Quarter-Mil Paid for Lefty Les Paul
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Eldred’s Auctioneers
March 31
1957 Gibson Les Paul Custom “Black Beauty” left-hand guitar
Estimate: $40,000–$60,000
Price fetched: $253,000
It’s safe to say that this vintage Les Paul was something of a fish out of water in Eldred’s Americana auction on Cape Cod last week, where most buyers came looking for things like hooked rugs, folk portraits, Windsor chairs, nautical pictures, Staffordshire pottery, and scrimshaw. Nevertheless, the fabled Gibson “Black Beauty” attracted two determined bidders, who battled it out like a pair of axe players having a cutting contest.
A quarter-million dollars is a lot of money for an electric guitar not played by Eric Clapton, George Harrison or Keith Richards. So, how exactly does this price register on the crazy scale? Did it tip over, like Nigel Tufnel’s amp on Spinal Tap, to eleven?
Let’s break it down. It appeared to be original, an important facet of vintage guitar value. And it looked to be in excellent condition. It hailed from the estate of a local doctor, who had bought it new—nice provenance, but nothing to write home about. After the sale, I contacted vintage guitar guru George Gruhn, of Gruhn Guitars in Nashville, and author of Gruhn’s Guide to Vintage Guitars, considered the Bible of vintage fretted instruments. Here’s how he weighed in:
“This Les Paul is left handed and had Mickey Baker style electronics. It is the only one like it which has ever turned up. As such it is not possible to apply normal standards of supply and demand, or prior precedent. But….as rare as it is, it should be noted that the guitar market is NOT like the coin or stamp market in which rarity is the prime consideration. Guitar prices are fueled more by demand for a certain model.” For the record, says Gruhn, Fender Stratocaters softened somewhat in 2006, while Gibson electrics stayed strong.
“In this case,” he continued, “there is little demand (nobody has ever asked me for a left-handed guitar of this type before) and resale value is highly speculative. While it clearly took at least two bidders to get the auction price up, I doubt that there is any widespread demand for guitars like this. Resale value of this one is unpredictable: if any more like it turned up I don’t think they would bring a similar price.”
How would he have priced it retail, had it been brought into his Nashville guitar mecca to sell? Gruhn admitted, “This would have been hard to price except to speculate, but I would have expected no more than $150,000.” For the record, he would expect a right-handed version to sell for $100,000 to $125,000.
So….I’m speculating that the buyer was a left-handed boomer, with discretionary income, who purchased the guitar so he could wail away in his weekend wrinkle-rocker garage band. But if this beauty ever makes her way back to auction, the question is: what are the chances that two more ardent—and deep-pocketed—lefties can be found?
