FOR SALE = Mary Ford's 61 LP SG ! ! !

[Norm]

When that model came out I distinctly remember a beautiful album photo of Les and Mary. So I did a google search in images. typed in les paul mary ford and in the very first batch found the photo I remembered.

http://www.hendrixguitars.com/Images/Le ... ryFord.JPG

She is clearly holding a guitar similar to what the pawnshop guitar used to be. Is it that guitar? Who knows. It's like Paul once said of the guitars Chet was photographed with. Maybe they were his, maybe not. Part of the endorsement contracts stipulate that the artists be seen using Product provided by the factory.

In the posting (linked by guitarchuck earlier on) the nephew's wife made claiming they couldn't find a photo of Mary using the guitar

I wonder why they didn't use this one.

Perhaps the missing pickup covers may be the key. I don't think I ever saw a white SG styled Les Paul Custom so I can't say if they initially all came with the white center pickup.

Pawnshop Stars is a TV show and Rick, its main talker, is not really as knowlegable as he makes himself out to be. To the show's credit, they do include segments that show them grossly overestimating the value of certain items and taking a bath.

I think this is one of them.

I still think the nephew made out like a bandit. Smiled all the way to the bank.

[Mike Nye]

Pawnshop Stars is a TV show and Rick, its main talker, is not really as knowlegable as he makes himself out to be.

The 'Old Man,' Rick's dad, often calls him a Dumb-ass -POINT BLANK . . .

[Norm]

Ain't none of those guys particularly bright. Rick has a very engaging personality I'll give him that. The old man never has a good word to say about anybody, Chum is dumber than a bowl of mice and the other guy is so bland I can't even remember his name.

But the combination of characters all contribute to an entertaining show and, like most TV shows, it doesn't have a whole lot to do with reality...none of the "reality shows" do.

[Mike Nye]

But the combination of characters all contribute to an entertaining show and, like most TV shows, it doesn't have a whole lot to do with reality...none of the "reality shows" do.

Yup . . .

The ONLY reality shows I watch are Pawn Stars, American Pickers & American Restorations.

I getta real kick outta that restoration show. He must pay those guys DIRT NOTHIN', as some of the prices he charges barely covers the cost of tear-down and an estimate with what overhead is now days, no less a complete restoration . . .

[BillB]

I recently stumbled onto American Pickers thinking it might be about guitar pickers. At first I was disappointed, but the next thing I knew, I had the DVR set to record episodes. It sure is nice to fast-forward the commercials. Anyway, it's fun seeing the interaction between the characters and the people they visit, and they come across some interesting stuff.

Bill B.

[David Elliott]

This has been kind of an interesting thread about 'Pawn Stars'. Here's a link to wikipedia which has a lot of information about the show and it's cast, and also answers a lot of the questions that I had about it. Our oldest son lives in Las Vegas, and I think the next time I go over there I'll drop by the Pawn Shop and check it out!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pawn_Stars

David

[videovejjie]

Gentleman..it is after all a Television show. It is more then likely scripted, and pre-conceived. Do you ever believe any of the "reality shows"? They are all a bunch of BS. I do watch the program and wondered about most of the things you folks have mentioned, but take it with a grain of salt. Its entertainment. Think Kardashians:)

[Joe Diamond]

There are many twists and turns to this story and maybe it will never be fully understood.

I talked to Jesse at Cowtown Guitars today and here's his comments. He said the guitar was first taken to Pawn Stars by Mary's nephew. None of the principle players were in the shop that day, so he then took it to Jesse at the guitar shop to put it on consignment. After 3 weeks of no sales, Jesse advised the nephew to take it back to Pawns Stars and make sure that he see Rick Harrelson personally. He says Rick bought it on the show for $90,000.

I first heard about this guitar months before it aired on Pawn Stars. I have a friend in Vegas who got a call from Jesse to come to the shop to see this guitar and make sure that he brought his collectable guitar with him so that pictures could be taken of both guitars together. His collectable guitar happens to be a 1968 LP Personal Guitar with a dot neck. There were only 2 of these guitars made as prototypes and supposedly they were stolen from Gibson. My friend's guitar wound up sometime later in a shop in California minus the hardware. He bought it, not knowing what it was, and had it restored.The guitar is slightly larger than a LP Recording Guitar and smaller than the 1969 Personal Guitar that was on the market. Les found out about this guitar and wanted my friend to send it to me and my self and Chuck Burge from Gibson would drive it to Les's house. Chuck, who is now deceased, was a principle designer at Gibson and did a lot of Les's guitar work for him. My friend declined the offer because I advised him against it. Needless to say this guitar is another story.

When my friend got to Cowtown Guitars, Jesse showed him Mary's guitar with the paper work, pictures were taken, and Jesse called Rick at Pawn Stars to come to the shop and see the guitar. From what I was told, the guitar was sold to Rick from Cowtown for $95,000. Months later, the transaction shows up on Pawn Stars with a completely different twist.

Well, there you have it. Different sides of the story, except my friend was right in the shop when this all went down. He said that people are lined up for 4 blocks to get in the pawn shop at any given time. He also said that 50% of the stories are pre-fabbed to protect the innocent. What do you believe?

[Mike Nye]

HEY . . . aren't YOU da guy wid da BLUE GEE-TAR ? ? ?

[Joe Diamond]

Hey Mike! It looks like we joined this group 3 days apart from each other and you can't know a blue guitar from a black one. I used to play LP Recordings. Got my first one from Les in 1978. Switched to black Fenders when I got my first one in 2003 from the guy who witnessed this whole thing at Cowtown. Got 12 of them. Incidentially, the guy who sold Cowtown to Jesse was Bob Seger's guitarist.