Rockin’ on the Rideau
Just doing what he loves
By JIM HURCOMB A career, unlike an opportunity,
doesn’t always come knocking. Sometimes careers are shaped from
an early age. You develop an interest, pursue it in school, graduate, get your foot in the door, and the rest is up to you. Sometimes you can fall into a career through a chance encounter, or a part- time job can turn into a lifelong pursuit before you realize it. And then there are those lucky ones
who turn a passion into a career. You know those people. You probably envy them. They’re usually smiling, even at tax time, taking coffee breaks when they want, and talking passionately about what they do. Bob Besharah is one of those
fortunate people. In the 70s Bob was just another fair
guitar player, playing in a band in the seemingly endless stream of Valley bars. He became a fixture on the music scene, and he loved to talk guitars. It didn’t take
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long for other guitarists to come to him for advice and a critical eye when they were looking to sell their gear. These were mostly guitars originally bought in the late 50s and early 60s. “People would come up and say:
‘I’ve got a guitar for sale. Do you want to buy it?’,” Bob recalls. “So I just started buying them and selling them to friends. My first really great guitar was a 57 Strat. I had to borrow money from a friend to buy it, ′cause I didn’t have enough cash. The 57 Strat is the ultimate. There are very few of them in the market. I paid $6,000 for it.” Bob started to get a reputation as a
straight shooter. People from all over began calling him, looking for guitars. Then it became a full-time hobby,
driving around the valley buying guitars. He was the middle man. He found there was no shortage of eager sellers − and equally-eager, and rich, buyers. By 1990 Bob decided it was time to
quit the band circuit and jump into the guitar business with both feet, converting
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