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$704k for Brian Jones's '68 Gold Top

sglp63

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Joined
Jun 29, 2007
Messages
529
Brian Jones's '68 Gold Top just fetched $704k at Julien's Auctions Bill Wyman property auction. That should presumably place it in the top 3 for known Les Paul sale prices...
 

mrbeasty

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Dec 19, 2002
Messages
114
Brian Jones's '68 Gold Top just fetched $704k at Julien's Auctions Bill Wyman property auction. That should presumably place it in the top 3 for known Les Paul sale prices...

Whoa. Well it had history and a well documented provenance ... now imagine that Keith owns over 1,000 of these.
 

El Gringo

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Joined
Apr 8, 2015
Messages
5,657
Whoa. Well it had history and a well documented provenance ... now imagine that Keith owns over 1,000 of these.

I imagine a die hard Stones fan purchased this guitar . Technically the instruments in the Stones warehouse belong to the band and the boss of the instruments is Keith himself and then probably Mick second and Ronnie gets what the other 2 pass on , but it is pretty common for them to swap each others instruments or they just take them for extended periods of use . Keith just sends Pierre his tech to fetch an instrument or 2 from this massive depository of equipment going back to the early 60s . Whenever Ronnie would use a Reverse Sunburst Gibson Firebird V11 fans would think it was one of Brian Jones early-mid 60's Firebirds ( last time I believe I seen him using it was during the Licks tour in 2002-2003 ) but then others would say no , so go figure .
 

Aloha_Ark

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Joined
Apr 2, 2020
Messages
154
Remarkably clean and unmolested guitar from that era. Serial number 505542 with dotted i logo. Need Moonweasel to check this out, since the first series where this fits is supposed to have a crown headstock overlay, not the Les Paul Model lettering.

I wonder how much it weighs?

365192_0.jpg
 
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fernieite

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Joined
Jan 3, 2010
Messages
609
Man, that's insane moolah for a 68 gold top! :oops:

Btw, @moonweasel hasn't been here since Oct 18, 2018, so I wouldn't hold my breath on a response. I hope he's ok....
 
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rockabilly69

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Joined
Jul 29, 2001
Messages
2,872
I imagine a die hard Stones fan purchased this guitar . Technically the instruments in the Stones warehouse belong to the band and the boss of the instruments is Keith himself and then probably Mick second and Ronnie gets what the other 2 pass on , but it is pretty common for them to swap each others instruments or they just take them for extended periods of use . Keith just sends Pierre his tech to fetch an instrument or 2 from this massive depository of equipment going back to the early 60s . Whenever Ronnie would use a Reverse Sunburst Gibson Firebird V11 fans would think it was one of Brian Jones early-mid 60's Firebirds ( last time I believe I seen him using it was during the Licks tour in 2002-2003 ) but then others would say no , so go figure .
Yeah but Bill Wyman has his own little warehouse of gear that he owns outright.
 

somebodyelseuk

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Joined
Jun 10, 2020
Messages
454
Man, that's insane moolah for a 68 gold top! :oops:

Btw, @moonweasel hasn't been here since Oct 18, 2018, so I wouldn't hold my breath on a response. I hope he's ok..
'You're' not paying for a 68 GT. You're paying for an ex-Stones owned guitar.
Gilmour's Black Strat was a POS CBS Partsocaster - worth about £200, IF he hadn't played the original guitar on DSOTM.
At the point in time Hendrix's white Strat sold for mega money, an unasociated model would have maybe sold for £500.
 

AA00475Bassman

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Apr 26, 2016
Messages
3,769
When it's celebrity owned of this caliber whats too little what's to much ? Celebrity owned is cool but would not pay a penny for it .

A store I do a fair amount of business with had a very clean as I've seen 68 lingering on the wall for over a year at $20000.00 .

The guitar sold at asking price a couple months back , I valued it at $ 2500,00 the same as posted guitar value . Buy a historic I would !
 

lhric

Member
Joined
Aug 3, 2007
Messages
197
When it's celebrity owned of this caliber whats too little what's to much ? Celebrity owned is cool but would not pay a penny for it .

A store I do a fair amount of business with had a very clean as I've seen 68 lingering on the wall for over a year at $20000.00 .

The guitar sold at asking price a couple months back , I valued it at $ 2500,00 the same as posted guitar value . Buy a historic I would !
What store was that at with the 1968 Goldtop for 20k if I may ask? Ive seen a couple on the internet for close to that price.
 

lhric

Member
Joined
Aug 3, 2007
Messages
197
Remarkably clean and unmolested guitar from that era. Serial number 505542 with dotted i logo. Need Moonweasel to check this out, since the first series where this fits is supposed to have a crown headstock overlay, not the Les Paul Model lettering.

I wonder how much it weighs?

365192_0.jpg
I'm thinking that by the time the factory got to the 505XXX serial number range they had used up a majority of the pre-fabricated necks with the crown inlay on the headstock face. I've seen several 505XXX/506XXX serial numbered guitars and they all seemed to have the Les Paul silkscreen. Plus also from what I read elsewhere or on this forum that quite a few of the crown inlayed guitars were shipped over to Europe. So they are rarely seen here in the US.
 

axehandler

Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2008
Messages
36
I'm thinking that by the time the factory got to the 505XXX serial number range they had used up a majority of the pre-fabricated necks with the crown inlay on the headstock face. I've seen several 505XXX/506XXX serial numbered guitars and they all seemed to have the Les Paul silkscreen. Plus also from what I read elsewhere or on this forum that quite a few of the crown inlayed guitars were shipped over to Europe. So they are rarely seen here in the US.
My 68 has a crown inlay & its 505xxx.
 

Big Al

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Joined
Apr 24, 2002
Messages
14,537
Man, that's insane moolah for a 68 gold top! :oops:

Btw, @moonweasel hasn't been here since Oct 18, 2018, so I wouldn't hold my breath on a response. I hope he's ok....
They weren't buying a guitar, you understand that right? It could have been his boots or sheets or his flippin favorite hair brush.
 

Wilko

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Mar 11, 2002
Messages
20,854
"I valued it at $ 2500,00"

'68's haven't been that cheap in over 20 years.
 

Wilko

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Mar 11, 2002
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as a side, stones related:
This les Paul pictured is a crown inlay 1968 with a veneer top!
81amZkrI43L._SL1500_.jpg
 

IMMUSICRULZ

Well-known member
Joined
May 25, 2021
Messages
616
Brian Jones is a good guitarist, and I can't help but wonder if some guitar technician or alternative rock musician owns that Goldtop.
After all, who wouldn't want to own a Stones guitar? That's priceless!
Then again, Marc Bolan's Gibson Firebird has probably sold more.
 
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