Most Iconic - the 1964 Fender Stratocaster

If being played by Jimi Hendrix is not enough, then Wayne from Wayne's World forever made this guitar iconic.

It will be mine.
Oh, yes... It will be mine.

"It" is the 1964 Fender Stratocaster.

And to make it yours, be ready to make a five-figure check.

Unless... you go for a Custom Shop Reissue like this beautiful .



To sum up the listing:

Built for NAMM 2009 to honor the legend of the 1964 Stratocaster, this Chocolate Three Color Sunburst is a limited edition (50 available worlwide). It comes in a Thin Nitro Lacquer Finish, Relic-d to show years of natural wear and tear, nicks, scratches and intricate weather checking. Comes in a Limited Edition Case with a Limited Edition Certificate.

Features include a premium Ash body, 1965 C-shaped maple neck with 9.5”-radius dark Indian rosewood fingerboard, clay dot inlays and jumbo 6105 frets, three Master-Built “overwound” Fat ’50s single-coil pickups, five-way switching, American Vintage synchronized tremolo bridge, vintage-style tuners, bone nut and a three-ply mint green pickguard.

Unfortunately, the auction is closed on this one but I'll let you know if I see one surface.

And anyway, remember: NO STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN!

Jimmy Page signed Les Paul at $45k

UPDATE: the auction for the guitar described below has closed.
>> Search Jimmy Page Les Paul guitars now listed on eBay.

Big WOW. A Jimmy Page signature Black Beauty Les Paul Custom "signed and played by Jimmy Page himself" is up for grabs on eBay.

That is, if you have $45,000. Yep, you got that right 45 followed by three zeros. That beats the $25,000 for a brand new Jeff Beck Oxblood. But this one has a Bigsby, right.

This is number 20 of 25 according to the vendor, who also suggests fingerprints on this guitar are likely Jimmy Page's. Yes, the Jimmy Page. HIS fingers! Extract of the listing below.

A brand new Gibson Custom Shop Jimmy Page "Signed" Les Paul Custom VOS Electric Guitar with Bigsby. Yes this is one of the rare signed and played by Jimmy Page himself. His signature is on the back of the headstock...Collector owned and never played. In fact it has only been handled 2 times, when first purchased and to take these pic's and only with cotton gloves on. So most likely the fingerprints that are on it are from Jimmy Page! Auction includes every piece of documentation that came with including the signed COA and Gibson custom shop case with silk-screen JP signature on the outside. It will ship in the original Gibson box it came in. This is # 20 of 25 made worldwide...

I also didn't know the original guitar had been stolen back in the days:

In the early days of Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page relied heavily on a three-pickup 1960 Les Paul custom "Black Beauty" with a Bigsby tailpiece. Unfortunately, the guitar was stolen in 1970 at an airport and never recovered. Page has always felt that that particular electric guitar was "the one that got away."

Anyway, if you acquire this truly iconic guitar or own one of the other 24 Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul's in that series and you dare play it, you are invited to post a video here. I would be honored.

Gibson Les Paul Natural Flame - the Albino Guitar?

Just came across this very plain vanilla Gibson Les Paul Standard: a 2007 model with a nice flame in natural finish.

This guitar doesn't work for me. Not because I am not a flame type of guy but because the absence of color makes this Les Paul look like an Albino guitar.

Anyway, this is an original Gibson that I thought some of you might like. Mind you, it is quite expensive.

Fender Splatter - like a Crashocaster, but cheaper & cooler?

Back in 2003, Fender introduced the Splatter Stratocaster, a very cool model where each design was unique.


These guitars, which are sometimes also referred as the Splattercaster, were introduced as "Fender Standard Series Stratocaster models with Spin Art Finishes. Each one of these new Stratocaster guitars are made just like the name implies - by putting finish on the guitar body and spinning it while still wet, each one virtually guaranteed to be unique" according to Harmony Central.

The Splattercasters were Made in Mexico (aka. MIM) and were available for a limited time only.

There are a few to be found on eBay at any time in the $500-800 range which is kind of a cool price for Strats with a unique finish. This clearly evokes the Fender Crashocasters - basically Fender Custom Shop strats painted by famous Graffiti artist Crash (Eric Clapton has 5). I think the Splatters are definitely as cool as the Crashocasters, if not more because I really like the surrealist approach and the random factor. And they come at a fraction of the price!

Here are a few examples. Features are below, with an eBay search widget to help you locate your future one-of-a-kind guitar.





Features:

• Alder body
• Maple Neck with Rosewood fingerboard
• 21 Vintage Style Frets
• 3 Standard Single-Coil Strat Pickups
• 5-way switching
• Fender/Ping Standard Cast/Sealed Tuning Machines
• Vintage Style Synchronized Tremolo
• Satin Finish: Splatter Red, Splatter Blue, Splatter Yellow, Splatter White, Splatter Black

Jimmy Page Signature - Gibson Les Paul Auction Week End, part V

Jimmy Page. Couldn't do my Gibson Les Paul Auction Week End without mentioning a few auctions of his signature model by the Custom Shop. Jimmy Page is forever associated with the Paul. And he is probably the first guitarist and the one that inspired many awesome players like Eric Clapton or Slash (or me :) to make it their own guitar of choice.

There were a few Jimmy Page signature models created by Gibson in the last couple of years, including a "Black Beauty" Les Paul Custom and a replica of his 59 Les Paul Standard.

UPDATE: a signed Jimmy Page Black Beauty just came up on our radar...at $45k

Here are a few auctions closing soon:

A Rootbeer Flame Les Paul! Gibson Les Paul Auction Week End, Part IV

Just 14 hours (as of writing) to get your hands on this beautiful Gibson Les Paul Standard 2008 and its Rootbeer Flamed finish. This is a gorgeous color that I hadn't seen to date. I really like it and I'm glad to add it to my Gibson Les Paul Auction Week End!

2008 Gibson Les Paul Standard Plus RootBeer Flame Top

Follow the auction here:

Les Paul Special vs Studio - Rematch! Gibson Les Paul Auction Week End, Part III

"Gibson Les Paul - Studio vs Special" - this was one of my first posts.

Today, as part of the Gibson Les Paul Auction Week End, I am going for the rematch. I am a big fan of the Les Paul Special double cut - I bought my baby girl one for when she's older (at 18 months, she already shows a great interest for it and guitars in general)

That being said, when you look at a Les Paul studio in a faded finish, it looks really good. So, then it's all about P90 vs Humbucker. Your pick.

Also, I promised you a few good looking guitars that are affordable. These two guitars are in the $500-600 range. Here are the guitars on auction:

Gibson Les Paul Faded Double Cutaway



Gibson Les Paul Studio Vintage Mahogany



Follow the auctions directly here: