MORRISVILLE - Stacks of aged guitar cases lined the walls. Hundreds of people streamed in and out. There were men in leather jackets. And there were gaggles of women.

This wasn’t a sold-out concert, the hope of a rising star.

Rather, it was a hotel conference room, near the airport, where years of rock ‘n’ roll dreams faded into the hands of used-guitar dealers.

At the International Vintage Guitar Collectors Association show Thursday the sentimental love of a classic guitar and the promise of a crisp check met, then parted ways.

The week-long guitar show travels the world with one purpose: Buy guitars from the locals and sell to collectors online.

At least 300 people have come to the show here since it opened Tuesday.

“Hearing these people’s stories about these guitars is the best,” said Doug Lane, who co-managed the show. “... There’s a lot of attachment to these instruments.”

Take Steve Wilson of Raleigh. On Thursday, he brought a honey-toned, abalone-bound, C.F. Martin acoustic.

Wilson recorded part of his first full-length rock album with the 28-year-old guitar at Abbey Road Studios in London, where The Beatles also recorded. “You play a guitar long enough, it become an extension of your body,” said Wilson, 27, who leads the Steve Wilson Band.

His band tours up and down the East Coast. “Every ding and nick has a story about it from a place you were playing – battle scars,” he says. Wilson sold a year-old Gibson Les Paul guitar. But he decided not to part with the Martin, which was hand-made in Pennsylvania.

“I’m a spoiled guitar player,” Wilson said. “I learned on some of the best,” Wilson said. “It’s nice to keep this stuff in the family.” Frank Damico had similar separation anxiety.

He brought his Martin, which dates back to the 1970s. He too decided not to sell.

“I bought it from this guy in Woodstock in New York ... [and] the price is OK, but not enough,” said Damico, who lives in Chapel Hill. But many ultimately part ways with their axes.

The International Vintage Guitar Collectors Association, founded in 1994, buys about $450,000 worth of guitars each month.

It also buys any other instrument – violins, saxophones, drums, you name it. The group’s mantra: “If it plays, it pays.”

And it’s usually as simple as that: A seller presents an instrument to an association representative, who then values the instrument and makes a pitch to about 10,000 online bidders.

Then the representative then makes an offer to the seller. Once they agree on a price – if they agree –a check is written on the spot.

Instruments made before 1970 are considered vintage, but the group will buy new models too. And while guitars are the norm for the shows, unconventional collectibles can be sold too.

Woody Curfman’s 60-year-old miniature drum set stands no more than three feet tall. It was given to him when he was 6, and has been kept in tact, complete with tiny snare drums, a symbol, triangle and bass drum.

“It still makes music.” said his wife, Janice Curfman of Garner, who brought in the set. “It was in our storage and we said, ‘if somebody else can enjoy, it why not?’ ”