I LOVE stories like this. A friend of mine is the lead guitarist for a well respected blues band. His father-in-law got an early preview of an estate sale that was going to take place across the street and told my friend that there was a Gibson acoustic guitar of "some sort" that had a $35.00 price tag on it. He decided to check it out.

He was first in line the next morning and was able to pick up a possible 1963 sunburst Gibson Dove for only 35.00. The only problem with it was that someone had taken steel wool to the back of it to take some of the finish off and had stopped part way through the job. Otherwise it's structurally sound. It will still make a nice studio guitar for this guy. And he can afford to invest a little to fix it up considering that he only spent 35.00 on it.

It gives me hope that I might still find a nice old Gibson mandolin in a garage sale someday. These thing do still happen.

Keep hope alive.