If you go
What: International Vintage Guitar Collectors Association sale
Where: Holiday Inn Dayton Mall, 31 Prestige Plaza Drive
When: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. today
Admission: Free
More info: (937) 434-8030
MIAMI TWP., Montgomery County — When Bill Zaebst got the offer he was looking for on his guitars and banjo, it was music to his ears — not to mention a check in his wallet.
Zaebst, 76, of Dayton’s Belmont neighborhood, brought four acoustic guitars and two banjos to the staff at the International Vintage Guitar Collectors Association event at the Holiday Inn near the Dayton Mall. He managed to find a buyer for everything except a banjo with a broken top.
Zaebst declined to say how much he received for his guitars, which included a 1930s Supertone sold by Sears and a 1974 nylon-string Giannini. But he wasn’t complaining.
“Let’s just say I got more than I expected,” he said with a smile.
Staff at the event work for Springfield, Ill.-based THR & Associates, a firm that describes itself as a dealer in antiques and collectibles, as well as gold, silver and platinum pieces.
Staff act essentially as middlemen between sellers and buyers, assessing the offerings would-be sellers bring in and fielding offers from customers they represent — dealers and collectors, said Chris Watkins, who worked the show Thursday, Aug. 12. If a sale is made, THR collects a buyer’s fee. Buyers cover shipping costs.
The recession has pushed prices on vintage guitars down, but the most prized instruments — especially those in rare colors — still draw healthy offers, Watkins said. He showed off a shoreline gold early-60s Fender Esquire worth about $18,000. He recently fielded an offer of more than $19,000 for a rare green Rickenbacker. And Watkins said a $7,000 check was recently written for an old, slope-shouldered Gibson jumbo acoustic.
Sellers were welcome to bring in not just electric and acoustic guitars, but instruments of nearly all kinds. Watkins said he managed to sell xylophone earlier in the week. On Thursday, one potential seller pulled a stand-up bass from its case and plucked a few notes. Zaebst brought in several horns once he sold his stringed instruments.
Sellers often wait at available tables while staff try to reel in offers. Washington Twp. resident Tom Muth, 78, was among those patiently waiting this week.
“It hasn’t been out of my house in 50 years,” Muth said of his Martin 00-18 acoustic. “I just keep it in my case.”
“It’s kind of cool what we do,” Watkins said. “We like to work with people and get them what we can.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2390 or tgnau@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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