(steel)guitar collector on tv serie route 66...

[Olaf van Roggen]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TXqKkcdqCw

My nephew showed me an episode from a tv serie called route 66,in this episode they visit a (steel)guitar collector.....incredible

[Paddy Long]

Olaf I saw that -- it was a Billy Connelly programme touring Route 66 on his Harley trike ... incredible collection the guy had, including about 6 old Fender PSG's as well as hundreds of various Laps and dobros.

[Ron Whitfield]

That episode was before the fire...

[Theresa Galbraith]

I didn't notice a ring on his finger.

[chris ivey]

i wondered where all the $40 pawn shop deals went. that's really something! kind of too bad one guy is hoarding them all.

[Jerome Hawkes]

That episode was before the fire...

i hope you are joking Ron -
but stuff like that is what usually happens, remember Reggie Jacksons warehouse of rare muscle cars.

[Kirk Eipper]

That is the dream I keep having!!

[Ron Whitfield]

If the guy's place did catch fire, I wonder which would he first resuce if he could only save his favorite handful? I'd hope it wouldn't be the zithers...

[Don R Brown]

If the guy's place did catch fire, I wonder which would he first resuce if he could only save his favorite handful? I'd hope it wouldn't be the zithers...

It would probably be the ban....the b....never mind!

[Joe Goldmark]

When I was on tour with the Twangbangers, 10 years ago, a guy in Springfield, MO invited Redd V. and I over to see his collection. It was comparable to this one, but I don't think it was the same guy. There's also a guy out here who has over 100 lap steels, most bought in the '70s. Being a record collector myself, I enjoy seeing these kinds of collections even if it seems indulgent to some.

Theresa, you're right. These kind of guys are never married. However, at least he kept the place relatively neat...

Joe

[Russ Wever]

. . . guy in Springfield, MO invited Redd V. and I over to see his collection.
It was comparable to this one, but I don't think it was the same guy.

Joe,
The guy you speak of was likely Dave Crocker, and if it was ten years ago,
it was likely a trimmed down version of a joint venture that he earlier had
with Andy Coin that was called 'Fly By Night Music'.
Last I knew, he was out in Neosho, MO (near where Tom Brumley's from)
~Russ

[Tony Glassman]

I just keep thinking that this represents a whole lotta musical instruments that will never be played.......sort of a steel guitar prison.

[Peter Huggins]

This is the legendary Mr. Lurvey. I sold him a Gibson Royaltone I and a Stella lap steel last year at GuitArlington. Nice guy

[Bob Carlucci]

Sorry, just can't condone it.. Today there are so many people doing the same thing that it keeps millions of truly wonderful instuments hanging on walls, or in glass cases, or stacked up in thier cases 15 deep...50 Fender Coronados???... ridiculous... bob

[Mike Perlowin]

I have to agree. Think of all the deserving musicians who will never have access to these and other instruments because of collectors who hoard them.

[Ron Whitfield]

There are still plenty available of almost any example he has, nobody is losing out, and as long as they're kept in decent condition they'll remain safe and eventually be spread out once more. He's probably providing a community service for vintage lovers by babysitting the lot. We just gotta outlive him.

[Mike Neer]

I have mixed emotions about it, but most of my negative ones are borne out of jealousy.

It would be nice if he lent those instruments out for recording sessions, etc., like Scott Chinery did.

[David Mason]

Well, he's no spring chicken and we don't really know about siblings, children, or what's going to happ... wait a minute! That guy's my long-lost uncle!

[Jerome Hawkes]

ah man -nobody is being deprived by people like this..... there is NO SHORTAGE (a glut really) of good musical instruments out there, i mean quality instruments fit for beginners > pros at all price points. you look at the junk people had to start out on in the 30's-70's and what is available today. although they get bad raps - you have to admit, the stuff today in the $300-500 range is what you would have paid twice that for back in the 70's-80's not to even mention factoring in inflation - i'm shocked when i go to a music store and see how good the (yes, import) instruments are. there will ALWAYS be disposable junk instruments and there will always be fine luthier made instruments. we are truly living in the golden age of luthiery that will go down in history rivaling any era...going on right now!

i LOVE old guitars, but this myth about them being superior for the purpose of playing music is just bewildering. i know "musicians" that wont even be seen unless they are playing vintage gear, as if its some rite of passage - once you reach the 10-15 etc year mark, you should...need be playing vintage gear . what always bugs me is i've seen "good" players not sit in on jams cause they didnt want to play the guys Squire thru his Peavey amp - as if it was beneath him, someone might put it on youtube and ruin his reputation.

and i have no fear that future generations will never be able to enjoy the bliss of hearing a real Ric Bakelite as the VALUE of these instruments keeps them from being hacked up and trashed - back when you could buy old Fenders for a few hundred dollars, whats the big deal with routing that sucker out for a Floyd Rose tremelo or a set of humbuckers or better yet, a wild paint job. if it takes 4+ figure valuations to keep these out of the dumpster, then good

[Bob Carlucci]

ah man -nobody is being deprived by people like this..... there is NO SHORTAGE (a glut really) of good musical instruments out there, i mean quality instruments fit for beginners > pros at all price points. you look at the junk people had to start out on in the 30's-70's and what is available today. although they get bad raps - you have to admit, the stuff today in the $300-500 range is what you would have paid twice that for back in the 70's-80's not to even mention factoring in inflation - i'm shocked when i go to a music store and see how good the (yes, import) instruments are. there will ALWAYS be disposable junk instruments and there will always be fine luthier made instruments. we are truly living in the golden age of luthiery that will go down in history rivaling any era...going on right now!

i LOVE old guitars, but this myth about them being superior for the purpose of playing music is just bewildering. i know "musicians" that wont even be seen unless they are playing vintage gear, as if its some rite of passage - once you reach the 10-15 etc year mark, you should...need be playing vintage gear . what always bugs me is i've seen "good" players not sit in on jams cause they didnt want to play the guys Squire thru his Peavey amp - as if it was beneath him, someone might put it on youtube and ruin his reputation.

and i have no fear that future generations will never be able to enjoy the bliss of hearing a real Ric Bakelite as the VALUE of these instruments keeps them from being hacked up and trashed - back when you could buy old Fenders for a few hundred dollars, whats the big deal with routing that sucker out for a Floyd Rose tremelo or a set of humbuckers or better yet, a wild paint job. if it takes 4+ figure valuations to keep these out of the dumpster, then good

"The golden age of lutherie"?.. We are on different planets... Try and get a modern Gibson with top flight light Honduran mahogony and a Brazilian rosewood board today... Todays wood is crap in comparison... If you like cookie cutter guitars made on a CNC machine instead of by skilled hands, have at it. Golden age of lutherie has been gone for 40+ years.. We are in the age of "utilitarian lutherie"

[Jerome Hawkes]

Bob, I think you may be looking nostalgiclly at a manufacturing era - (I use to work at Gibson) - There was A LOT of automation and pantograph mtg then. the people working there in 1990 were just as skilled and devoted as those in 1960. There is nothing we could do about mgt and the bean counters, nor the gov't , EPA, etc. I worked on the same buffing machine I'm 1990 ... the same one that was used in 1958. There was A LOT of original Kalamazoo equip there in Nashville. If the idiots hadn't left the pantographs and tooling out in the elements after the move they would have still been using them up til CAD but they were ruined by the southern high humidity.

not having or being able to have a brz rw fingerboard is not going to keep a musician from reaching his full potential. You might not be able to get those desired options from a new factory Gibson - but that's part of the mentality that you must play a name brand. It's well known that Leo was a miser and bought the cheapest wood/components that would work.

I just had a pre-war spec banjo made with prem hond mahg, old growth brz rw fingerboard PLUS the guy pours his own tone rings. It didn't have to say Gibson on the headstock for me - i could care less about that. I also just recieved a beautiful new Clinesmith / Bigsby T-8 and many in the know will straight up tell you they rival if not surpass the orginal.
Yeah, you aren't going to stroll into your local guitar center and find this - but it's out there

[Jerome Hawkes]

Oh - I had heard for years about the "special varnish" used on the highly prized Gibson Lloyd Loar F-5 mandolins from the 1920s - the ones now selling for $250k. When I worked there I found out it was off the shelf Sherwin Williams quick dry varnish they got at the hardware store down the street. Yet to this day I still hear the same bs that it's some mystical ingredient that can never be replicated.

[Curt Jarvis]

I have a friend who will continue to buy instruments and equipment, but he spreads them around. It's hard to leave his house without an instrument or amp that he wants you to take home to keep if you like or bring it back if you don't. How much more fun would it be to put those instruments, one by one in the hands of somebody who values it as you do.

[Tommie Ward]

they should be played not collected

[Tony Prior]

This is what he does, this is how he spends his time and money....I am disappointed that some of us see this as a bad thing, this guy decided to buy instruments..he probably bought Instruments that some of us walked past...

Corando's ? I hardly think there are any die hard Coronado fans out there beating the pavement everyday looking for one, two or 50...In my over 40 years as a player I may have picked one up once and probably put it right back down...and never picked up another one...

How about the Muscle Car Museums ? The ones with well over 200 or 300 classic muscle cars.Should we say the same thing about them, they should be driven ? They should be available to the rest of us ?

Well they are , you gotta find em and then buy em... you gotta do the leg work...just like the Instruments...