ERIC CLAPTON'S 1964 cherry-red Gibson ES-335 sold in June for $849,500, establishing a new world auction record for a Gibson guitar. (Photograph courtesy of Christie’s.)

Collector Gary Schiff, now in his 50s, has been playing guitar for 15 years. A successful electrical engineer who serves as chairman of the Security Services Group at Kroll, a risk-consulting firm, Schiff purchased a ’59 Gibson ES-335 previously owned by Clapton at the 1999 Christie’s auction. “Everybody thought I was insane because it was more than 10 times what I’d paid for any guitar up to that point,” he recalls. The association with Clapton, who played it on his From the Cradle album and his Nothing but the Blues tour, ratcheted up the selling price to $75,000. Schiff remains convinced he made a sound investment. Considered the most coveted year for that model, the ’59 ES-335 is worth approximately $25,000 in its own right. Schiff strums the instrument on occasion, but, he notes, its investment value “does make me think twice before playing it.”

SEVERAL OF Johnny Cash’s guitars were sold at a Sotheby’s estate auction in September. Top: 1960s Grammar custom acoustic guitar with case, $131,200. Bottom: 1976 Martin D76 acoustic guitar B Centennial model with case, $50,400. (Photographs courtesy of Sotheby’s.)

While owning a guitar played by a musical idol may stoke a collector’s passions, authorities are quick to caution novice investors about diving into the market for celebrity instruments. “You can never quantify the passion that people are going to have,” Dunbar says. “What we have found consistently is that when you have iconic performers who have carved out unique identities and they have unique pieces that go up for sale, anything is possible.”

This is particularly true when a guitar comes complete with a provenance that establishes its rightful place in music history. Clapton’s 1964 cherry-red Gibson ES-335, the second guitar he ever purchased and one he played from his days with the Yardbirds up until recently, sold in June for $849,500, more than 10 times the presale estimate. This set the world auction record for a Gibson guitar. Clapton’s 1939 000-442 Martin, which he played on his Unplugged album, sold for $791,500, nearly 10 times the high end of the presale estimate. This set the world auction record for a Martin guitar. “It was the guitar that is singularly responsible for reintroducing the public at large to acoustic guitar playing,” Keane says. Another Martin acoustic owned by Clapton, a 1966 000-28/45 model that he purchased in 1970 and used onstage throughout the decade, sold for $186,700. The guitar is visible on Clapton’s 461 Ocean Boulevard album cover, which added tremendously to its value.

Warts and All
Collectors will pay a premium for a celebrity’s guitar, and even more if there is a story behind the instrument. However, they value originality above all. Many purists argue that an investment-quality vintage guitar must be unaltered and unmodified. “The guitar market is a little different than the car market,” says Dave Belzer, a collector of Sunburst-finish guitars and a buyer for Guitar Center, a national retail chain that purchased Clapton’s Blackie at auction. “You can buy a vintage car and restore it, and it is worth more money; in the guitar market you don’t want to touch it. Once you refinish or modify that guitar, you are cutting the value in half.”

TOP: WILKANOWSKI & Son Airway Fiddle Guitar with case, circa 1930s, $31,200. (Photograph courtesy of Sotheby’s.). Bottom: Clapton’s “Blackie,” a black and white Fender Stratocaster that he played extensively on his albums throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, became the most expensive guitar ever sold at auction. (Photograph courtesy of Christie’s.)

In fact, most serious collectors scoff at the sum Guitar Center paid for Clapton’s Blackie. (The company plans to launch a touring exhibition of it and other vintage guitars.) The instrument is actually a Frankenstein’s monster, assembled from parts of other guitars. “If an unknown person walked into a vintage shop and wanted to sell that, they’d laugh him out of the store because originality is such a big deal with vintage stuff when you are trying to sell it,” Smith says. Meeker claims a “parts” guitar similar to Clapton’s Fender, made from vintage pieces, might fetch $7,000, without the essential pedigree.

Because of the recent surge in collecting, Belzer says that aficionados are finding it increasingly difficult to locate specific models. Gibson made only 600 of the iconic ’59 Les Paul, played by Clapton, Jimmy Page, Billy Gibbons and Duane Allman. Even off-the-rack models are now worth anywhere from $100,000 to $300,000, depending on condition. Other collectors, particularly young ones, have recently begun clamoring for guitars made in the 1970s and played by their musical icons, causing them to appreciate more quickly than instruments from other eras, Meeker says.

Signed guitars, typically brand new guitars that have been autographed, but never played, by an artist, comprise yet another category of rock ’n’ roll collectibles. Dan Courtenay, owner of Dan’s Chelsea Guitars in New York, estimates that a signed Paul McCartney Hofner “Beatle” bass can fetch $8,000. “Beatles collectors are a rare breed; they collect guitars primarily because the Beatles used them at one time or another,” Courtenay says. An Epiphone EJ-160E jumbo acoustic/electric, can be worth $1,000 more than the Gibson version of the same guitar, merely because John Lennon played that model.

Gretsch and Rickenbacker guitars are en vogue among collectors looking for alternatives to Fenders and Gibsons. Because of their idiosyncratic sound qualities, however, they have a tendency to drift in and out of fashion. (When Tom Petty wanted to recreate the singular jingle-jangle sound of the Byrds, he had to buy a Rickenbacker.)

Dangers for Dilettantes
Now that the market for high-end guitars is heating up, collectors have become susceptible to the same kinds of forgeries that plague the art world. Unscrupulous sellers occasionally attempt to pass off reproductions of vintage guitars as originals. These guitars are intentionally distressed to appear old; luthiers scratch and scuff the finish so carefully that they can easily fool an untrained eye.

As the Clapton sales attest, collectors’ bank accounts can also succumb to the rarified air of auction houses, where guitars often sell for much more than they would off the selling floor. “I saw Strats that Clapton owned but never played that went for $200,000,” Schiff recalls. “I question whether, outside of this auction environment, those guitars will ever bring those numbers again.” Fellow collectors or reputable dealers usually offer better opportunities to buy investment-quality pieces. While an enthusiast might still be able to unearth an undervalued vintage guitar in a dusty corner of a music shop or at a pawnbroker, collectors who are concerned with authenticity and provenance are more likely to be found at one of the many guitar shows held regularly across the United States.

In any case, the guitars that have intrinsic value as instruments, and solid proof of provenance, are the best investments. Historical documentation in the form of pictures of the musician playing the instrument is crucial, and references to the guitar in books or magazine articles also help. “A celebrity guitar is like a snowflake: It is always going to be unique. Because of that, you are always going to have more demand than supply,” Dunbar says. “What we’ve found in the memorabilia market is that these guitars definitely appreciate over time, and the better the piece, the more room for appreciation.”