Tuning in to the value of vintage guitars

Ed McDonald might have the world’s coolest job — and he got it, in part, because he listened to his mother.

For nearly 40 years, the North York native has helped rock stars find great guitars. There’s hard work and high pressure in tracking down and appraising vintage instruments for demanding people, but fringe benefits include a chance to play the axes himself and invitations to jam occasionally with heroes of his youth.

But these days, McDonald’s Tundra Music/Vintage Guitars client list increasingly includes investors and collectors — businesses such as the Hard Rock Cafés and executives he can’t name.

“There’s doctors, lawyers and Indian chiefs, too,” he says. “Vintage guitars have been appreciating for about 50 years. The market has really matured.

“It started in the late 1950s, with loyal country and bluegrass people seeking acoustic instruments,” McDonald says. “They wanted D18s and D28s, pre-war Martins considered the working man’s guitars.”

The electric phase was triggered a few years later in England by an explosion of interest in American blues music and by Beatlemania.

The former launched a quest for the older Gibson and Fender models, preferred by Freddie King, B.B. King, Mike Bloomfield, Buddy Guy and others. Beatlemania spurred corporate takeovers of Fender, Gibson and Gretsch, which led to quality issues and soon put the quest for older guitars into overdrive.

Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Jimi Hendrix and others were popularizing Les Pauls and ES335s by Gibson, and Telecasters and Stratocasters by Fender. Legions of wannabe rockers joined the chase. The Les Paul, a commercial flop that was discontinued in 1960, would never again be a $100 dust-gatherer in used music stores.

Meanwhile, in Toronto, a teenaged McDonald had “bad pangs for a good guitar.” But his mother was on her own and money was tight.

“She said, ‘Ask lots of questions, really look around.’ It seemed to take ages. Then she was telling me, ‘You may have found one you like, but keep looking. You’ll find a better price.’ “

Finally, for $200 at Sparling Maurice Music on Wilson Ave., he got the guitar that changed his life — a 1957 Fender Stratocaster.

“Unknown to me, it was a real find. Later, when I took it to a repair shop, they were quick to make an offer. Luckily, I didn’t sell.”

McDonald did some studio recordings, but it was his 1957 Strat that was getting all the attention.

“Other musicians and recording engineers kept asking to borrow it. It became such a pain, I got the idea for a business. After I tracked down what was basically a double for my guitar, I got a break when Elton John was in town. I showed it to his guitarist, Davey Johnstone, and one thing led to another.

“Suddenly, lots of artists were giving me a buzz if they were coming through Toronto and wanted an amp or guitar or an effects pedal. It became this quest for rare things and I was a go-to guy for the Stones, The Who, Clapton, lots of them.”

Decades later, the focus remains on the ‘50s Gibsons and pre-1965 Fenders. “Those Les Pauls with the PAF (patent applied for) pickups are the Stradivarius of the guitar world,” McDonald says. “Only 2,200 were made and many were lost or damaged.”

Les Pauls selling for $50,000 in the late 1990s soared with a guitar boom in the first few years of the 21st century, rising tenfold in value. Many guitar people say the market tanked after 2006, along with U.S. real estate and stocks, but McDonald says that’s a myth.

“There are two economies,” he says. “Go to Beverly Hills, man, and you’ll see the rich aren’t feeling the pain. You’ll see the craziest Rolls-Royce Phantoms all over. In San Francisco, you’ll see what look like townhouses selling for $15 million.

“Guitars with flaws have dropped, but the cream of the cream, all-original Les Pauls that fetched $500,000 a few years ago, they’re probably a million today.”

Chris Bennett, another local vintage expert, and Rob Sagar, a veteran Toronto guitar technician, agree with McDonald’s take.

“Four years ago, everything sold; lots of people bought pieces just to get into the market,” says Bennett, who works out of The Twelfth Fret. “Even refinished and altered guitars fetched big bucks. That market has softened.”

McDonald is sometimes asked which is a better investment, vintage guitars or real estate.

“Who knows?” he says. “But I do know guitars are now an international currency. I can fly to Tokyo to meet a buyer with a million-dollar guitar on the seat beside me. I can’t do that with a house.”

As for the ugly Strat, McDonald says he’ll never sell, although he could get $15,000.

“It means too much to me.”

Expert picks

Ed McDonald: Is always looking for 1957-60s Les Pauls. Thinks Gibson Flying Vs are under-priced (there are only 98 in the world). Stay away from reissues. He says the market has died for Les Pauls made before late 1957. “People got greedy.” An all-original early 1960s Telecaster in great shape for $15,000 would be an investment.If you’re using eBay to get a sense of prices, focus on completed deals and ignore asking prices.

Chris Bennett: “Find out what you love to play. If you buy a good guitar and look after it, you can play it as long as you like and you’ll always get all your money back.” Boomers should consider local custom builders who make great acoustics and electrics for $4,000 to $20,000.

Danny Marks: Says 1920s Gibson flat tops are surprisingly undervalued. “They’re playable works of art and it would be a real investment.” Also looking for Gibson L1, a guitar used by blues pioneer Robert Johnson. Vintage guitars are quoted in U.S. dollars, so the strong loonie helps.

Rob Sagar: Would never buy a guitar solely as an investment. Once had a chance to buy a vintage Gretsch at a good price but didn’t because it felt clunky. “Custom makers might be making guitars that are as good as the 1955-65 Fenders and Gibsons, but nobody has made anything better. Late ‘50s Les Pauls are still the Holy Grail.”