1985 Ibanez AH-10 Allan Holdsworth. It was tossed in a corner in very sad shape. I wasn’t sure what it was until I saw the Allan Holdsworth name on the headstock. I knew who he was, and that made me very excited because I knew this had to be a very special Ibby. Unfortunately, the owner noticed my excitement and he googled the guitar. He ran into a reverb listing of over $2000. But that was a pristine showroom guitar. This one seemed had strings from 1985, it had several chips on the paint (you can see one of them in this pic), and it was unplayable. He still tried to start the negation at $1000. I told him he’s out of his mind and walked away.
For WEEKS we haggled via messenger, and I got him down to $500. I then asked him if he at least put new strings so I can see if it plays. I also asked if it had the original case. No to both questions. I figured it’s time to visit again and haggle in person. He was still firm on $500, and claimed that’s what he paid for it. I told him what he paid for it is not my problem, and this guitar in this unplayable condition without its original case is worth $100. Hell, for all I knew, it probably had a different pickup, and not the original Allan spec pickup. He then went down to $300, I told him I have $200 and I’m being extremely generous. I want the guitar, but not for $300. Take this or you won’t see me going through that door again. He took the cash.
First thing I did was remove the pick guard and look for the Allan signature on the back of the pickup. I could tell that pick guard was never removed, and a quick look revealed the cool engraved Allan signature. A bit of elbow grease, and she turned out to look quite decent, and plays and sounds amazing!
