Auction draws music fans

By Justin Much
Statesman Journal
June 27, 2010

To someone with a penchant for musical instruments, a Zither plus fretboard has a mysterious, seductive appeal.

That's how Ben Wright of Salem found himself buying one with a top bid of $60 at the special music auction held by Capitol Auction & Estate Services on Saturday afternoon.

"It's sort of like 'If you build it, they will come,' " Wright said, alluding the magical baseball diamond reference in Kevin Costner's "Field of Dreams."

Wright has never before played one of the German-made instruments; he figures it will probably play like a harp. Much of the appealing pull to Wright is it's just so cool looking.

The Zither was one of the unique instruments at the music-themed auction, which included a rare 1965 Gibson ES 335 electric guitar, and a 1948 D-28 Martin acoustic guitar once owned by Stephen Stills - sold for $5,900.

Auctioneer Terry Mangum said the Gibson is one of the top-5 rare guitars sought by collectors. Eric Clapton used a similar one, a 1964 model, when he played with the group Cream in the mid-1960s. It sold for $4,400.

There were plenty of guitars on hand, and all items were there on consignment. Other items included vintage electronic tubes, a harmonica showcase (including six harmonicas), keyboards, one Mozart and one Beethoven bust, sheet music, vinyl records, a turntable and equipment that ranged from guitar strings and accessories to a rock 'n' roll mixer's control panel.

"We hold an auction a month, and we normally do antiques and estate sales," Mangum said. "But we enjoy music, like a lot of people, and when the opportunity came up we decided we wanted to do a music auction."

Between 60 and 70 were on hand and about as many online bidders from across the country. Many were first-time visitors to an auction.

Mangum noted that some other guitars sold for more than a thousand dollars, and the 136-item total was more than $30,000.

"We had a lot of people come up to us afterward who were interested in seeing more of these," Mangum said. "We are hoping we can do this on an annual basis, maybe even more frequently."

jmuch@statesmanjournal.com or (503) 399-6736

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