Several Bigsbys for sale - 1,2,3,4 necks

Chris Lucker · Post by **Chris Lucker** » 21 Jul 2014 3:12 pm

There are six Bigsbys available right now. Some mine, some not. One is the only original D-10 made. There are singles, the double, triples and a quad.

Serious inquiries only contact to discuss.

Photos will definitely not be posted on the general forum unless the new owner wants to have his new Bigsby displayed on the Internet. Only one of these is in the Bigsby book, where, not surprisingly, it is incorrectly described.

Geoff Cline · Post by **Geoff Cline** » 22 Jul 2014 4:17 pm

Chris Lucker · Post by **Chris Lucker** » 22 Jul 2014 6:13 pm

Several reasons. Bigsbys are expensive, and that photos are not available for a certain Bigsby will actually enhance its value. That is not unusual for collector pieces. Look how many Bigsby owners did not want their Bigsbys to appear in the Bigsby book -- aside from the fact that the author made so many mistakes in describing the guitars he showed and the fact that at least two of the Bigsbys he showed as real Bigsbys are actually fakes made decades ago (I am not talking about the myrtle wood guitars).
Consider the production records. They are certainly worth more to the owner kept from the public eye than available on the Internet. The Bigsby book perpetuated the silly myth that the records are gone, although I found them in the second place I looked. They are still there, and the asking price is hefty. They seem to have started in Spring 1949 and end in 1963.
When a photo of a Bigsby appears on the Forum, damage to that guitar can occur because guys who know little or nothing about Bigsbys express their clueless opinions and those comments are attached to the guitar forever -- for better or worse.
In the case of the Joaquin Murphey triple, the guitar benefits because so many folks express glee and joy that the famous Bigsby has been found and it is still in original condition, despite the fact that the guitar was redone by Paul Bigsby and sold as a reconditioned guitar to Marv Erickson in the mid 1950s and for over fifty years the guitar had no Murphey badge on the front apron, no acorn knob on top and Marv's name inlaid into the front apron and added pedals.
Look at Ray Montee's quad. It is a fantastic original owner Bigsby. Of the six quads made, there are left. One was made into four lap steels, one made into a double and another made into a triple. Three are still quads. Paul Warnik has one that is for sale and the family of the original owner has one in the Southeast - but it is the family of the original owner -- not the original owner. That makes Ray's quad even cooler. But looking at the underside of Ray's quad and folks will see some non-Paul Bigsby parts that led some to think Ray had it modified by Jon Frye whose parts are clearly on the guitar. Nonsense. Paul Bigsby was on a six week trip to Hawaii when the guitar was put together and Jon Frye was working for the factory to get the guitar done. The parts belong on that guitar and are original, but found on Ray's guitar and only one other that I have seen (but I have seen a crazy Bigbsy converted to rods and extra strings etc done by Frye with those parts and the parts even appeared on the 1962 pedal steel Frye made for Eddie Bush of the Harry Owens Royal Hawaiians band.)
If an owner wants to show his guitar, fine -- it is his. But it may affect the mystery, the perceived authenticity and the value of his guitar.
The public is not being deprived. The public is not being hurt. The google machine will show enough Bigsbys to satisfy anyone. If someone needs more then they should buy one.

Chris Lucker · Post by **Chris Lucker** » 22 Jul 2014 6:19 pm

That above reply was actually to a post that asked why photos are not provided. The post was okay. I did not mind.

Tom Margulies · Post by **Tom Margulies** » 22 Jul 2014 6:38 pm

Actually, I have an original D11... previously unknow to anyone else .... so secretive that Bigsby himelf took Ambien after making it so he'd have amnesia and wouldn't remember.

The records regarding it's production were easy to find... they were in the last place I looked and I'd be happy to post them but they are written in invisable ink and it doesnt' copy well.

The original owmer died but his family had his some of his ashes embedded in a glass tone bar now part of the D11. This makes it uber-original and super cool.

I considered posting picture but I am afraid that it would destroy the market and greatly devalue the more mundane example offered above.

Under the guitar... which I can see but you can't see... are numerous parts marked made in Japan. Some say these ar unoriginal ... but thats pure rubbish. I have copies of Bigsbys passport and vias to prove that he actually went to Japan, made the parts himself and correctly marked them made in Japan.

I fully realize that I may be banned for life from the Forum... but I just couldn't resist.

Chris Lucker · Post by **Chris Lucker** » 22 Jul 2014 6:42 pm

I will give you $26,000 for it plus the $1,000 finders fee. Unless you are joking.

Jerome Hawkes · Post by **Jerome Hawkes** » 23 Jul 2014 3:28 am

always enjoy your Bigsby history posts Chris, so glad there are a handful of authorities out there that have kept this info from disappearing.
I have read the Bigsby book so many times the spine is separated and the pages are falling out. PA was such an interesting character.

good luck with the sales - i had to 'settle' for a wonderful Clinesmith T-8 and i can sense PA's soul in there when i play it.

i totally understand the reasoning behind the 'private party' sale - i would expect nothing less from a reputable authority. i wouldn't want what i paid or any inside details to be revealed either. i don't know why folks would take offense cause they don't get public details & to look at any pictures. Chris has always been VERY gracious with his knowledge when i have asked him certain Bigsby questions thru PMs.

Steve Green · Post by **Steve Green** » 23 Jul 2014 5:11 am

Chris Lucker wrote:Several reasons. Bigsbys are expensive, and that photos are not available for a certain Bigsby will actually enhance its value. That is not unusual for collector pieces. Look how many Bigsby owners did not want their Bigsbys to appear in the Bigsby book -- aside from the fact that the author made so many mistakes in describing the guitars he showed and the fact that at least two of the Bigsbys he showed as real Bigsbys are actually fakes made decades ago (I am not talking about the myrtle wood guitars).
Consider the production records. They are certainly worth more to the owner kept from the public eye than available on the Internet. The Bigsby book perpetuated the silly myth that the records are gone, although I found them in the second place I looked. They are still there, and the asking price is hefty. They seem to have started in Spring 1949 and end in 1963.
When a photo of a Bigsby appears on the Forum, damage to that guitar can occur because guys who know little or nothing about Bigsbys express their clueless opinions and those comments are attached to the guitar forever -- for better or worse.
In the case of the Joaquin Murphey triple, the guitar benefits because so many folks express glee and joy that the famous Bigsby has been found and it is still in original condition, despite the fact that the guitar was redone by Paul Bigsby and sold as a reconditioned guitar to Marv Erickson in the mid 1950s and for over fifty years the guitar had no Murphey badge on the front apron, no acorn knob on top and Marv's name inlaid into the front apron and added pedals.
Look at Ray Montee's quad. It is a fantastic original owner Bigsby. Of the six quads made, there are left. One was made into four lap steels, one made into a double and another made into a triple. Three are still quads. Paul Warnik has one that is for sale and the family of the original owner has one in the Southeast - but it is the family of the original owner -- not the original owner. That makes Ray's quad even cooler. But looking at the underside of Ray's quad and folks will see some non-Paul Bigsby parts that led some to think Ray had it modified by Jon Frye whose parts are clearly on the guitar. Nonsense. Paul Bigsby was on a six week trip to Hawaii when the guitar was put together and Jon Frye was working for the factory to get the guitar done. The parts belong on that guitar and are original, but found on Ray's guitar and only one other that I have seen (but I have seen a crazy Bigbsy converted to rods and extra strings etc done by Frye with those parts and the parts even appeared on the 1962 pedal steel Frye made for Eddie Bush of the Harry Owens Royal Hawaiians band.)
If an owner wants to show his guitar, fine -- it is his. But it may affect the mystery, the perceived authenticity and the value of his guitar.
The public is not being deprived. The public is not being hurt. The google machine will show enough Bigsbys to satisfy anyone. If someone needs more then they should buy one.

Thanks for posting that, Chris. I was extremely curious, but thought it might be considered rude or poor etiquette to comment "Why not post pics?"

Tom Marguiles wrote:Actually, I have an original D11... previously unknow to anyone else .... so secretive that Bigsby himelf took Ambien after making it so he'd have amnesia and wouldn't remember.

The records regarding it's production were easy to find... they were in the last place I looked and I'd be happy to post them but they are written in invisable ink and it doesnt' copy well.

The original owmer died but his family had his some of his ashes embedded in a glass tone bar now part of the D11. This makes it uber-original and super cool.

I considered posting picture but I am afraid that it would destroy the market and greatly devalue the more mundane example offered above.

Under the guitar... which I can see but you can't see... are numerous parts marked made in Japan. Some say these ar unoriginal ... but thats pure rubbish. I have copies of Bigsbys passport and vias to prove that he actually went to Japan, made the parts himself and correctly marked them made in Japan.

I fully realize that I may be banned for life from the Forum... but I just couldn't resist.

Thanks for starting my day off with a laugh, Tom.

Herb Steiner · Post by **Herb Steiner** » 23 Jul 2014 11:02 am

... and the family of the original owner has one in the Southeast - but it is the family of the original owner -- not the original owner. That makes Ray's quad even cooler.

Whoa! Does that mean that Ray's quad actually loses value when he departs?!

Ray! Better part with that sucker while the value is at its peak... for the sake of the family!!

Cartwright Thompson · Post by **Cartwright Thompson** » 23 Jul 2014 12:47 pm

Tom, Take the 26 grand!!

Tom Margulies · Post by **Tom Margulies** » 23 Jul 2014 1:21 pm

I may have had my facts just slightly confused... we are talking about a Bixby, right?

If I get the 26 grand I'll donate the full amt to the forum.

Lee Cecil · Post by **Lee Cecil** » 23 Jul 2014 1:25 pm

This thread reminds me of that scene from Spinal Tap. "Don't touch. Don't even point."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-NgeXl ... -NgeXl-PPA

Jim Wilmoth · Post by **Jim Wilmoth** » 23 Jul 2014 1:35 pm

Chris Lucker wrote:... that photos are not available for a certain Bigsby will actually enhance its value. That is not unusual for collector pieces. ...

What other collector pieces would follow this sellers logic?

Tom Quinn · Post by **Tom Quinn** » 25 Jul 2014 11:33 am

Yuppie stuff...

Brian Henry · Post by **Brian Henry** » 26 Jul 2014 12:22 am

Just so we know what we are talking about, here are two pictures

Chris Lucker · Post by **Chris Lucker** » 28 Jul 2014 12:19 pm

Jim Wilmoth wrote:
Chris Lucker wrote:... that photos are not available for a certain Bigsby will actually enhance its value. That is not unusual for collector pieces. ...
What other collector pieces would follow this sellers logic?

Art. Cars. Private homes of certain architects.

Chris Lucker · Post by **Chris Lucker** » 28 Jul 2014 12:22 pm

Bob Tucker was my first Bigsby. Without the tuning keys and production records to indicate January, you could not tell by the serial number if it was January or November 1950 -- 11550

Ray Montee · Post by **Ray Montee** » 29 Jul 2014 8:07 am

I've instructed my spouse, #7, to NOT SELL this guitar unless she gets the full asking price of more than $46,000. How 'bout that?

And by the way, altho' I was hospitalized for a week a couple months back, I have no intention of checking out in the foreseeable future.

Sally will post it on the SGF when I go.

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 29 Jul 2014 8:23 am

Spouse #7? You have had quite a busy life, Sir!

Ray Montee · Post by **Ray Montee** » 29 Jul 2014 8:31 am

Yes, #7.

After all, I've spent most of my life wanting to become a 'real' Grand Ole Opry musician and ended up with limited careers as a 'private detective', long-haul truck driver, and commercial pilot.

What more could you expect of me with that kind of a specialized background? At least I ended up with some dozen or more Ric's, a Trot-Mor and a quad BIGSBY.

I guess, I might have been addicted? It's possible, I guess, that I found it difficult to make up my mind. I even administered the ELBOE TEST before I married them but it didn't really prove beneficial.

Herb Steiner · Post by **Herb Steiner** » 29 Jul 2014 8:35 am

Jim Cohen wrote:Spouse #7? You have had quite a busy life, Sir!

And the winner of the Tommy Manville* trophy goes to... the envelope, please... and the winner is...

*for those amongst us younger than 65, Tommy Manville was a legendary playboy ne'er-do-well son of an industrialist who spent his family fortune marrying hot babes... 13 in all, some more than once... well into his 70s.

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 29 Jul 2014 9:37 am

Ray Montee wrote: I even administered the ELBOE TEST before I married them but it didn't really prove beneficial.

Would you care to detail for us what "the Elboe test" might be, for benefit of those of us who are still on our first or second spouses and might find it of future utility? Really, you don't want to leave this part up to our fertile imaginations...

Brian Henry · Post by **Brian Henry** » 29 Jul 2014 10:04 am

Okay relax Jim- here it is

elbow test
An interviewing technique to screen female candidates. The applicant interlaces fingers behind her neck and walks toward the wall. Should her elbows be the first appendages to touch the wall, the applicant is no longer considered for employment.
"
"Let's to the elbow test. First, lock your fingers behind your neck. Now point your elbows forward and walk toward that wall."
(elbows touch wall before breasts) Next.......

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 29 Jul 2014 10:09 am

What if she breaks her nose...?

Liz Williams · Post by **Liz Williams** » 29 Jul 2014 1:29 pm

The elboe test is equally applicable to screening suitable men. Very few pass.

Ahem.

Perhaps we can get back to talking about steel guitars?

The Steel Guitar Forum

Several Bigsbys for sale - 1,2,3,4 necks

Several Bigsbys for sale - 1,2,3,4 necks

You can't even look at these guitars.

Well now Herb...............

Herb................

Re: Herb................