Value of Citation with repaired crack

[JazzNote]

Hi,

 

I've recently been invited to try a 98 Gibson Citation. The guitar plays well but has a professionally repaired crack reaching from the lower f hole to the binding at the cutaway.

 

Now i wonder if a repaired crack would decrease the value of the instrument. I see some late nineties Citations on the market for about $ 12'000 - obviously they have no cracks.

 

regards,

JN

[L5Larry]

I see some late nineties Citations on the market for about $ 12'000.

 

The $12,000 you see is "asking price" and meaningless as it pertains to actual value. The $12K Citation on e-bay right now has not sold for that price, and who knows how long it's been listed. It looks to have been up since at least September. There have been no Citation sales for as long as e-bay's "Sold Listings" go back, so there are no actual sales prices there to help with "market value".

 

Now i wonder if a repaired crack would decrease the value of the instrument.

 

The general rule is any major break/repair, or modification, devalues the instrument by 50%. I would call a crack in the soundboard, of the nature you describe, a major break.

 

Unless you really just want a Citation, there are much better values in high-end Gibson archtops.

[AlanC]

Hi,

 

I've recently been invited to try a 98 Gibson Citation. The guitar plays well but has a professionally repaired crack reaching from the lower f hole to the binding at the cutaway.

 

Now i wonder if a repaired crack would decrease the value of the instrument. I see some late nineties Citations on the market for about $ 12'000 - obviously they have no cracks.

 

regards,

JN

 

Tbh I wouldn't touch it with a crack as you describe. I'm with Larry's comment - find another high end Gibson Archtop with no major damage. If it were me I would always end up fixating on the crack. Too much downside.