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1964 Gibson ES 335 Guitar

Value (2018) | $12,000 Retail – $12,500 Retail
Watch  

GUEST:
Well, I traded a 1939 Chevrolet for it in 1971, and the guy I traded it off of said he bought it in California when it was new, I'm assuming.

APPRAISER:
Uh-huh.

GUEST:
He played country and western music.

APPRAISER:
Uh-huh.

GUEST:
I've always played rock and roll and country and western with it.

APPRAISER:
So you've used-- you've been using them?

GUEST:
I haven't used it in some years, but back in the '70s, I did quite a bit.

APPRAISER:
Uh-huh.

GUEST:
I played a lot of barn dances.

APPRAISER:
(laughs) So do you... do you remember how-- what was the value of the car you traded for this?

GUEST:
About $600 to $800, I'm, was what it was worth.

APPRAISER:
But that was quite a while ago. This is one of the iconic guitars. It's the 1964 Gibson ES-335.

GUEST:
Yes.

APPRAISER:
This guitar has a maple body with a... a rosewood fingerboard, the banding all the way around on both sides. And it was one of the two designs that... that, really, were just iconic, classic guitars. The... of course, the other one was the Les Paul. It was a, a combination of the solid body and the hollow body, which gave it kind of the best of both worlds. And it was able to eliminate the feedback you often got from the hollow-bodied guitars. It came out in 1958, went through a few other variations. It had different pickups on it. It had what were called P.A.F. pickups, and they discontinued those in 1962 and went with these. This model guitar was used by a lot of famous artists-- Chuck Berry, B.B. King, Keith Richards-- but it was really championed and became really popular when Eric Clapton started using it. And he started using it when he was with Cream.

GUEST:
Yeah, he's one of my heroes.

APPRAISER:
Again... Yeah? Mine, too. This guitar came in different color variations. This is the regular sunburst. Also, Eric Clapton's was a cherry red. That guitar from 1964 that Clapton used was recently sold at an auction. And it just went... of course, because it was his...

GUEST:
Yeah.

APPRAISER:
...that guitar sold for over $800,000.

GUEST:
Whoa. Eric.

APPRAISER:
But that was a celebrity... A celebrity guitar.

GUEST:
Yeah, Eric.

APPRAISER:
But this guitar is just so iconic, so classic. Do you have any idea what the value of this would be today?

GUEST:
Well, I was offered $1,500 for it in 1992.

APPRAISER:
Well, today, this guitar, at a retail price, would be $12,000 to $12,500.

GUEST:
(laughs)

APPRAISER:
So, that was a pretty good deal for trading the...

GUEST:
Yeah, that old car is long gone.

APPRAISER:
That car's long gone, yeah, yeah.

GUEST:
Wow! (laughs) Whew!

APPRAISER:
It's the guitar everyone wants. It was coined as one of the best guitars because you could use it for just about any type of music.

Support provided by: Learn more

Appraisal Details

Appraiser
Peter Shaw
Musical Instruments
Amati Violin Shop, Inc.
Houston, TX
Appraised value (2018)
$12,000 Retail – $12,500 Retail
Featured In
Philbrook Museum, Hour 3 (#2312)
Event
Tulsa, OK (April 21, 2018)
Category
Musical Instruments
Period
1960s
Form
Electric Guitar , Musical Instrument
Material
Maple

Executive producer Marsha Bemko shares her tips for getting the most out of ANTIQUES ROADSHOW.

Value can change: The value of an item is dependent upon many things, including the condition of the object itself, trends in the market for that kind of object, and the location where the item will be sold. These are just some of the reasons why the answer to the question "What's it worth?" is so often "It depends."

Note the date: Take note of the date the appraisal was recorded. This information appears in the upper left corner of the page, with the label "Appraised On." Values change over time according to market forces, so the current value of the item could be higher, lower, or the same as when our expert first appraised it.

Context is key: Listen carefully. Most of our experts will give appraisal values in context. For example, you'll often hear them say what an item is worth "at auction," or "retail," or "for insurance purposes" (replacement value). Retail prices are different from wholesale prices. Often an auctioneer will talk about what she knows best: the auction market. A shop owner will usually talk about what he knows best: the retail price he'd place on the object in his shop. And though there are no hard and fast rules, an object's auction price can often be half its retail value; yet for other objects, an auction price could be higher than retail. As a rule, however, retail and insurance/replacement values are about the same.

Verbal approximations: The values given by the experts on ANTIQUES ROADSHOW are considered "verbal approximations of value." Technically, an "appraisal" is a legal document, generally for insurance purposes, written by a qualified expert and paid for by the owner of the item. An appraisal usually involves an extensive amount of research to establish authenticity, provenance, composition, method of construction, and other important attributes of a particular object.

Opinion of value: As with all appraisals, the verbal approximations of value given at ROADSHOW events are our experts' opinions formed from their knowledge of antiques and collectibles, market trends, and other factors. Although our valuations are based on research and experience, opinions can, and sometimes do, vary among experts.

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