Keith Gets the Skinny on his Guitar. Day 7. Lansing Michigan.

In 1975, Keith bought an old Martin guitar at auction. Paid $45. Over the years he's had a couple of people look at it. He is pretty sure it's an 1840s instrument that has been modified. And he wants to sell it.

It's fate. We looked up Elderly Instuments, the final word on Martin guitars and it's minutes from Ann Arbor.

I wasn't sure this was going to work. All the instruments in the shop were new and we kept hearing "What a great case!" And "That's a really old guitar." Not what we wanted to hear when we were hoping for the next great Martin find and a slot on Antiques Road Show. 

Then we met Frog.

(Yup. That was his name. Frog.) Frog is that veteran rocker who settled down working at a guitar store for a couple of weeks. Thirty-five years later he is the expert on vintage guitars. He took pics with his phone and now he is having the pro shoot the guitar for detail. He also told us the history of the guitar business -- there was a bubble in 2008 that still hasn't come back. And he showed us a Gibson/Bixby electric guitar (1965) with a wha-wha bar worth $200,000.Gibson Explorer with Bixby tremelo.

So what about Keith's Martin? It's complicated. You'll know when we know.