The 30th Annual Dallas Guitar Show (Festival)

April 2007 marks the 30th Annual Dallas Guitar Show (Festival), formerly known as the Greater Southwest Guitar Show. The show was initiated in 1978 by the late Charley Wirz, former owner of Charley's Guitar Shop in Dallas, Texas, and friend and mentor to the late, great Stevie Ray Vaughan.

I made my first trip to the Dallas show in 1988, and I went nearly every year until I moved to Minnesota in 2002.

If you can make it to the Dallas show, which is the oldest & largest organized guitar show in the USA, you will see one Hell of a good time.

Wish I could make it this year...........................

http://www.guitarshow.com/Home/

It is a great show (saw Peter Green's Les Paul there) but like most shows these days, it's more of a vintage show with ridiculous prices - it's like walking into a museum - great to look at but tough to buy at. They always have a large group of Japanese buyers there and they pay top dollar for vintage US guitars.....it's driven prices beyond what most can afford.

Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of stuff to buy but you really have to look and there are THOUSANDS of guitars there - Japanese guitars are hard to find and every one I've put in a friend's booth has been snapped up for what I was asking for them. I'll be thinning my herd this year with several guitars and amps (need to fund my recent attack of GAS)

I'll take pics again this year and share them with you like I did last year.

It does seem as if the trend is to mark the guitars at FLIPPING INSANE prices. Good place to look & meet folks, tough place to buy!

Saw 1 OBG -Jumbo , Saw New USA Tokai wasn't impressed Sorry guys.
Still a great show. Went on Friday to beat the crowd. glad I did.
Noticed several companies from Japan Not to sell but buy. And ship back to Japan.
Not as many booth as in years past.
Jim Marshall was there at the Hiwatt booth.
Price of amps seem to have dropped a little Boutiques too.
Prices still outrageous- More and more new guitars less older models
Got my Yearly supply of strings.

Good show.....I also didn't care for the Tokai USA guitars.

A guitar playing buddy of mine and I were looking at Peter Green's Les Paul and he asked the guy in the booth if he could pick it up - the guy said "you are welcome to play it if you want". So my buddy Sam sat down in the booth, plugged Greenie in and had a go - the tone made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Truly the Holy Grail. To add to the experienece, Rick Derringer was in his booth across the aisle and he too was plugged into a guitar and was trading licks in a call and response with my pal Sam - both at substantial volume. Priceless moment......

Didn't see many Japanese brands at the show at all. I too went on Friday and did see a Tokai Japan Les Paul Special in a cool TV yellow that was kind of greenish. It was feather light too - dealer was asking $900 for it. Went back to the show yesterday and it was gone.

Another friend of mine (a high end watch broker/dealer here in Dallas) had some cash to burn and wanted to buy an investment piece guitar. He found a dead mint 62 Gibson SG with the folding jacknife tremolo, PAF's, original case, hang tags - and bought it on the spot. Paid $34,000 cash for it - made me nauseous seeing him hand that cash over. But what an incredible guitar. (by the way, he also bought an 80's first year reissue Gibson 58 Flying V in Korina and a dead mint 62 Gibson ES330 hollow body thinline with P90's in it)

I bought strings, picks and a Dobro resonator guitar to work on my slide stuff.

Marcus, your friend went the wrong year.
Here's a shot from the '88 GSWGS at the Dallas Convention Center, showing an early 60s cherry finished SG Std (2nd from right & truss rod cover says Les Paul) with the jack knife trem, priced at $1,000. In the pic to the left is an early SG Custom with the same style trem for $1,350



Here's a shot from the same '88 show; this one is a little bit later version SG Custom with the lyre style, priced for $1,000. Just makes you wanna crap, doesn't it?
Notice the Poly Mist Firebird to left



I'm not even gonna show you the prices for the late 50s Lesters from that show; we'd all be here weeping for some time............

Yeah, scary isn't it. He even said that you might as well jump in now and get them if you can because they are only going to go up in value and the return on investment is better than on any retirement fund.

Some of the others I saw were a blonde 59 ES335 for $90K and a 59 Les Paul in mint shape for $150K. Sorry, but I'm not in the financial league to play with the big boys. I buy my guitars to play and hey if I'm lucky, they might be worth more than I paid for them some day.

Just getting that porn crap off the top of the GD zone!