“Back then people would come with some great old Gibson that had been under the bed”: Lenny Kravitz used to buy guitars from fans in parking lots at his shows – here’s why he’s stopped

Lenny Kravitz has a problem and maybe you can relate. He is addicted to guitars. He loves gear. His condition is particularly problematic because his tastes are for über-rare guitar amps (e.g. his Dumble electric guitars from the golden era.) Those tend to cost a lot of money.

When you are listening to his most-famous works, you are hearing these vintage unicorns in action, doing what they were built to do.

People would rock up with, say, a brown Lifton case under their arm – a sight guaranteed to quicken the vintage enthusiast’s pulse and loosen their pursestrings – and conduct business right there and then.

Speaking to Guitar Player in 2024, he explained how that Goldtop was a parking lot purchase from a man in desperate need of some cash.

“On the Mama Said and Are You Gonna Go My Way tours, I really started to pick up a lot of great guitars. People used to show up in the parking lot, find somebody from the crew and ask them to tell me that they had guitars to sell,” said Kravitz.

“I’d find some amazing things. There was one guy who was facing trial, and he needed money for his lawyer. That was how I got that Goldtop that is still my number one Les Paul. He had a ’57 Tele and an early ’50s Strat as well. I still have those guitars in my collection now.”

This was a more innocent time, and in a new interview with Guitar World, Kravitz sounds a rueful note; those days are long gone. Everyone is alive to the financial realities of having a player-grade ’60s Stratocaster nesting in the attic, and they are looking to cash in.

“People would come with some great old Gibson that had been under the bed or something,” laughs Kravitz. “It’s not what it was, that’s for sure.”

Does this mean that Kravitz has stopped buying gear in parking lots? Sadly, yes.

“No. If they’re bringing them now, they want a ridiculous amount of money,” says Kravitz. “Many times it’ll be a professional dealer with prices to match. Back then there was no internet, people didn’t research values and the market was different.”

Still, the parking lot trade has served him well. He tells GW that his Goldtop is still in regular rotation

“I have several, but this one is a conversion,” says Kravitz. “Someone in its history put PAFs on it and took off the tailpiece. It is the most amazing sounding guitar. I think it’s from around ’54.”

You can read our interview in full with Lenny Kravitz, coming soon to Guitar World. Head to Magazines Direct to grab your own copy.

Jonathan Horsley has been writing about guitars since 2005, playing them since 1990, and regularly contributes to publications including Guitar World, MusicRadar and Total Guitar. He uses Jazz III nylon picks, 10s during the week, 9s at the weekend, and shamefully still struggles with rhythm figure one of Van Halen’s Panama.