Gibson has teamed up with the alternative investment platform Rally to offer guitar players the chance to buy stocks in some of the Nashville-based guitar giant's rarest Custom Shop electric guitars.
The initiative allows retail investors to part own three one-off Gibson Custom Shop prototypes for three of the brand's most high-profile endorsees, Slash, Tony Iommi and Adam Jones.
Prototypes of the Slash 1966 EDS-1275 Doubleneck, Tony Iommi “Monkey” 1964 SG Special Replica and Adam Jones 1979 Les Paul Custom (Aged & Signed) Silverburst will be offered with shares priced as little as $5 and available exclusively through Rally.
The guitars will be stored in the newly opened Gibson Garage – where Gibson keeps the really, really good stuff, like its Murphy Lab-aged '58 Korina Flying V and Explorer – instead of being to going to individual investors. Mark Agnesi, director of brand experience, Gibson Brands, says this democratises the hitherto exclusive world of investing in guitars.
“Guitars of this caliber have historically always gone to individual collectors, but our goal was to find a way to make the ownership experience accessible to as many fans as possible,” said Agnesi. “Thanks to Rally’s unique platform, fans can have a chance to own a piece of guitar history that would have otherwise seemed unobtainable.”
Rally specialises in using Reg A+ offerings to create retail investment opportunities in rare and unique collectibles, and it is expanding at pace, with more than 300 assets available or soon-to-be available to the public.
There's no questioning the demand for the guitars in question. Indeed, the Adam Jones Les Paul Custom sold out in quicktime, with collectors soon to pull the trigger on super-limited Custom Shop models.
At present, the prototype Slash ED-1275 is valued at $65,000, with the Adam Jones Les Paul Custom and Iommi SG Special coming soon. Time will tell whether this will blow open the market for guitar investment. For more information, head over to Gibson.
