.
Most were being sold (not all) and not Iconic apart from one or two, the Woodstock white Strat and I didn't get to play it but I did handle it. The nut was all over the place with the spacing. The left hand conversion looked like it was done by a four year old.
I have played that guitar. I worked for Experience Music Project (now "MoPop") in Seattle, and was in the room where this guitar was first unpacked after being purchased at auction. It definitely wasn't an exceptional example of 68 strat. If someone handed it to you off the rack at Gruhn's or something, you'd put it back and keep browsing. Still, I felt very fortunate to handle it, and play it (very gently).
I was there when all of the guitars in the Guitar Gallery were installed, and was among the last people to handle some of them. There is a 1957 Gibson Flying V in there (!). Yes, a 1957. It's a prototype and not from the first production run in 1958. It's a little paradoxical to me to see all those really beautiful guitars sitting behind museum glass cases like ancient objects from a royal tomb. Guitars with history have undeniable mojo, and I am glad they're in a place where the public can view them. While we were putting those guitars in place, it was all Spinal Tap, all the time:
Look... still has the old tag on, never even played it.
Don't touch it!
We'll I wasn't going to touch it, I was just pointing at it.
Well... don't point! It can't be played.
Don't point, okay. Can I look at it?
That's it, you've seen enough of that one.