'Antiques Roadshow' fans divided as expert starts playing a vintage guitar on the show

The item could bring in a five-figure sum as per the expert, which the guest didn't expect.

PUBLISHED OCT 2, 2025

The expert strumming the guitar (Cover image source: Facebook | Antiques Roadshow)

"Antiques Roadshow" experts are known to add value to vintage artifacts that guests bring through their appraisals. But recently, an expert was called out by fans for not being careful enough with an item. Fans have been divided about the matter on social media. Some believe that he went too far in handling the item as much as he did. Others believe that he was testing it out and showing everyone how well it worked.

via GIPHY

The item in question 1937 Martin D-18 acoustic guitar, according to a report in The Daily Express US. The guest said that the guitar belonged to his grandmother, who had purchased it from her brother. It was then passed down to the guest’s father and eventually to the guest himself. So it was a family heirloom. There were signs that someone had played the instrument quite a bit at one point, which is not a bad thing.

After all, a guitar is meant to be played and not kept for show. “This guitar comes from what they call the golden era of guitar making at the Martin guitar company, which at that time was in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, and still is in Nazareth, Pennsylvania,” the expert said, before adding, “Consistently, when you find a guitar from that period, they're built beautifully, and they sound great. The top is made of Adirondack spruce. Later on, Martin switched to sitka spruce, and that really adds to the interest and intrigue of this guitar.”

Screenshots showing the guitar. (Image credit: Instagram | roadshowpbs) — Screenshots showing the guitar. (Image source: Instagram | roadshowpbs)

The expert also noted the ebony fretboard and bridge, and the mahogany neck. However, it turns out that the guitar had been refinished over the top of the original finish at some point. Unfortunately, whoever did that did not do a great job. The color did not look as good as it might have looked as the original, and there were some spots that still showed the previous finish.

However, that doesn’t mean the instrument wasn’t still valuable. The expert then revealed that he had the chance to tune up the instrument before the segment and played a soothing chord progression to show just how well it sounded, even after so many years. "Condition does affect the value. I think in a retail environment, this guitar would sell for somewhere between $15,000 and $18,000,” he added.

Screenshots showing the expert playing the guitar. (Image credit: Instagram | roadshowpbs) — Screenshots showing the expert playing the guitar. (Image source: Instagram | roadshowpbs)

One fan took issue with the expert playing the instrument, as he believed it affected its condition. "'Condition affects the value' - proceeds to pick it up and play it,” they commented under the clip on Instagram. However, not many bought into the fan’s theory. "He didn't play it. He tuned it and barely touched each string to show the owner what it sounds like," one fan retorted.

"You think someone with this type of job would put the guitar in any sort of danger of damage, or are all AI bot ragebait accounts this dumb???" asked another. "I actually love when the experts play an instrument on air. Shows their knowledge and talent. And you get to hear history," one more fan wrote.