“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)

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.

Speaking to Guitar World in a new interview, Conrad – who has been responsible for heading up the guitar world’s largest brand-backed vintage guitar effort for the past few years – shared his standout guitar safari story, and named the find he remembers above all others. However, it wasn’t just one: it was many, and they were all entirely unexpected.

“I think it was a Facebook marketplace find,” Conrad says. “It was just this absolutely stunning Gibson SG TV in Polaris White. I got a hold of the guy and we managed to get together on one of our family trips back down from Michigan.

“We stopped in Indiana and I went into his workshop garage, and there was a small trench that you can wander to get through back to the bench where it's sitting.”

It wasn’t just the Gibson SG that had originally prompted the home visit that caught Conrad’s attention, though. It turns out this workshop was an unassuming treasure trove of some more obscure accessories – accessories that a vintage fanatic like Conrad couldn’t say no to.

“Everywhere you looked [there was stuff]. In this case, I would love to tell you there were Flying V cases and Bursts, but there was none of that. It was all piles of old ukuleles and piles of parts and all this stuff.

“By the time we're done, I keep finding more and more parts and pieces on this bench. It was like, ‘Do you want to sell this set of three-on-a-plate, early ’60s tuners? Also, do you want to sell this Epiphone truss rod cover?’

“For me in these hunts, cool stuff has shown up but just as fun for me has been the people that you meet on these adventures, and all the stuff that's still out there to be found.”

These unexpected discoveries are at the core of Conrad’s guitar safari efforts. Every time he goes to check out one guitar, he makes sure the player he’s visiting doesn’t have any other hidden gems tucked away.

He adds, “The ones that are always fun for me are the ones when someone says, ‘I’ve got something else.’ I always ask that question: ‘Do you have anything else?’”

For the Certified Vintage program, unsuspecting Facebook Marketplace listings can help Gibson track down some true gems. For example, Mary Ford’s iconic 1961 Les Paul SG Custom – which had been missing for years – turned up on the social media platform.

Guitar World’s full interview with Gibson’s Mitch Conrad will be published in the coming weeks.

Head over to the Gibson Certified Vintage website to view the current collection of available guitars, and follow the Gibson Certified Vintage Instagram account to keepup to date with future guitar safaris.