$7.5 million guitar sale questioned by professionals
SALISBURY, Md. — The owner of a Delaware guitar shop said he sold a Rickenbacker electric guitar for $7.5 million, what would be a world-record price. But that claim has been met with skepticism from professionals in the field.
Nick Lee, of Nicholas Lee Guitars in Lewes, Del., presented The (Salisbury, Md.) Daily Times with a notarized bill of sale, dated March 3, to prove that the 1935 Rickenbacker, a full-scale electro-Spanish guitar, was sold for $7.5 million. But the news organization was unable to independently verify the sales price for what Lee referred to as "the most important guitar you've never heard of."
Added Lee: "This is really a forgotten piece of history. This is the guitar that sent guitars from the Wright Brothers into jet turbines, this is the foundation for every other electric guitar ever made."
When told professionals in the national guitar community highly questioned the value of the instrument, explaining that a Rickenbacker would typically go for $3,000 to $5,000, rather than $7.5 million, Lee said he will introduce the buyer at a private meeting with journalists in Washington, D.C., at month's end.
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He couldn't explain why the buyer couldn't verify the sale price now. But Lee insisted the buyer will pay him 10 annual installments of $687,500.
Experts have a range of opinions on the historic significance and market value of Lee's Rickenbacker, known as a Ken Roberts model. Some say it holds a unique place in the world of music while others consider it mediocre. All, however, question the $7.5 million price tag.
Dan Orkin of Reverb.com, a popular marketplace and resource for new and vintage gear based in Chicago, said the guitar fits into a unique place in history.
"What makes this guitar special is that it is what most people consider the first modern electric guitar," said Orkin. "There's a lot of debate about which was truly the first, one of course."
Electric guitars like this, the Spanish style, "really took off with jazz and a lot of the big band music of the time," Orkin said.
Orkin noted that this guitar holds specific historical relevancy not only as, arguably, the first modern electric guitar, but as a collaboration between some of the pioneers of the guitar industry.
"You had the Vib-Rola system, designed by Doc Kauffman, who went on to collaborate with Leo Fender, and a body produced by Harmony, which was another big instrument manufacturer of the time," Orkin said. "So this guitar was a really unique piece of guitar history."
Yet the price is extraordinarily high for an instrument not played publicly by a famous artist, Orkin said.
"Normally, when you see guitars go for more than a million dollars, they're affiliated with some artist, or signed by someone, something of that nature," Orkin said. "This is really surprising."
George Gruhn of Gruhn Guitars in Nashville, which authenticates and offers appraisals for instruments, referred to the purchase price as “outlandishly bizarre.”
He described the Rickenbacker as a “mediocre” instrument, part of a package sold in the 1930s. It was paired with a speaker.
“I can’t think of any reason that anyone would pay that much for this guitar,” said Gruhn, who has bought and sold guitars since 1963. He co-authored Gruhn’s Guide to Vintage Guitars, and the companion volumes Acoustic Guitars and Other Fretted Instruments and Electric Guitars and Basses, according to the shop’s website.
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Gruhn echoed Orkin's thoughts on value because the instrument has no history of affiliation with a notable artist.
“The Ken Roberts model never went on to be a historically significant model as far as sales,” Gruhn said. “You won’t find a bunch of pros having used them.”
Guinness World Records records guitar sales –– but only those sold at public auctions, said Sofia Rocher, public relations coordinator. Lee points out that his sale was a private transaction.
The record holder of a guitar sold at auction is held by the "Reach Out to Asia" Fender Stratocaster, signed by Bryan Adams, Eric Clapton and Keith Richards, among others, according to Guinness World Records. Benefiting the charity of the same name, the "Reach Out to Asia" Strat sold at auction for $2.7 million on Nov. 17, 2005.
The world's most expensive production guitar is the "Eden of Coronet," a Gibson SG studded with 11,441 diamonds and 1.6 kg of white gold, valued at $2 million, according to Guinness World Records.
Lynn Wheelwright, a Utah-based luthier, a stringed instrument maker, and writer for Vintage Guitar magazine, said the unique distinction of the Ken Roberts model, as the first full-scale Spanish-style electric guitar, is not entirely groundbreaking. While acknowledging it might have been the first 25-inch scale electric guitar, Wheelwright doesn’t believe it carries a price tag of $7.5 million.
The number of Rickenbackers produced, and the number that still remain in good condition, is contested as well. Orkin said 50 of these guitars were produced, and 10 or so are known to exist today.
Wheelwright said he owns three of them, knows of 10 and is confident that many are still in existence.
“It’s not really that important in the annals of electric guitar history," said Wheelwright.
He was staggered by the price Lee said he secured.
"I can tell you that I’ve seen guitars go for some really high prices," Wheelwright said, "but nothing even half of this."
Regardless of skepticism, Lee insists the sale is legitimate. The value is in the eye of the buyer, he notes.
“We have to understand that, in the antique world, there are no set values,” Lee said. “It’s driven by demand and the value people see in things.”
Follow Gino Fanelli on Twitter: @GinoFanelli