Spirit ll XPL value?

[duckidano]

Howdy,

 

I was wondering if anyone knew what the value of a Gibson Spirit ll xpl might be? I live in the middle of nowhere, so popping down to the local shop isn't an option. Portland is the nearest option at 4 hours away.

 

I bought it in about 1988 so it was close to new then. I haven't modified it in any way and it is unlikely that it was modified before me as it was probably made in 1986ish? So likely all original insides and out. Excellent condition.

 

Any guesses?

 

Thanks in advance.

[gnappi]

Howdy,

 

I was wondering if anyone knew what the value of a Gibson Spirit ll xpl might be? I live in the middle of nowhere, so popping down to the local shop isn't an option. Portland is the nearest option at 4 hours away.

 

I bought it in about 1988 so it was close to new then. I haven't modified it in any way and it is unlikely that it was modified before me as it was probably made in 1986ish? So likely all original insides and out. Excellent condition.

 

Any guesses?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Pic? Color? Description? Or maybe we should "guess" ? :-)

 

 

 

 

 

[sparquelito]

duckidano,

 

According to Fjestad's Blue Book, the value of your lovely Gibson Spirit II XPL, according to condition, is:

 

Mint - $850

Excellent Plus - $675

Excellent - $550

Very Good Plus - $425

Very Good - $350

Good - $275

 

I hope this helps.

 

Edited February 14, 2019 by sparquelito

[gnappi]

Fjestad's Blue Books are a joke.

 

[duckidano]

Thank you. That helps. It's hard living so rural that I'd really have to drive 4 hours to Portland to try to sell it or put it on consignment. There's simply not enough population where I live to support a market for vintage guitars.

 

For $600 it's not worth the trouble of trying to sell it.

 

It's a lovely guitar. I like it much more than a '72 SG I had. All the same, I wish I hadn't have sold that one 30 years ago though. lol.

[CA Cowboy]

I was wondering if you still had this guitar and if you still wanted to sell it?

[Melodic Metal]

Hi Duckdiano, 

  I’ve never seen a “Spirit” but have had 2 XPL solid black Explorers. They were both Custom Shop Editions. I’d really be interested in seeing this and possibly purchasing it if you were interested in selling it. The “Spirit” part is throwing me off. 
 They had XPL “V’s and Explorers.” I just never heard the name Spirit. The Explorers we much more pronounced points and smaller bodies than the standard Explorers. 
I’m a lifelong guitarist who started at 7 and am 56 now. I was hoping even to see it so I know what we’re taking about. I sold mine on eBay to someone im France. I thought it was worth a lot more than it was, but I did still under price it. But I got mine when I worked at the first Guitar Center East of the Mississippi out of Chicago. Found a different one that was modified at the Gibson plant to have a 2- octave neck. The neck position pick up was cut out for a double coil and when they decided to do this at their Custom Shop in Nashville, It turned out that even though they filled in the double coil space to accommodate the longer fretboard, and they repainted it, to really get the serial numbers, I have to take a piece of paper and a pencil and and get them that way.  This one was such an anomaly that it’s really hard to put a price on it. But it was done to compete with a 2-octave neck to possibly compete with a guitar Kramer came out. They didn’t take off for Kramer and because this “mod” was done at the plant, it’s very valuable. If the factory does a modification on it, the value increases significantly. If it’s all stock, (I don’t know if we are talking about the same guitar yet though) they weren’t the “great deal” I thought I had originally. But I still want one that’s original. My 5 musician sons were upset when I got rid of the guitar that could have gotten me signed in 1986 when we were offered a deal. But I had become Christian and was making 4 times the money I was being guaranteed on a 7 record deal and that was by Elektra Records. So this is more for my collection and there’s so many pics of me playing it that I wish I’d never had sold it. 
Would love to see it. 
Maybe there’s something there to work on. 

Thanks for your time.

Mark

 

[Melodic Metal]

Hello Mr. "Moderator," 

  I apologize in advance. You may need to remove the Christian part of my  career in music. I played with the 3rd runner up for a Dove Award some years ago names "Debbie K" playing an acoustic piece called "A Leap of Faith."  It's hard not to talk when it was along stretch of my career. It would be like allowing a famous person such as a Cat Stevens who was a great songwriter [One of his biggest hits was "Wild World"] on this forum who  was a star in the seventies. Then he converted to Islam, renounced his music, and from what I understand, got short on money and is playing it again. I didn't post anything to proselytize or take a shot  at anyone. If you knew me you would know that. I'd like to see it posted as it is. But if you need to tweak it so it gets up there, the guitar itself was loud and edgy but would have done the job more than sufficiently, but I didn't want attention brought to me. And that guitar was and is again an attention getter! If you saw or know the guitar, it is a radical Explorer that is smaller than most and comes to abrupt points which were great when performing, not so much when the message as more important than the image. This was Custom Shop Series and I found a prototype done at Gibson with a two octave neck after I sold the one I bought I bought brand new when I was 17.  I wish I had the original which  was sold to a man in France. But I wasn't even thinking about  in any other context. It is sad though that  this PC culture is even an issue in the land where we're supposed to have freedom of speech. I didn't mean to harm anyone. Either does "Cat" who I believe goes by the name  of Mustaf now???  But I wrote that before I saw the terms.  My mistake. 

I do apologize for any typos or misspellings. My left shift key stopped working and my letters "E, O, and possible some others type twice. Then my W's may not type at all. I hope I caught all thee misspellings. I have some unique Gibsons and anything else I own was a deal too good to pass up, or a trade. But I have I believe up to 6 Les Pauls with the oldest being a 71' Gold Top w/baby-buckers that I told the man who owned a Pawn Shop and who had just bought a vacation home  I couldn't make this deal. He insisted and I trade  an 18 year old John Deere riding lawn-mower after I had a failed double fusion in my neck and couldn't bounce around when cutting grass. It was in great shape but straight up for that 71' Gold  Top! 

Thanks for getting back to me. I couldn't seem to get past a point in joining the forum and had no more time. Very much appreciated! I still love Gibsons. I have a man that I am trying to track his name down who has Kalamazoo made Epiphones, somee old  Gibson basses, and for me, the one I really would like to own is a Gibson identical to my mother in laws cousin, Mose Rager. A book was out on him called "Kentucky's Guitar Master."  The also made a movie about him many years ago. He has a monument maybe 100 yards from where his prized pupil is. Merle Travis. Merle is Thom Breshs dad out of wedlock which is why he goes by Bresh. Man, Thom is still touring and doing session work at I think he turns 72 this year. Incredible player! Thom was very close to Jerry Reed who if you don't know him, well first, I'd be shocked. But he drove the semi in "Smokey and the Bandit" with Burt Reynolds. My mom in law  lives  maybe 50 yards off of Merle Travis HWY. It  comes to a T at Mose Rager Blvd. This is in western Kentucky in Drakesboro. Right at the T is the 4 Legends Fountain. Mose Rager who also taught the Everly Brothers how to play, and each brother, [Ike and Don, more known for their harmonizing than their playing, along with Mose Rager [ my  mom is  Louise 'Rager' Buchanan] and Kennedy Jones has a Silver guitar with their names engraved on them. Kennedy has a street in his honor too.

Theen  Merle Travis has the Merle Travis Music Center in powderly Kentucky where Moses guitar sits behind glass. Man did  I  try to get them to sell me that one! 

Thanks for Hearing Me Out ,

Mark Bouquet

[Big Bill]

['Scales]

Sorry that you had to sell the John Deeere Mark, they rock. And I have one of those Klamazoo Epiphones and they also rock too.