Gil Hembree

Gil Hembree began collecting guitars in 1966 while working at Kitt’s Music in Washington, DC. Familiarity with the professional musicians playing on Georgetown’s M-Street allowed him to dabble in early buy-sell, but his academic interest in finance led to a corporate job in Michigan. In 1993 he started writing for Guitar Digest where he developed the first vintage-guitar price index. Throughout his financial career he played in bands, and searched for original-owner vintage guitars in cities like Flint, Saginaw, Bay City, Port Huron, Pontiac, Battle Creek, and Kalamazoo. In 2000, freshly retired from corporate finance, Hembree was contracted by Vintage Guitar to co-author the Official Vintage Guitar Price Guide. In 2007, the Hal Leonard Corp released his biography of Ted McCarty: Gibson Guitars: Ted McCarty’s Golden Era: 1948 - 1966. Hembree is also co-author of the Vintage Guitar Price Guide which is updated and released once a year.