In this week’s episode, Nate shared lessons on being an entrepreneur, educates us on why guitars are such great accounting tools for artists, and shares stories about his experience selling guitars to some of the biggest musicians on the planet.

He covers a lot of ground, including how the Panama Canal brought Hawaiian music and the guitar to the masses in America, the story of the guitar as a soothing tool at Gettysburg, how old-growth Brazilian Rosewood sounds different than other wood, and the history of the Telecaster, slide guitars, and more.

He tells us the story behind one the biggest mysteries in music history, Jimmy Page’s missing guitar. The Led Zeppelin member had his instrument stolen on a visit to Minnesota in 1970. It was hiding in plain sight for decades until Nate used a blacklight to discover signature elements of the legendary instrument. After a conversation with the Rolling Stones, Nate got connected to Jimmy and returned his guitar decades after it went missing.

He talks about why are guitars such a smart investment for artists. Nate shares with us that his Telecaster guitar, which he purchased for $3,000 in 1989, is worth about $60,000 today. Musicians can depreciate the value of the instrument for accounting purposes while the vintage guitars rise in value. Add in bonus value that comes from musicians themselves owning the instruments, and in many ways they’re the best assets that an artist can own.

His big break came when the band Genesis needed a quick fix before they went on stage. Moments before they started, he took a saw to their instruments and got them ready. From that day on, he was someone that artists came to depend on. He shares lessons that any business owner can borrow from, ideas for how small businesses focusing on vintage can create a moat against bigger corporations, how young entrepreneurs should build their businesses, and more.