To call this week's Reverb find the holy grail of vintage guitars would almost be selling it short. This model is straight up mythical.
It's a Bigsby Standard Model listed by Retrofret Vintage Guitars that was built in Downey, California in 1958 by Paul A. Bigsby himself—the legend who perfected the pedal steel and whose namesake vibrato system has adorned thousands of guitars since the 1950s.
In addition to the vibrato units and pedal steels, Mr. Bigsby also custom-built a small number of unique electric guitars (and modified others) for country players he was friendly with, beginning in the late 1940s. These models were entirely handcrafted in Bigsby's garage and each was a one-of-a-kind creation sold directly to the player it was made for.
Nearly all of the Bigsby Standards still known to exist are part of private museum collections, so coming across one of these ultra-rare models on the market today is far less likely than finding the tiniest needle in any haystack. "The Standard guitars, mandolins and custom conversions account for only a small part of [Bigsby's] output," this listing reads, "which was by most accounts set at 12 instruments per year."
This specific guitar is said to be a recent discovery that's now also thought to be the last Standard guitar Bigsby ever built. "It was made in mid-late 1958 for a young local Midwest guitarist and studio operator named Larry," writes Retrofret. "The pickguard is inlaid with his name. It was completed and stamped with a serial number [# 91558] on September 15, 1958, just about two years after the guitar previously believed to be the final Standard Bigsby, [which was] built in late 1956 for Louisiana entertainer Luke Charpentier."
As you can see from the pictures, this special Standard is truly in stunning condition for its age. It's also even more unique than some of the existing Bigsby's out there, featuring an uneven double-cutaway with a thin lower horn and a hooked upper cutaway in place of the upper scroll shape. It appears solid but is actually a semi-hollowbody featuring a maple top/back and walnut sides, married to a typical Bigsby neck—laminated maple with a walnut center core and rosewood fingerboard.
It's no exaggeration to say that this guitar is absolutely fit for a museum—and its listing price of $750,000 USD definitely reflects that. Though far outside of the realm of possibility for most people, this is a wild opportunity for a serious collector to add a truly one-of-a-kind piece of guitar history to their collection—an opportunity that may never come around again.
Be sure to check out the full Reverb listing here to see more photos of the guitar and to read more about its history.