Fried okra
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2013
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The Landfill V Story
As most vintage guitar geeks can attest to. Who wouldn't like to own an original late 1950's Flying V? On Thursday January 16 at 2:16 pm, I received a photo from my friend Rick at Garrett Park Guitars. The photo was of the lower corner of a Flying V, showing no more than a broken white jack plate. You can imagine, my curiosity was pricked. Minutes later, Jon from Garrett Park sent a photo of himself holding what appeared to be a well “loved” 1958/59 Flying V. At the moment I was at the hospital tending to my wife, she had just undergone a bi-lateral mastectomy. So I let Rick know what was going on with my wife and that I would get right back with him, he text back “ok, prayers.” With everything going on and my wife being my top priority, I completely forgot about the two photos of the Flying V that Rick and Jon had sent. Flash forward to January 24 at 10:28 am, my friend Terry Foster messaged me checking on my wife and mentioned to me the Flying V. And that’s when I remembered Rick and I never spoke about the photos he had sent me over a week before. So, an hour later Rick and I was in heavy discussion about this 1959 Flying V He had. Rick being a friend, let me soak in what was discussed. Soon as I got off the phone, I was back on the phone with my panel of expert vintage guitar nerds, Charlie Daughtry, Nick Conte, Drew Winn, Joe Bonamassa, Don Lee, Mat Koehler, Rick Hogue, Terry Foster, Colin Cripps, Mike Hickey and whoever else I could trust to shoot me straight. Joe Even took time out while at Abby Road Studios to help me out. So, after a few of them (you know who you are) helped convince me, that I really do need a 1959 Flying V in the Lounge. I was back on the phone with Rick working out details and a final date for the balance on the V. Rick being the good friend he is, made it so easy and smooth. Immediately after, I called my good friend Drew Winn at Guitar House of Tulsa and told him the deal. Within a couple of days, Drew was at my home loading up Guitars to sell for me. Sometimes you just have to thin the bottom 10% of firewood. LOL
I would love to go into more details about how it came to be that I was offered the V. But to sum it up, on January 12, Rick Hogue from Garrett Park Guitars was in San Francisco at the Bay Area guitar show on a buying trip. That morning he noticed a friends Facebook post about a 1959 Gibson Flying V. In haste to go to the show Rick wrote it off, as he assumed another had already purchased it. Little did he know that his friend Colin Cripps had been been contacted by his friend Don Lee about the same positing & further Colin had been in contact with the V owner from Virginia about buying the guitar. Many buyers had been in contact with the owner and he was concerned about having such a valuable instrument in his house after making the post public on Facebook, and after realizing it's great value. Rick flew home from San Francisco the next morning and made arrangements to drive to Virginia to inspect the guitar and make the purchase. Rick was pleasantly surprised when he met the very nice owner and his wife. Rick asked if he knew the history of the guitar. The owner said that he had purchased the guitar from, as he described, a picker who knew that he also played. After inspecting it and finding it to be original, Rick agreed and left with the guitar. Due to the short notice, Rick's bank was not able to get all the money together but fortunately, the seller agreed to meet later when Rick was able to get the rest of the money. On the way out the door, Rick asked what he would do with the money from the sale of the V & the owners wife quickly replied that they intended to pay off their mortgage. As agreed, Rick came back to pay the balance. While he was with the seller, he once again asked the origin of the guitar and was told that the "picker" had actually found this 1959 Gibson Flying V, one of the holy grails of electric guitars at a landfill. Rick went on to Lynchburg, Virginia where the guitar was reported to have come from & once there, he made inquiries to find any details of the original owner and in hopes of locating the case. A friend who works at Lynchburg Music told him that for years he had heard that there was an old black man who played a Flying V in a local church. The shop owner thought it was just an urban legend though.
Rick said he has been buying and selling guitars for the majority of his life and indeed since 1981 has bought and sold guitars for his livelihood. He said this V is the Pinnacle of his career and one of the most outstanding stories of guitar collecting that he has ever been a part of.
As most vintage guitar geeks can attest to. Who wouldn't like to own an original late 1950's Flying V? On Thursday January 16 at 2:16 pm, I received a photo from my friend Rick at Garrett Park Guitars. The photo was of the lower corner of a Flying V, showing no more than a broken white jack plate. You can imagine, my curiosity was pricked. Minutes later, Jon from Garrett Park sent a photo of himself holding what appeared to be a well “loved” 1958/59 Flying V. At the moment I was at the hospital tending to my wife, she had just undergone a bi-lateral mastectomy. So I let Rick know what was going on with my wife and that I would get right back with him, he text back “ok, prayers.” With everything going on and my wife being my top priority, I completely forgot about the two photos of the Flying V that Rick and Jon had sent. Flash forward to January 24 at 10:28 am, my friend Terry Foster messaged me checking on my wife and mentioned to me the Flying V. And that’s when I remembered Rick and I never spoke about the photos he had sent me over a week before. So, an hour later Rick and I was in heavy discussion about this 1959 Flying V He had. Rick being a friend, let me soak in what was discussed. Soon as I got off the phone, I was back on the phone with my panel of expert vintage guitar nerds, Charlie Daughtry, Nick Conte, Drew Winn, Joe Bonamassa, Don Lee, Mat Koehler, Rick Hogue, Terry Foster, Colin Cripps, Mike Hickey and whoever else I could trust to shoot me straight. Joe Even took time out while at Abby Road Studios to help me out. So, after a few of them (you know who you are) helped convince me, that I really do need a 1959 Flying V in the Lounge. I was back on the phone with Rick working out details and a final date for the balance on the V. Rick being the good friend he is, made it so easy and smooth. Immediately after, I called my good friend Drew Winn at Guitar House of Tulsa and told him the deal. Within a couple of days, Drew was at my home loading up Guitars to sell for me. Sometimes you just have to thin the bottom 10% of firewood. LOL
I would love to go into more details about how it came to be that I was offered the V. But to sum it up, on January 12, Rick Hogue from Garrett Park Guitars was in San Francisco at the Bay Area guitar show on a buying trip. That morning he noticed a friends Facebook post about a 1959 Gibson Flying V. In haste to go to the show Rick wrote it off, as he assumed another had already purchased it. Little did he know that his friend Colin Cripps had been been contacted by his friend Don Lee about the same positing & further Colin had been in contact with the V owner from Virginia about buying the guitar. Many buyers had been in contact with the owner and he was concerned about having such a valuable instrument in his house after making the post public on Facebook, and after realizing it's great value. Rick flew home from San Francisco the next morning and made arrangements to drive to Virginia to inspect the guitar and make the purchase. Rick was pleasantly surprised when he met the very nice owner and his wife. Rick asked if he knew the history of the guitar. The owner said that he had purchased the guitar from, as he described, a picker who knew that he also played. After inspecting it and finding it to be original, Rick agreed and left with the guitar. Due to the short notice, Rick's bank was not able to get all the money together but fortunately, the seller agreed to meet later when Rick was able to get the rest of the money. On the way out the door, Rick asked what he would do with the money from the sale of the V & the owners wife quickly replied that they intended to pay off their mortgage. As agreed, Rick came back to pay the balance. While he was with the seller, he once again asked the origin of the guitar and was told that the "picker" had actually found this 1959 Gibson Flying V, one of the holy grails of electric guitars at a landfill. Rick went on to Lynchburg, Virginia where the guitar was reported to have come from & once there, he made inquiries to find any details of the original owner and in hopes of locating the case. A friend who works at Lynchburg Music told him that for years he had heard that there was an old black man who played a Flying V in a local church. The shop owner thought it was just an urban legend though.
Rick said he has been buying and selling guitars for the majority of his life and indeed since 1981 has bought and sold guitars for his livelihood. He said this V is the Pinnacle of his career and one of the most outstanding stories of guitar collecting that he has ever been a part of.
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) ) great story on a beautiful guitar !!!
