“It was a Facebook marketplace find. By the time we were done, I kept finding more and more”: Gibson’s Certified Vintage manager on his most memorable guitar safari discovery (and it wasn’t a guitar)

Gibson Certified Vintage guitars.

Since its inception, the Gibson Certified Vintage program has acquired a huge array of unicorn electric guitars and acoustic guitars – from nearly-headless prototypes to electrified flattop acoustics – all of which have been unearthed thanks to a range of player tip-offs and on-the-scene guitar treasure hunts.

These treasure hunts can take many forms, but for the program’s manager, Mitch Conrad, one particular guitar safari sticks out in his mind above all others.