1959 Gibson ES-355 Mono Guitar
GUEST: This guitar was purchased by my father, I believe, in the year 1962. My dad was a Marine, and when he got out of the Marines, married my mom and moved to Minneapolis area and decided he wanted to learn how to play guitar. So he went to the Minneapolis either "Star" or "Tribune" and looked in the, uh, ads,
the...
APPRAISER: The classified.
GUEST: In the classified ads.
APPRAISER: Right.
GUEST: And he called, uh, the woman who was selling it, and she said, "Well, I bought it for my son, and he doesn't play it, and so I'm selling it." And he asked her, "How much do you want for it?" And she said, "Well, $300 for the amplifier, the guitar comes with a case, and, uh, the guitar." And he thought that was a good enough bargain back in 1962...
APPRAISER: Yeah.
GUEST: ...to purchase it, and, uh... That was a good deal.
APPRAISER: This is a ES355. The 335 came out in '58. In '59, this was, model was introduced. This particular one is mono. Usually, these were stereo. The mono's
a little more desirable. The Bigsby is factory. The cherry in, from this era is unlike anything they ever did. It's sort of a watermelon, it's just beautiful.
GUEST: Yeah. Yeah, oh, I love the color.
APPRAISER: And they never really did that again, 'cause it is a stain. This is late enough era that these pickups are patent applied for, or P.A.Fs., as they're known. Sort of the Holy Grail of guitar pickups. There's a certain era, late '59, part of '60, where Gibson ordered the wrong color, or somehow they got shipped the wrong color. They're white coils, so... I'm not going to take it apart. We don't have the ability to do that here. But if those are double-white P.A.Fs....
GUEST: Wow.
APPRAISER:...they're worth considerably more.
GUEST: Really?
APPRAISER: It adds a lot of value to the guitar. As much as maybe ten, ten grand, more.
GUEST: Wow.
APPRAISER: Part of the thing that makes this package, so to speak, is the, the original case, and unusually, the original hang tag accompanies it, still. And a lot of times, those things disappeared. Makes it more collectible because it has all the juju that came with it.
GUEST: My father taught hims, himself how to play guitar.
APPRAISER: Right.
GUEST: He played it his whole life, I've played it off and on. My brother played it quite a bit, 'cause he lived closer. The incredible fun it's created for us...
APPRAISER: I'll bet.
GUEST: ...I, I can't tell you.
APPRAISER: I bet. Well, do you want to know what, probably, market value is on this at this current time?
GUEST: Sure.
APPRAISER: Is roughly around $45,000.
GUEST: My father would be so incredibly pleased to find that out.
APPRAISER: And... And that's if it has the double whites, which, I'm assuming it probably does.
GUEST: Oh, my gosh. That's, that's crazy. My, my dad would be so proud to know that.
APPRAISER: If these are not double-white P.A.Fs., it's going to back it down a little bit. Somewhere between $6,000 and $10,000.
$35,000 Retail
$60,000 Insurance
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Understanding Our Appraisals
Executive producer Marsha Bemko shares her tips for getting the most out of ANTIQUES ROADSHOW.
Value can change: The value of an item is dependent upon many things, including the condition of the object itself, trends in the market for that kind of object, and the location where the item will be sold. These are just some of the reasons why the answer to the question "What's it worth?" is so often "It depends."
Note the date: Take note of the date the appraisal was recorded. This information appears in the upper left corner of the page, with the label "Appraised On." Values change over time according to market forces, so the current value of the item could be higher, lower, or the same as when our expert first appraised it.
Context is key: Listen carefully. Most of our experts will give appraisal values in context. For example, you'll often hear them say what an item is worth "at auction," or "retail," or "for insurance purposes" (replacement value). Retail prices are different from wholesale prices. Often an auctioneer will talk about what she knows best: the auction market. A shop owner will usually talk about what he knows best: the retail price he'd place on the object in his shop. And though there are no hard and fast rules, an object's auction price can often be half its retail value; yet for other objects, an auction price could be higher than retail. As a rule, however, retail and insurance/replacement values are about the same.
Verbal approximations: The values given by the experts on ANTIQUES ROADSHOW are considered "verbal approximations of value." Technically, an "appraisal" is a legal document, generally for insurance purposes, written by a qualified expert and paid for by the owner of the item. An appraisal usually involves an extensive amount of research to establish authenticity, provenance, composition, method of construction, and other important attributes of a particular object.
Opinion of value: As with all appraisals, the verbal approximations of value given at ROADSHOW events are our experts' opinions formed from their knowledge of antiques and collectibles, market trends, and other factors. Although our valuations are based on research and experience, opinions can, and sometimes do, vary among experts.
Appraiser affiliations: Finally, the affiliation of the appraiser may have changed since the appraisal was recorded. To see current contact information for an appraiser in the ROADSHOW Archive, click on the link below the appraiser's picture. Our Appraiser Index also contains a complete list of active ROADSHOW appraisers and their contact details and biographies.
