The Strat in the Attic: Thrilling Stories of Guitar Archaeology

by Deke Dickerson, Jonathan Kellerman (Foreword)

Guitar sleuth and music-history detective Deke Dickerson tells the true tales of 50 thrilling rare guitar finds that will make guitarists green with envy. A golden Fender Stratocaster hidden away in an attic for 30 years. A sunburst Gibson Les Paul worth $100,000. Jimi Hendrix’s Strat burned by the guitarist during a concert—and then mysteriously lost for decades. The mint Fender Broadcaster forgotten under a bed in a neighbor’s house. The 1960s Rickenbacker bought for $50 at a garage sale!  These days, classic vintage guitars can bring Ferrari and Porsche prices. Baby boomers who wish they’d been rock ’n’ roll stars have shot the market into the stratosphere for classic models. As with automobiles, finding that classic guitar stashed away beneath a bed, in a closet, hidden away in an attic, or in the dusty corner of a guitar shop is the Holy Grail.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Audiobook

256 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2013

Reviews

[Steven Herod · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deke Dickerson take you on a journey to uncover hidden vintage guitar gems through a series of essays. Each essay tells the tale of yet another guitar “find”. In truth, flipping to the next essay sometimes seemed as exiting as finding these six-string discovery one’s self; turning each page being somewhat akin to digging for an unknown treasure in the forgotten attic or that old music storage location. Dickerson unfolds these stories in a reminiscent narrative, probably not unlike the dozens upon dozens of conversations he had with the folks he encounters along the way to each “find”; he is indeed a storyteller at heart. We imagine ourselves hearing tales told fondly by their storytellers; tales that have likely been reminisced over and over again, in an almost rehearsed manner and yet we are captivated all the same throughout the collection. A skeptical reader might suspect some fish-tale style embellishments, but that too may be part of the charm of these types of stories. Indeed old guitars, old blues & countrymen, and old stories of grandeur go comfortably together hand-in-hand in life as well. The punch-line is that Dickerson has often does all of the homework to validate such grandiose claims in a convincing manner. It also most certainly helped the author that the topic is one that Dickerson himself is fully compassionate about; it was easy to feel his school-boy giddiness well up inside as he wrote some of these essays. The writing style was clear and straightforward. The author makes no attempts to equalize the length of the content of each essay. The collection includes some very brief essays and other much lengthier ones. While there were a few shorter essays that could have benefited from additional details, it did not significantly detract from the end result of the collection. In these cases, I suspect that further information was simply not accessible (partly because the author directly states this point in several cases) – as Dickerson has truly demonstrated his ability to execute deep-dive research for details related to his finds. These essays most certainly will introduce their readers to some new bits of historical understanding of the instrument, and perhaps remind readers of fabled stories that they may have been aware of casually. While some of the historical finds may seem obscure to the average person, the details here can be absolutely enlightening to guitar lovers as they uncover lesser-known truths. Overall the text is recommended for anyone interested in historical context of the instruments themselves, the stories are nicely presented which eventually flows to what the author considers his hunt-of-all-hunts (naturally the longest essay of the book). While the Kindle version of the book contains some editing issues, they were not distracting enough to make a difference. I do offer a word of caution to the guitar-minded reader: this book may have you itching to dig in grandpa’s attic or to go scavenging at the local vintage/thrift shops to uncover that next six-string find!

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

One for the guitar nerd but, if you are so inclined (and I am) it's a great read. This book does pretty much what it says on the cover; these are stories of rare guitar discoveries and they're all fascinating. The author has collected up a series of stories, including several of his own, that details some of the great guitar finds of recent years, along with some terrific photos and various examples of supporting provenance.
The guitars featured here are not just the usual Fender and Gibson models, though there are plenty of those. The book also delves into stories of elusive Mosrites and Danelectros as well as the author's own obsession with tracking down what can probably legitimately lay claim to being the first solid body electric guitars as we know them - the rare (only 23 ever made!) and beautiful Bigsby guitars. Wonderful stuff.

[Sam Motes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Guitar geeks rejoice

An interesting collection of guitar archeology full of stories of detective work that would make Matlock proud. The history of the guitar builders who built these words of art and the virtuous legends as well as virtual unknowns who played them makes for a great read for the guitar geek.

[Nate · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm just starting to learn guitar and I really enjoyed this book. It's a collection of essays about rare, vintage guitars almost lost to time and ledgend somehow found and enjoyed again. You can really feel the excitement and passion people have for their instruments or ones they wish they owned.

[Marios Avgoustatos · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must for guitar nerds (like me), but not only. All the stories in Deke Dickerson's book are first of all, entertaining. In our digital/web era, those stories of a world that does not exist anymore, the people behind them, the cities, the stores, the attics, the passion to possess such precious pieces that combine human craftmanship and musicality, are at least very interesting.
During my involvement with music, I always enjoyed reading the stories behind the musicians, the bands, the manufacturers of musical instruments, pedals and so on. After reading this book, I'm interested in more stories about guitar archaelogy. So, let's start "The Strat in the Attic 2".

[Mike Dial · Rating 5 out of 5]

When he wrote this, Deke Dickerson was living the life: traveling the country, playing music, collecting rare guitars, meeting musical pioneers. Fortunately for us, he also collected a lot of unique and entertaining stories. It's rare when I enjoy a book as much as I enjoyed this one; it's just so uplifting and life-affirming to see how creative people can be when they're doing something that they love. Deke rescued a lot of good people from obscurity. I recommend going to YouTube as you read this and listening to the musicians whom he mentions.

[John Seetoo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enthralling

Deke Dickerson, a great guitarist in the country/rockabilly tradition, is a genuine guitarchaeologist and his Indiana Jones style tales of tracking rate guitars is as captivating to Guitar fans as dinosaurs to paleontologists.

[Karen Lovett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these stories of how he found amazing guitars.

[Willie Deuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Strat in the Attic is a fascinating collection of stories about tracking down and finding rare, sometimes historically significant guitars. There's music history, instrument-invention and manufacturing history, some behind-the-scenes peeks at the music industry, and a bit of Deke Dickerson's autobiography as a musician and guitar nerd.

Dickerson's writing gets better as the book moves along. The final chapter, in which Deke manages to hunt down and acquire not one but THREE Bigsby guitars, is particularly riveting. Bigsby only made 21 electric guitars, and Dickerson now owns two of them. Bigsby also collaborated with the Granstrom brothers on two guitars, of which Dickerson owns one. Any of these is a Holy Grail find for a guitar collector, and Deke found three.

I'm looking forward to reading the second volume.

[Kirk · Rating 4 out of 5]

I only give a book five stars if it changes the way I view the world. This book was full of amazing stories of coincidences and chance meetings that turn into amazing discoveries. Deke stressed the point that their are amazing finds out there still. They probably aren't Fenders or Gibsons, they may be some unknown guitars made in someone's garage. If the quality is there, then they are collectible.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely brilliant book if you are a guitar collector, guitar expert or just generally interested in guitars. Whilst reading this book I read and saw guitars that I never even knew existed. A very enjoyable read.

[Paul Molinari · Rating 5 out of 5]

For serious guitar nerds only

As a serious guitar nerd, I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series. And, if anyone has an old grandad with a 59 Les Paul tucked under his bed, email me...

[Joe Vess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Almost five stars as this is a fun, well-written and exciting book. It just got docked slightly for having way more electric than acoustic guitars.

[Ed Wyrd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thrilling stories of guitar archaeology is right! If your interest in guitars goes beyond playing into the realm of history and collecting, then this book is for you.

[sid · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting collection of short guitar stories. I especially liked the final story, which details his search for an original Bigsby guitar. Very enjoyable.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fun read for guitar or musical instrument-obsessed readers! I think even the non-musician would get a kick out of it.