Many moons ago, when I used to work for a big music store, it had fallen on my lap the responsibility of doing most of the used instrument purchases for the business. It happened somewhat organically, and truth be told it was something I quite enjoyed: The research, the testing, the haggling, it was all part of a dance I began to crave over the years.

But one day, something a bit too special walked in the doors...

One of those guitar cases...

With time you learn to somewhat recognize guitar cases enough to know what might be inside the box of surprises. But this one, this particular one, was even older than anything I had ever seen before, so I knew I needed some help.

The older gentleman carrying the guitar seemed a bit out of breath, just some carrying it from the car, and for some reason seemed already annoyed with our kin (we were not the firs store he visited). I greeted him, and as we walked over to the counter to take my first look, he told me he had owned this guitar since he was a little boy.

As you might imagine my ears perked, and I thought I might need to call someone in corporate for this purchase, the dollar amount might be outside my pay rate, so to speak.

I'm on the phone

He opens the case, and sure enough it was something quite special. A D'Angelico New Yorker in impeccable condition was right there in front of me.

At this point in my life, I had heard of these guitars, but I never expected to see one in our store, in Miami, and yet, there it was.

I'm trying to get someone who can tell me how much I should offer for this. It's not like I can just find old ebay sales for a price reference, but for some reason everyone seemed to coincide on taking their breaks.

After testing it, and admiring the craftsmanship, I witnessed the customer walk away upset I could not give him a number quickly.

Corporate calls back...

The head honcho who oversees vintage instruments can't hold his excitement:

• Where is this customer? Is it a D'Angelico or is it a D'Aquisto with the D'Angelico brand?

I did not know the answers to these questions, and when I informed my boss the customer had left, he was truly upset about it. He did not leave a number, he seemed to just want to sell it quick, no chance for regrets.

Two years later

I'm working for a competitor at this point, and it so happens that the guitar was there. Yes, the same guitar, the one that "got away" was right in front of me. It was tagged for sale at $50k so I knew the customer walked away quite happy with what he got for it.

Since this store had a special vintage department, I became friends with the vintage guy, as I will refer to him for the sake of simplicity, and he told me that as much as that was a crazy price for an Arch top guitar, it was nothing compared to what his apprentice eventually achieved.

D'Aquisto, right?

Me: Yes, I heard the name...