How American Pickers Landed A Piece Of Rock 'N' Roll History For Free

"American Pickers" premiered on the History Channel in 2010, and quickly gained popularity as a new genre exploded on that network and similarly situated channels: Examining history through the lens of various forms of antique dealers and other secondhand goods sellers. Unlike PBS "Antiques Roadshow," this wasn't about appraising potentially priceless works of art so much as exploring the shockingly wide array of items that were encountered by the likes of pawn shops ("Pawn Stars") and the titular pickers "American Pickers." (Pickers, basically, spend a lot of their time scavenging through large, often unorganized collections, hoping to find occasional gems they can resell.) Eventually, the genre expanded to include similar shows without the historical bent, like "Storage Wars" and "Auction Hunters" covering the world of auctions for abandoned storage units, but the History Channel's shows were the ones that kicked off the boom.

In time, "American Pickers" got popular enough that its scope expanded way beyond driving around the country looking for random people who looked like they had odds and ends or even some potentially valuable vehicles at their rural compounds. Soon, celebrities allowed pickers Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz to pick over their personal collections, and there were enough of these that there's an episode of "The Best of American Pickers" devoted to celebrity picks. Among those celebrities was Cheap Trick guitarist/songwriter Rick Nielsen, who invited the boys to pick his warehouse near Rockford, Illinois. There, Frank spotted a guitar he wanted, and scored it...but not how you'd expect.

"American Pickers" stars Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz visited Rick's Picks, a Burpee Museum exhibit of Cheap Trick memorabilia curated by the band's guitarist and primary creative force, Rick Nielsen, in the ninth episode of their eighth season. The episode, which premiered on March 11, 2013, streams on the History Channel website for cable/satellite/cable replacement subscribers. The first 40 percent of the episode features Mike and Frank picking Nielsen's collection, with the action happening at Nielsen's personal warehouse, not the museum exhibit. Frank, in particular, was in fan mode in the early moments of the episode, focusing mainly on things he wanted for his personal collection and even getting Rick to sign a personalized autograph on a promotional Cheap Trick poster board.

After Mike bought a stage-worn costume, the trio ventured to Rick's massive guitar collection, with Mike buying a vintage road case. As the end came near, Frank wanted to try to buy a custom-made checkerboard pattern guitar, used only once, and tried to bargain with Rick over it. Rick turned down offers of $1,500, $2,000, $2,250, and $2,800 flat, and the mood got, as Frank described it, "uncomfortable." He misread the vibe, though: Rick spent enough time in Nashville that he was willing to give the boys the guitar as a permanent loaner to display in Mike's Music City store. Frank, obviously, was positively over the moon.