LukeF - Posted - 11/01/2023:  18:30:59

Hi Guys

I haven’t posted in quite a while. Life got in the way.

Today I stopped by a local guitar store near me, Organic Sounds Guitars, in Tustin, CA, run by a good guy named Larry whom I’ve gotten to know in the past couple of years. He’s a straight shooter. He is running an auction for the charity Guitars For Vets on a Jerry Douglas Beard that was played by Jerry and signed by him. Here is the link to his website: organicsoundsguitars.com/colle...rd-guitar

The back story behind this particular resonator is posted on the link provided, which you guys may have read about. I got a chance to play it and it sounds glorious. Just wanted to spread the word for a very worthy charity. Hope one of you guys win the bid!

Good luck, Luke F.

MarkinSonoma - Posted - 11/02/2023:  11:51:33

Great cause -  you gotta like it! 

The auction started six days ago, but there have been zero bids. I think he set the minimum bid too high at $4900 - that's $700 above the retail price of the guitar. 

If  the minimum bid started around the retail price  perhaps there would be multiple bids by now. 

You're already paying at least $700  for the man's signature and the fact he played it in Santa Barbara one evening. 

Maybe potential suitors are going for the eBay approach - don't place a bid until the final seconds of the auction. 

I volunteered my Clinesmith (with Nashville pickup) to  Jerry  as the tour continued north for his date in Mill Valley at the Sweetwater Music Hall but he had already gotten his guitar repaired by Chris Holcomb in Santa Cruz, so he didn't need it. 

We will be going through Orange County this coming Sunday for a week in the San Diego area, and if the shop is open that day in Tustin maybe I can sell my wife on stopping in so that I can take the guitar for a test drive. It remains to be seen if she'll approve of the detour. 

 

Thank goodness Jerry signed the guitar on the back of the headstock. Even though he's my main man, I hate the idea of guitars being signed on the top, unless they're doing duty for decoration as a permanent wall hanger. I don't even like the idea of a guitar signed on the top by Abe Lincoln - though it would make for a cool wall hanger. 

Edited by - MarkinSonoma on 11/02/2023 12:06:16

MarkinSonoma - Posted - 11/02/2023:  12:02:34

It turns out the shop is closed on Sunday and Monday so I won't have to sell my wife on the idea of stopping in for a test drive. 

Too bad, looks like a really nice shop. 

I worked for a company for nine years that was headquartered just down the freeway from Tustin in Irvine, so I often flew into into John Wayne Airport and spent a lot of time in Orange County. 

LukeF - Posted - 11/02/2023:  21:40:53

Hi Mark:

Larry the owner might open the shop for you on Sunday or Monday, if you ask him nicely. Its worth a try.

I noticed today that he extended the auction until 11/18, which gives you more time to consider jumping on it. Regarding your comment that it is priced high, the proceeds from the auction will go to the charity Guitars For Vets. Hence the special price point.

All the best, Luke

MarkinSonoma - Posted - 11/03/2023:  11:52:52

I'm aware of the cause, I commented on it in the first sentence in my earlier post. Guitars for Vets  is doing some great work. 

I'm not sure when we'll be going through Tustin on Sunday, we'll be visiting some friends north of Los Angeles earlier in the day after staying in Pismo Beach Saturday night, so I wouldn't want to bother Larry to open the store for us. 

There could be another higher end dobro for me in the future, but  I have to sell some stuff first, another reason I wouldn't want to inconvenience Larry on his day off, if the shop were open that day it would be another matter. 

I've played a few BlackBeards in the past, including Mike Witcher's and Ive seen Jerry play his a bunch of times (though the photos make this one look like it could be a BrownBeard version - there have been multiple colors of the model). Fine guitars - but if and when I get another dobro, not sure if this  is the one. 

Again, great cause - but it's going to take a dobro player with deep pockets to bid possibly a thousand dollars or more over retail to win the auction. 

Earlier this week at a snazzy newer restaurant near me in Healdsburg called The Matheson, they held a fund raising event of celebrity chefs for the fire victims on Maui. It was headed up by TV chef Guy Fieri who lives in my town, and they raised $1.5 million dollars. If one of the folks in attendance at that event played dobro along with being a  Douglas fan, they would be a likely candidate to bid on the BlackBeard.