Speedy West Steel Guitar Front Piece - $50,000

[Doug Beaumier]

An eBay seller wants $50,000 for the front piece from Speedy West's steel guitar. But he shows no current picture of the item, nothing to prove that he actually has the piece in his posession and that it's in good condition, etc. He just posts an old photo of Speedy and his guitar. $50,000 plus $6.45 shipping!

Better hurry, there's only one day left.

-----> http://www.ebay.com/itm/SPEEDY-WEST-STE ... 1555987780

[Ben Elder]

I'm pretty sure that's Speedy Sr.'s grandson. He's listed other instruments, etc. of his father (Speedy Jr.) and I've seen his Oklahoma City CL listings identifying himself as their son/grandson. I've seen one of the self-same Speedy Jr. BMI steels in my friend's shop in OKC for cleanup/repair. The grandson has never demonstrated himself to be deeply imbued in the knowledge of, or interest in, steel guitar. Nor as creatively and comprehensively verbose as might benefit his sales efforts.

It's probably legit. Whether or not it's worth $50K is a personal decision. (If it makes you play like Speedy Sr., it's a bargain at twice the price. If I just had another $150,000, I could afford it.)

[Doug Beaumier]

Yes, it's probably legit because the family has been selling a lot of Speedy's items in the past couple of years. I'm just amazed that for $50,000 he doesn't even show a current picture of it, doesn't mention condition, etc. If I were selling it I would post a dozen pictures and maybe even a video of it just to prove that it exists and it's in good condition.

[Tim Whitlock]

Even with the Fender 1000 pictured $50k seems exorbitant. Maybe with one of his Bigsbys. But just for the front piece???

[Doug Beaumier]

Yes, $50,000 is way out of line IMO. A collector might pay a couple thousand for it, but not $50K IMO.

[Richard Sinkler]

Doug, you misread the ad. It's $6.45 for the Front piece and $50,000 for shipping.

[Doug Beaumier]

Ah, it makes perfect sense now!

[Henry Matthews]

It degrades the item to take pictures and they won't bring as much. Wonder if the steel goes with it, LOL

[Howard Steinberg]

I'd consider $50K, but only with free shipping.

[Daniel McKee]

Seems a bit high but it is probalbly a really cool piece. If the piece was still on the guitar I could see that being a valuable combo.

[Richard Sinkler]

If I paid 50k for that, I would expect Speedy to be sitting behind it.

[Kevin Raymer]

I bought a Speedy West album from eBay it was only $42,500 but it had free shipping.



I wonder what Buddy's hat would bring ??

[Richard Sinkler]

Well Kevin. That just goes to show that people always pay too much for stuff on Ebay. You shouldn't have paid more than $42,498 for it.

I wonder what Buddy's hat would bring ??

Hopefully his talent.

[Ray Montee (RIP)]

I wonder what one might get for Speedy's original Bigsby triple neck that's on display at Nashville's country music hall of fame.

It looks like it was dredged up after a terrible flood or hurricane possibly. I've never seen any musical instrument in such terribly bad condition and to think this was the guitar of one truly all-star player. Very sad!

[Bill L. Wilson]

At my friends shop here in OKC. I tuned up and played the BMI S-10, that Speedy's Grandson had inherited from his Dad, Speedy Jr. It was pretty loose and needed some serious adjustment, and I didn't have the time or patience to mess with it. I believe the Grandson sold off a few things that he inherited from both Speedy's. So the steel guitar front may be worth a small fortune, or it might be worth nuthin'. And by the way, RAY MONTEE, I saw the Quebe Sisters guitar player in my friends small shop here in OKC, and I forgot his name, but that boy can play! He was trying out vintage arch top acoustic guitars, and he's like Guitar George, in one of Mark Knopfler's songs,"HE KNOWS ALL THE CHORDS"

[Douglas Schuch]

Yes, it's probably legit because the family has been selling a lot of Speedy's items in the past couple of years.

Correction - they have been listing lots of Speedy's items for sale. I've not actually seen anything that sold, at least on Ebay.

[Rick Barnhart]

I saw the Quebe Sisters guitar player in my friends small shop here in OKC, and I forgot his name, but that boy can play! He was trying out vintage arch top acoustic guitars, and he's like Guitar George, in one of Mark Knopfler's songs,"HE KNOWS ALL THE CHORDS"

Joey McKenzie, one of my favorite guitar players

[Ray Montee (RIP)]

Since a good solid rhythm guitar player can make a steel guitarist sound really, really good, can anyone tell us more about how this gentleman with the Quebe Sisters got his start, how long he's been playing, etc., etc.?

You can look on GOOGLE for Joey McKenzie, the guitarist in this fine band. He'll no longer be traveling with the band on their road gigs. He apparently was the guiding light behind the young sisters. An interesting read.

During the course of looking him up I came across Rob Bourassa and exceptionally fine guitarist. You might also Google him. You'll not be disappointed.

[Herb Steiner]

Joey McKenzie is a champion fiddle player primarily, in addition to being a monstrous rhythm guitarist and, with his wife (also a great fiddler), was the "Svengali" and teacher of the Quebe Sisters.

He's in the category with, and good friends of Larry Franklin, Marc O'Connor, and the Weiser guys. A magnificent musician, I've done a few Johnny Bush gigs with him.

[J D Sauser]

The seller claims to be Speedy's grand son.
Let's not overlook, that he has NOT posted even a picture of the original piece he claims to own.

As many commented, even WITH The guitar attached, the price seems outlandish, but that's just my opinion. I wouldn't bite even if the decimal point was moved once zero to the left... I might play with the idea, after it was moved another zero further to the left.

The seller has about 127 ebay transactions recorded... only 3 of them as a seller since Nov. 2012... for items up to in the $400's. With that track record and the lack of SHOWING the original, NOBODY with that kind of money will even caress the "BuyNow" button.
And I told the "seller" in two ebay messages... his answer was that "he has many offers for the asked $50 grand, but just wants to see if he finds a more fitting owner because he is so picky."

It's often difficult to tell a scam from a butchered selling. So I would leave it to everyone's own appreciation to judge not these opinions, but that ebay listing.



But the way this LOOKS, best case scenario is:
IF this is really Speedy's grandson, he must have inherited Speedy's hilarious sense of humor and capacity of burlesque parody.


... J-D.

[Jeff Garden]

Henry Matthews wrote "It degrades the item to take pictures and they won't bring as much."
This is the second time I've seen this recently...Check out Chris Lucker's Bigsby thread. I'm still not sure I understand this philosophy but I'd think sooner or later a serious potential buyer might like a look at what they were buying before they plopped down fifty large. We're talking about steel guitars and not purple unicorns after all. I have a friend who travels internationally to auction off vintage car collections...at least they put out a glossy catalog before each show. Maybe I'm too honest but this selling technique seems to be attempting to attract the "sucker born every minute".....

[Herb Steiner]

I don't think Chris was referring to a serious buyer seeing photos of the item he's considering. If I was dropping a five-figure sum, I'd expect MANY photos of the precious jewel.

Rather, I'd imagine Chris was talking about the WWW broadcast for all the world to see of the particular item. Like valuable artwork, one-of-a-kind vehicles, et al., many times both buyer and seller wish the transaction to remain completely anonymous and between themselves.

There are many photo collectors, tire kickers, and assorted non-serious types who only want information about what's selling, where the item is, who owns it, etc.; stuff that's frankly none of their business if that's what the principals in the deal consider correct.

JMHO, as both an occasional buyer and seller of nice stuff. Your HO might be completely contrary to mine.

[Jeff Garden]

Interesting points Herb, thanks. This would be a good discussion over a beer because I can see both sides of it. I realize why public forums where anyone can post replies might not be a great idea...the seller could be victimized by a completely untrue comment by a reader with a personal grudge...i.e. "I used to own this steel and it's a piece of crap...no way it's original because I sold it for parts after it fell out of my truck." I don't think the anonymous sale would be that difficult however...lots of high end items are "hidden" through terms like "selling for a private estate" and discrete sellers usually don't feel the need to post info about the buyers like "the new owner of the zillion dollar one-of-a-kind Les Paul is Bob Smith of 123 Main St, Peoria, IL" It just seems like sometimes phantom valuations might not be realistic..."no one has ever actually seen one which is why it's worth so much!"...sort of like the Emperors new clothes

[Walter Bowden]

Who was it that said "caveat emptor" ?

[Herb Steiner]

Who was it that said "caveat emptor" ?

From his lingo, I think it was some Roman dude, possibly the first consumer advocate.