A Gibson Chet Atkins Super 4000 on Ebay

[smokymtguitar09]

If Chet's original Gretsch carved, solid top 6120 ever surfaces I would expect it would be in that price range or more. It most likely would be considered a museum piece as well. The original 6120 exists somewhere in a private collection.

[Norm]

I can't remember what the carved top 6120 went for when Jimmy Atkins auctioned it but I seem to have 450 K in my mind. Whatever it was I was stunned how cheaply the bidder got it for.

[Vidar Lund]

"Chet's original Gretsch carved, solid top 6120 .....". Norm, wasn´t that one discussed over on Gretschpages a while back?

[albertgen]

I would loved to have gotten one of those Gibson L10's they made for Chet a while back. I think they quit making them, but I can see why Chet liked them so much, Chet said they had great tone for his style. Al

[David Elliott]

I would say that Chet's D'Angelico would be worth $29,000.

Hi Eddie,

Yes, I understand what you're saying, but I think you are talking about something's historical value, and I don't personally believe a "dollar value" can (or should) be assigned to an object of that nature. That is exactly why we have foreign investors paying millions of dollars (as an example) for paintings by Vincent van Gogh, Leonardo Da Vinci, violins made by Antonio Stradivari, etc. not because they are “better” than another similar item, but simply because of their association with a famous person. Thus we have autograph collectors, clothing collectors, you name it, and somebody collects it! And that is precisely why the term "whatever the market will bear" is used! In my way of thinking, there are some things that simply because of their historical significance, should never be put up for sale, but this particular guitar is (as far as any of us knows), not one of those things, so no matter how great of an instrument it might be, it couldn't be "worth" $29,000!

Realistically, (and not denying the skills of John D’Angelico), I would doubt very seriously that the guitar he made for Chet was built with anything close to the care and precision with which the Gibson Super 4000 under discussion was built! Even Chet said (in the book MAMG), that Gibson went “all out”, and “didn’t spare anything”, when they made these guitars!

David

[Norm]

"Chet's original Gretsch carved, solid top 6120 .....". Norm, wasn´t that one discussed over on Gretschpages a while back?

Vidar, that guitar gets topical every once in a while because it was so innovative and marvelous sounding for its time

[Norm]

From my archive.... Pretty much most of what Paul had to say about the guitar's creation:

Gibson’s Jim Hutchins and myself designed the Gibson 4000. Gibson wanted the most expensive guitar they sold to be a Chet model. Hutch and I tried to do something different.
If you had the 4000 and the Super 400 side by side, you would see a lot of differ-ence. The color is different and the 4000 has wider binding. The pick guard is bigger with no screws in the top. Anyway, they were going to make twenty five of them but I don't know if that is cast in concrete. As for price, Gibson charges what ever the market will bear. A week after it was brought out the price of the carved top guitars doubled
so I think will be mostly doctors and lawyers and people who buy those kind of guitars for investments rather than pickers. Maybe if Chet had got to play it more on TV the 4000 would have been a big seller. I believe he only played it twice on TV before he got sick. I think the 4000 is the best looking guitar Gibson makes.___Paul Yandell cgp

[David Elliott]

I can't remember what the carved top 6120 went for when Jimmy Atkins auctioned it but I seem to have 450 K in my mind. Whatever it was I was stunned how cheaply the bidder got it for.

Norm,
Just for clarification sake, is that number you've quoted as in FOUR HUNDRED and FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS?

[Vidar Lund]

Didn´t Mother Maybelle Carter´s Gibson L5 sell for US$ 500.000?

[smokymtguitar09]

Not trying to be a 'spoil-sport', but I recall Jimmy Atkins got much less than that at auction. To confirm, I just spoke with Jimmy's wife by phone and, although she didn't want to put an exact number, she said "it was more than $39,000 but less than $50,000". That's about what I heard a few years ago. I would say that is pretty cheap, but worth much more now for sure. She told me that Jimmy's cousin recently sent him his father Lowell's Gretsch CG that Chet had given him. Jimmy still has Jerry Reed's 6120 that he bought after Jerry had traded to a music store in Atlanta.