'Pawn Stars' guest brings a guitar that belonged to rock legend — then he showed up at the store
Guitars used by rock stars are among the items on "Pawn Stars" that Rick Harrison considers a holy grail. Def Leppard is one of the most legendary rock bands in the history of music. So when a guest on “Pawn Stars” brought a guitar to the show, which she claimed belonged to the band’s guitarist, Phil Collen, Rick Harrison exclaimed, “Holy s**t.” What made things even better was the fact that Collen came into the store later on and played the guitar for everyone present at that point in time.
The guest had originally wanted $10,000, but Harrison was never going to pay that much money without having an expert come in and check out the instrument. After having a look at it, the expert said that it could easily bring in $10,000 to $12,000. The unique thing about this guitar was that it was painted. The expert said that he was not an art guy but knew someone who’d be able to understand it better. No one at that point expected Def Leppard’s frontman Joe Elliott to walk in. “Is that Def Leppard? No frickin’ way,” Harrison said. The guitarist got straight to work as he looked over the instrument and confirmed that it was one that he had painted. However, he also revealed that it was one that he had practiced splash painting on 10 such guitars.
What was even cooler was the fact that Collen had written his first name at the base of the instrument in Japanese. He then proceeded to play it in the store, which caught the attention of everyone present. It was all the confirmation Harrison needed about its authenticity, and it was now time to get down to negotiations.
The guest still asked for $10,000, but Harrison did not want to pay more than $8,500 for it. That was the price that was agreed upon. The pawn store owner had initially offered $8,000 but raised his offer by $500 after considering the fact that Collen had just played it a few moments ago. This was not the only time a popular guitar player turned up at the shop to check out a guitar.
In a different episode of the show, former Guns N’ Roses guitarist DJ Ashba showed up to check out a guitar that a guest claimed to have belonged to him. It was a custom Les Paul by Gibson, and the guest wanted $5,000. Harrison decided to call on the guitarist to help him, and Ashba immediately recognized it. "This right here is the Holy Grail," he said.
Harrison then offered to pay $20,000 for the instrument, and Ashba agreed to immediately pay back the pawn store owner for it. He really liked the guitar and wanted it back. All in all, it was the perfect day for everyone involved. “I would love that,” the guitarist said after learning that he had a chance to buy back his beloved instrument.
