A Sacramento music legend’s vaunted guitar collection has sold. How much was raised?
A 1954 Fender Stratocaster selling for $300,000 and a 1955 Strat going for nearly $144,000 hit the high notes in an auction of 150 vintage guitars once owned by late Sacramento music icon Skip Maggiora.
The charity auction of the coveted guitars raised more than $2.4 million, according to Heritage Auctions, which facilitated the event.
“The journey of these incredible instruments from Skip’s personal collection to Heritage Auctions and ultimately to players and collectors from around the world caps off the efforts of many dedicated people who loved Skip and wanted to see his vision of a more musical world continue on,” Joe Lamond, trustee and president emeritus of the National Association of Music Merchants, said in a statement.
“We will now get to work to ensure these proceeds are invested in programs that will bring music to countless young people for years to come,” he added.
Through his stores, Skip’s Music, Maggiora equipped top-tier professionals, aspiring musicians and weekend garage band heroes with instruments for 50 years. He died Feb. 23, 2023, at age 75, after a long battle with kidney disease.
A lifelong Sacramento resident, Arthur “Skip” Maggiora grew up around music. He worked in a local music store and performed as part of a popular local rock act while working his way through college opening for Jimi Hendrix and psychedelic San Francisco rockers Big Brother and the Holding Company. Maggiora’s work on the bandstand and behind the scenes in concert production quickly cemented his musical reputation.
Maggiora opened his first store on Florin Road in Sacramento in 1973, moving Skip’s Music to its signature Auburn Boulevard location in 1980. Today, the shop’s single location is on Madison Avenue.
His dedication to music education and zeal for spreading the joy of creating music is evident in Skip’s Music’s two trademark programs: Stairway to Stardom, the summerlong music camp geared to young amateur musicians considering careers in music; and its Weekend Warriors program for adults ready to return to the music.
More than 840 bidders competed for the guitars.
The collection contained cherished rarities and precious keepsakes, including Skip’s first guitar. By the time the auction wrapped up Tuesday evening, not one guitar was left on the racks, according to Heritage Auctions.
“The response from the collecting community was incredible,” Carolyn Mani, West Coast director of trusts and estates at Heritage.
The auction’s top seller was a stunning 1954 Fender Stratocaster Sunburst Solid Body Electric Guitar from the first year of the transformative guitar’s production. The catalog noted “this guitar holds immense historical significance for collectors and musicians alike.” It sold for $300,000.
Another six-figure item was a rare 1955 Fender Stratocaster Metallic Green Solid Body Electric Guitar from a period when custom colors were hard to come by. It sold Tuesday for $143,750.
“Great instruments naturally bring great results, and the custom color guitars certainly delivered, but it was the exceptional condition of these pieces that truly set this auction to 11,” Aaron Piscopo, Heritage’s director of vintage guitars and musical instruments, said in a news release. “Working alongside the dedicated team at Skip’s Music and (Maggiora’s son) Creed ... we helped ensure this legacy collection found its way into the hands of those who will truly appreciate it.”
Among the other guitars that bidders scrambled to own were:
▪ A 1953 Fender Telecaster Butterscotch Blonde Solid Body Electric Guitar for $75,000;
▪ A 1959 Gibson Les Paul Custom Black Solid Body Electric Guitar and 1963 Fender Stratocaster Sunburst Solid Body Electric Guitar, each of which garnered $68,750;
▪ Three instruments, each sold for $62,500, including a 1956 Gibson Les Paul Standard Goldtop Solid Body Electric Guitar and, from the same year, a Les Paul Goldtop Solid Body Electric Guitar, as well as Tiny Moore’s 1952 Bigsby Electric Mandolin.
The auction contained other items with star value, including a circa-1980s Kramer EVH Prototype Red, White and Black Striped Solid Body Electric Guitar signed and smashed by Eddie Van Halen, which sold for $35,000.
There was also a circa-1981 Kramer Gene Simmons Axe Black Electric Bass Guitar signed by the co-founder of the rock band Kiss. It sold for $8,750.
