January 22, 2004
"Rock Legends" Auction to Be Held Feburary 26, 2004
by Tom Watson
The Cooper Owen auction house will hold its next Rock Legends auction on February 26, 2004, through the eBay Live Auctions service. The previously scheduled auction, Instruments of Desire, has been incorporated into the February 26th Rock Legends auction.
Guitars to be offered in the auction of possible interest to collectors include: an ESP guitar signed by former KISS lead guitarist, Bruce Kulick (who is currently playing with Grand Funk Railroad); a Gibson Epiphone EB3 Bass owned and played by Trevor Bolder while a member of The Spiders From Mars (Bolder can be seen playing the instrument in the 1983 film, Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars); a 1961 Gretsch 6120 Chet Atkins model signed by Scotty Moore; a Limited Edition Sunburst Gibson J200 (42/100); and Link Wray's Gibson SG, serial number 67, as well as his "Screaming Red Guitar".
Also to be offered in the auction, and of special interest to Stratocaster collectors, is the only known complete set of all six American Standard 1996 50th Anniversary Limited Edition Fender guitars. For more information about this set of anniversary guitars, see the October 21, 2003, News Desk article, “Interesting Collection”.
The image below showing all six of the 1996 50th Fender Anniversary guitars is from a 1996 Fender press release.
Speaking of Cooper Owen
In the News Desk article, “Instruments of Desire”, I told the story of my unsuccessful attempt to win the Fender Custom Shop Hendrix Clone Stratocaster, the only one of four made that was offered for sale to the public, in a Cooper Owen auction. To make a long story short, I was bidding through eBay Live on behalf of a collector, was authorized to bid up to an amount in excess of $30,000 USD, but lost my Internet connection in the last minutes of the auction, and the guitar went to a floor bidder for less than $11,000 USD (the currency conversions below, based on the exchange rate as of January 22, 2004, reflect a higher price due to the subsequent weakening of the dollar since last year's auction).
The collector and I contacted Cooper Owen immediately after the auction and asked them to see if the winning bidder would be willing to sell the Hendrix Clone to the collector (for substantially more than the final auction price). According to Cooper Owen, the winning bidder declined our offer because he had bought the guitar as a present for his son.
Several weeks ago I received an email from the winning bidder, David H, who had seen the News Desk article. His email sets forth his side of the auction story, and is presented below with his permission.
From David H:
Hi
I came across your article last night, and as the owner of the Woodstock Clone Strat I'd just like to correct an impression you may have been left with by Cooper Owen. As much as I dearly love my son, he's 13 years old and learning to play on a perfectly nice and playable Epiphone Les Paul. I think I may have tried to convey to Cooper Owen that I wasn't willing to sell by saying it would stay in the family; but I'm not some over-moneyed twit who lavishes expensive presents on his family. (Of course I have ambitions to be that over-moneyed twit, but that's some way off yet.) By some fluke, I heard at the last moment that Cooper Owen were auctioning the guitar. I decided to go along and bid up to a very definite ceiling, which I pretty much knew wasn't going to be anywhere near enough. The weather that night was awful, and I almost decided not to drag myself off to CO's rather shabby basement in Denmark Street. But for some reason, I did. I'd viewed the guitar the day before, and instantly fell in love with it. I'd seen Hendrix perform at the Isle of Wight festival; and as a 15 year old, having crept in through the shattered fencing of what was then, by definition, a "free" festival, I couldn't quite believe what I saw and heard. Hendrix seemed simply amazing. Fast-forward more than 30 years, and I still think the same. So I sat in the corner of the auction room, waiting for the inevitable disappointment. As you say, the bidding opened briskly, and I was actually too nervous to place any sort of bid until the £5,500 [approximately $10,000 USD] mark. Soon after this - I think it was at £6,000 [approximately $11,000 USD] - it was between you and me. My limit was £6,500 [approximately $12,000 USD]. But since that bid was yours, I decided to go one higher and then stop. But then nothing happened - there was no counter bid. After what seemed like for ever, but probably wasn't, the auctioneer brought his hammer down, and the Strat was mine for £6,600 [approximately $12,162 USD]. (So I could also correct another point - your collector could have had the guitar for £6,700 [approximately $12,350 USD], not $15,000.) Of course, I knew I had a bargain; there was a guitar shop above Cooper Owen which had one of the Monterey Strats for sale at only £100 [approximately $184 USD] less - and Fender made more than two hundred of them, based on a good deal of guesswork rather than a forensic knowledge of the original. But that wasn't really the point. In fact, I was so elated I wanted to scream, but was consciously clamping down any expression of emotion. So much so that when my wife walked into the auction room she said I looked like I'd seen a terrible accident. When I went to collect the guitar the following morning, I was told about your offer, and there have been a few others since. I don't really know what the guitar is worth - but it seems from what I've heard that even at $30,000 your collector could have turned a profit. After consulting with Charlie Chandler, who you may have come across, I had the guitar insured for £25,000 [approximately $46,000 USD] - although how you replace a guitar which is irreplaceable, I have no idea. While Charlie was evaluating it, I asked him what the entry under "serial number" meant on the Certificate of Authenticity. I thought it read: 10 F 4. No, he said: that's #1 of 4. I've since discovered that Janie Hendrix has #2. Not sure about the other two but may, for professional reasons, find out shortly. I suppose, to borrow your phrase, it was just meant to be. The Strat is now a deeply loved member of the family (and is, incidentally, a very fine instrument, which gets used for a very small amount of recording and nothing else). As you can probably tell, I'm not a collector or (heaven forbid) a dealer: I'm much worse - an enthusiast. I'm sorry if I ruined your and your client's day. I suppose it was inevitable that a guitar like this would start accumulating strange stories as soon as it left the factory. (There are already a few other tales, apparently . . .) Best regards David |
Many thanks to David H for sharing his side of the story. The whereabouts of the other three Hendrix Clones are: one was given to the Hendrix family; one is in the possession of the Experience Music Project (EMP); and the fourth was kept by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation.
