criticize collectors might never
have heard of their coveted instruments in
the first place had it not been for collectors’ educational contributions.
that has been published on
Customized instruments also go back at
least as far as the violins of the early 1800s.
Musicians were not only playing them and
inflicting normal wear and tear, they were
thinning down the tops with radical re-gradu-ations and replacing the necks. The result
was absolutely appalling: There is only one
original Stradivarius violin left anywhere in
the world. Only six have their original neck.
Guitar collectors complain about a broken
solder joint or a replaced tuner. Think what
it would be like if all but six of the sunburst
Les Pauls and pre-CBS Stratocasters had a
replaced neck.
vintage instruments.
The biggest complaint about collectors is
that they drive prices up. That’s true, but
that’s the nature of any open market where
demand exceeds supply. Collectors can’t
do anything about it, nor can dealers. The
upside of rising prices is that they protect
the instruments, because instruments with no
value get no respect.
the 1960s—people like Mike Bloomfield, Eric
Clapton, Jimmy Page and Stephen Stills—
who discovered that some of the older
Martins, Gibsons and Fenders sounded better than new ones. Their preference for older
instruments caused other musicians and fans
to appreciate these instruments and created
a desire to own them. As the vintage market
grew, the activities of collectors and dealers
rooted out many instruments and actually
put more good instruments into circulation
than they removed.
As a final note, let’s imagine what would happen if disgruntled musicians got what they
wished for, and all the instruments in collections were released. Musicians would either
use them as utility tools, further damaging
them, or take better care of them and put
them in protective custody. In the latter case,
musicians would then become their own
worst nightmare: collectors depriving deserving musicians of fine instruments.
Who replaced those necks and made all
those other modifications to the Strads? It
wasn’t the collectors. It was musicians and
their repairmen. Sooner or later, as musical
tastes and styles change, the same thing
would happen to virtually every guitar left
in the possession of working musicians.
Musicians should not necessarily be vilified
It’s a short step from owning a special item
to wanting to protect it, and that’s where the
accusation begins that collectors take instruments out of circulation. It’s true, but only to
a point. Owners of valuable violins routinely
loan them to musicians so that they can be
George Gruhn
has been dealing vintage guitars since the 1960s. Gruhn’s
Guide to Vintage Guitars (co-written with Walter Carter)
is the “bible” for vintage collectors. Visit gruhn.com or
email gruhn@gruhn.com.
