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How much is the Fender Stratocaster (serial number 001) that David owns worth these days? |
The value would be two-fold. An Stratocaster officially serialised as "001" would have enormous value on the open market, however, this guitar now has another 'intrinsic' value; it is one of Dave 'he's a quintessential Strat-player' Gilmour's guitars. Beyond many of the guitars that you see at places like the Hard-Rock Cafe, which have merely been autographed and strummed a couple of times, these other instruments are imbued with another vibe. Often, they're used to realise and record the music we know and love. How much is the Strat that DG used on WYWH worth (# 001 ?) ? How much is one of Jimmy Page's road Les Pauls worth ? Steve Howe's ES175 rides next to its owner (in its own seat) during airflight - how much is this axe worth ? A 'Hendrix Strat' - say no more ! One thing is possible: they're worth more to the current owner than to a collector.
I personally own a guitar with a (little) story: A Hammer 'Sunburst', oddly named as it's a black guitar - great sounding, not unlike your garden-variety Gibson Les Paul. I purchased it in 1988 from a fellow who played in a notable Australian band called 'The Numbers' ... he purchased it from a member from another notable Australian band called 'The Angels' .... now, while The Angels were touring America in 1980, in support of Cheap Trick, they had much their gear stolen in Chicargo - the story goes that Rick Neilson donated several guitars so that they could continue working on that tour. My guitar is, apparently, one of those. Does it have any 'mystical' qualities, having been owned by a line of good guitar players - I doubt it, but it was played by them and that means something to me. It's a great 'hand-me-down' and it still has a 'life' of its own.
Speaking of 'imbued mystical qualities', I once knew an American guy who was a bit of a 'weekend strummer' - anyway, I visited him one time and he pulled out of his guitar case an old string in a plastic bag. His story was that this was a string which came from a guitar that Jimi Hendix smashed at a gig in the 1960s. I unravelled the string and pulled it along it's length between my thumb and first finger ... anything mystical ? No, just rust. Actually, it was pretty cool (I was 17 at the time !), but I guess you had to be there ...