Vintage Gibson Guitars

Are you a collector of vintage Gibson Guitars, fan of Paul McCartney, or the Beatles?  Well then, you might enjoy reading this bit of vintage Gibson Guitars trivia.  Back on November 20, 2007, Gibson Guitartown London held an auction for 62 unique hand painted and signed Gibson guitars, including a 10 foot Gibson Les Paul replica guitar signed by Paul McCartney. 

The winning bid came in at 60,000 GBP - about $123,000 and about a quarter of the total auction revenue.  The guitar, called the, “And The Crowd Goes Wild” is decorated with colorful figures of children waving their arms in the air.  The body of the giant fiberglass guitar is red, with a black arm – also adorned with child figurines, designed by artist Rosie Brooks.  The giant Gibson was on public display from June – September 2007, at More London on London's South Bank by City Hall and attracted over 2.5 million visitors.

Gibson released the names of some of the other well-known UK musicians who signed some of the other auctioned regular sized Gibson SG guitars for the charity event.  The participants included Ronnie Wood, Paul Weller, Noel Gallagher, Rod Stewart, Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, Gary Moore, Mark Knopfler, Slash, Brian May, Ozzy Osbourne, Kaiser Chiefs, New Order, Kasabian, KT Tunstall, Depeche Mode, James Blunt, and Roger Waters.  However, if you are looking to add this collector’s piece to your own – stop right there – it won’t be available on EBay anytime soon.  Once the bidding ended and a winner was determined, he or she was obligated to donate the giant guitar to the Great Ormond Street Hospital.  Happily, though, the winning bidder, Ari Goldberger, was awarded a special Gibson Les Paul signed by McCartney at the event.  An engraved plaque bearing Goldberger’s name was placed beside the 10 foot guitar now permanently a figure in Vintage Gibson Guitar history.  The ceremony took place on December 7, 2007 as part of a Christmas fundraiser.  

The event, organized by Gibson Guitartown London, raised money for three children’s charities - Nordoff- Robbins Music Therapy, The Prince’s Trust, and Teenage Cancer Trust.

On a commercial note, coinciding with the London auction event, Starbucks and Gibson Guitars held a national sweepstakes for a chance to win a one-of-a-kind, hand-painted Limited Edition Paul McCartney Epiphone 1964 Texan, which is a replica of the guitar that McCartney used to record “Yesterday,” as well as perform the song on The Ed Sullivan Show.  McCartney consulted with Epiphone in order to ensure the Vintage Gibson Guitar’s historical accuracy.  In addition to the grand prize hand-painted guitar, McCartney also signed three other Epiphone Texans.  The grand-prize winner, Rebecca Voss, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, exclaimed after being notified of her good fortune, “I couldn't be more excited to own this guitar with Paul's signature.  I am a lifelong fan and this means so much to me.  Thank you so much, and thanks to Starbucks and Epiphone Guitars!”  For the curious, Paul still owns and plays his vintage Gibson Guitar - Epiphone 1964 Texan.

"Vintage Gibson Guitars" was written by Brenne Meirowitz.