Drew Berlin – Vintage Guitar Expert, Appraiser & Curator

For more than five decades, Drew Berlin has been one of the world’s foremost authorities on
vintage guitars — especially the 1958–1960 Gibson Les Paul Standard Sunburst. A lifelong
guitarist, singer, and producer, Drew spent decades as Little Richard’s touring guitarist and
musical director, all while building an early reputation as a trustworthy expert collector of
pre-1965 Gibsons and Fenders. His deep knowledge earned him the nickname “Burst,” and
eventually a place alongside Dave Belzer as one of the elite Burst Brothers.

Drew founded Drew Berlin’s Vintage Guitars and Vintage Guitar Auction, Inc., where he
continues to buy, sell, broker, and authenticate many of the most sought-after instruments in
history. His client list spans icons such as AC/DC, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Eric Clapton, Crosby
Stills & Nash, The Eagles, Billy Gibbons, Dave Grohl, Guns N’ Roses, Lenny Kravitz, Metallica,
The Rolling Stones, Carlos Santana, Stevie Wonder, Neil Young, and many others.

From 1994 to 2012, Drew served as Head of Vintage for Guitar Center, where he founded the
company’s national Vintage Department across all 280 stores and generated tens of millions in
vintage transactions. During his tenure, he acquired several world-famous instruments,
including Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Lenny, George Harrison’s Martin acoustic, and Eric Clapton’s
“The Cream” ES-335 and “Blackie” Stratocaster from the 2004 Christie’s auction. He also
supplied guitars for Seattle’s Experience Music Project, including a Woody Guthrie acoustic.

Drew served as an advisor to the Gibson Custom Shop (1994–2018) during the creation of the
1959 R-9 reissue, oversaw production of Collectors Choice #38 “Chicken Shack Burst,” and
contributed to Burst Believers books II–IV. He also created the lecture series Les Paul: The
Man, The Music, and The Guitar, The Les Paul Story, and The American Guitar.

After leaving Guitar Center, Drew partnered with Julien’s Auctions to oversee, appraise, and
write the catalog for the multimillion-dollar Les Paul Estate Auction, and later led the appraisal
of Dusty Hill’s instrument estate (2022). His museum and cultural work includes serving as
Guitar Curator for the Cars and Guitars of Rock and Roll exhibit at the Petersen Automotive
Museum, providing instruments for major exhibitions, and loaning ten guitars to the GRAMMY
Museum Mississippi for its 2017 inaugural show, The History of Electric Guitars.

Drew’s industry presence includes collaborations with the Hollywood Rock Walk of Fame,
inducting Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana, The Ramones, and KISS; starring in the L.B.M.
commercial The Guitar Guy; and appearing in the feature documentary Turn It Up (2014),
alongside B.B. King, Slash, Les Paul, and Kevin Bacon.

As a close friend and authority on the work of Alexander Dumble, Drew is an executor of
Dumble’s estate and co-owner of Dumble Amplification, the brand’s official legacy
manufacturer. In 2023, he curated a historic exhibit of rare Dumble amplifiers at Eric Clapton’s
Crossroads Festival, featuring pieces from Dumble’s personal collection — including the first
Overdrive Special and Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Steel String Singer (loaned to him by Dumble in
1986).

Today, Drew remains the global benchmark for expertise, integrity, and historical insight in the
vintage guitar world, continuing to guide major artists, institutions, and auctions in the
preservation and evaluation of the world’s most important guitars and amplifiers.