A Jimi Hendrix guitar showed up on 'Pawn Stars' and even $600,000 wasn’t enough to seal the deal

"Pawn Stars" is known to feature vintage items and rare finds from attics and garages that fetch higher prices than expected. But once in a while, something shows up in the shop that can only be described as a Holy Grail. The pawn shop owner Rick Harrison is now famous for his bargaining skills, but sometimes even he can fumble. This is what happened when a guest named David showed up with an original "Jimi Hendrix Fender Stratocaster" guitar. While Harrison was told by his expert that the item could fetch up to a million at an auction, the stubborn negotiator wanted to bag the guitar for $600,000. However, the owner wasn't willing to let it go for that much.

David walked into the shop with a confident smile and a guitar case in his hands. "I think there's something in here you're really going to like to see," he told Harrison as he opened up the case. He revealed that it was a "1963, American-made Fender Stratocaster Guitar" that was used by none other than the great musician Jimi Hendrix. "That's a big wow factor right there," Harrison acknowledged. 

Hendrix is widely recognized as one of the most creative and influential musicians of the 20th century, according to PBS. He was known for expanding the explosive possibilities of the electric guitar and his innovative style that created a new musical form. "Jimi Hendrix was an icon. This guy did things with the guitar that no one did before," Harrison said as he took a look at the guitar. Sharing more information on the artist, Harrison said that Hendrix was left-handed, but since in his early days he couldn't find a left-handed guitar, he used the regular ones and just strung them upside down to suit him. "Even when he had money, he continued playing guitars that were right-handed guitars strung upside down," he added.

David came prepared to prove that the guitar was authentic. He carried a magazine that wrote about the particular guitar that Hendrix only used in the studio for quite a few items. He also had a letter from the musician's brother, who authenticated the item. Thus, the guest felt that the guitar was worth about $750,000, given its provenance.

However, Harrison was a little apprehensive as in the past, such letters have turned out to be faulty. So, he called in his own expert, Jesse Amoroso, to take a look at the guitar. As soon as Amoroso entered the store, he immediately recognized the guitar. "This is stupid cool," he said. He then went on to examine the guitar's features and confirmed that it was indeed used by Hendrix as it had the signature marks and modifications. However, before slapping a value on the item, Amoroso wanted to check if the guitar was in working condition. Thus, he ripped out a few riffs and chords on the electric guitar to make sure it was "The Holy Grail." After that, he told David and Harrison that the guitar could bring anywhere between $750,000 and one million dollars at the right auction. 

Despite the value shared by the expert, Harrison wasn't willing to pay so much for the guitar. Heading into the negotiations, he put up a low offer of $450,000 to David. "I-- my thing is, I take all the risk, You walk away with the cash," he told David. However, the guest knew the guitar's worth and wasn't ready to budge. "For a guitar that could fetch maybe a million dollars on any day, I am not willing to leave that much on the table," he said in response. Harrison reasoned that he would have to do a lot of advertising, find the right auction, and pay a lot of commissions, so the highest he could go was $550,000. 

But, David stuck to his original ask of $750,000. Thus, Harrison gave up on the deal and told the guest that if the guitar came up at an auction, maybe he would bid for it. As David started picking up the guitar, Harrison made one last-ditch attempt and offered $600,000 for the item. Unfortunately for David, $750,000 was the bottom dollar he could take.

Thus, the deal didn't go through as Harrison would have liked. Today, the item features on the list of the most expensive items that got away from Harrison.