Most of us have heard of a record breaking price for a Stradivarius but sometimes the price the seller wants cannot be achieved. In Spring 2014 the "Macdonald" viola was put up for auction through the musical instrument auction house Ingles & Hayday in conjunction with Sotheby's via silent auction with a minimum bid of $45 million. The auction failed to reach its minimum bid by 25 June 2014 and the viola was not sold. That is a lot of money sitting silently not working for its owner.
There is an upcoming specialist guitar auction at Gardiner Houlgate on September 17th featuring over 900 musical instruments including the collection of the late Roy Smith.
Highlights of the sale include:
- Lot 208 A rare 1971 Gibson Les Paul Gold Top guitar which was owned and used extensively by Dave Davies of the Kinks.
- Lot 209 A 2005 Gibson B.B. King 'Lucille' model electric guitar, used by B.B. King during the recording of the album 'B.B. King & Friends: 80', in 2005, the body of the guitar signed by numerous world famous musicians.
- Lot 487 A Rare and important guitar attributed to Matteo Sellas, Venice circa 1640.
Of course there are many Gibsons, Fenders and Rickenbackers on sale as well. It is a wonderful opportunity to add to your collection or perhaps a moment of reflection when you realize the untapped wealth already in your possession. Yes, it is not just the rich and famous who have money tied up in their assets. All of us do.
And that is where Unbolted comes in. We are peer-to-peer lenders specialising in helping people uncover the value of their assets. For example, in the case of a high end guitar, the valuer will want to know its make, what it is made out of, when it was made and any other history or documentation. Based on the valuation, prospective borrowers will typically receive a loan offer within three hours, although as is the nature of the secondary musical instrument market, some items may may take a couple of days. “Instead of replicating all the infrastructure and all the expertise on valuing the assets, we tie up with some of the best auction houses, people who know what they're doing in the area of musical instruments ,” says Ashwin Parameswaran, who co-founded Unbolted alongside Rito Haldar.
