vangoghsear Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 I'm thinking of putting my Gibson Government Series LP back in its box and putting it in a closet for about 5 years to see what happens to the going price. I bought it because I really liked the story and I figure it is actually a piece of music history (to my knowledge it is the first time a guitar was built to protest a government action and I think that is cool). The guitar plays great and handles many styles pretty well, but it would probably excel at high gain stuff with the Dirty Fingers + pickups and I play mostly clean bluesy licks. I never intended for it to be my go to guitar, my style is better suited to a semi-hollow. I'm looking at pre-ordering a Midtown Kalamazoo and putting the LP away. I'm worried about hurting it somehow and reducing its value, there are stores that held on to new ones selling them for over $1700, so I know the value is currently rising on them. If I do store it long term, what is the best method? Loosen the strings some or leave it tuned up, put some of those desiccant packs in the case to control the humidity, maybe pack some newspaper in the box around the case to control humidity in the box? I have a Cedar closet that it would fit in, that is my current plan. Any suggestions? Or should I just keep it out and play it (being extra careful of course)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quapman Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 Play it or sell it. I don't get the guitar as an investment concept. If I didn't like it I would sell it. If I liked it I would play it. As for the storage thing I didn't touch my guitars much for damn near 20 years. I didn't loosen strings I didn't climate control them. They pretty much stayed in their cases either under a bed or in the basement in a closet.(dry basement of course) Other than the dings I put on them they are all just as playable as when I put them away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 IMO - PLAY it.. it's what it was made for. regarding long term storage.. Most often, just casing it and leaving it as is is ok. but I don't think slacking the strings back a few turns would hurt anything. The key is to make sure it's dry, and not subject to extreme temp or humidity changes. Acoustics are going to be more affected by long term storage than a solid body But what ever you decide, keeping it the case should take you about 90/95% of the way there. If you have A closet in mind, I would pick one that doesn't have an exterior walls (not sure where you live, but in New England, those closets that have walls that are on the exterior of the house can get pretty cold.) I wouldn't put anything else in the case. Just try to keep find a place where the RH stays most of the time, consistent between 45 and 60 % and you "should" be fine. but really man -- play it... that's the best long term solution for any guitar.. especially a les paul! if you keep it MINTY as possible, it will hold it's value. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 My answer is the same for both the relative investment value and the storage of it: It's just a guitar. Short of laying it in the driveway for five years it will pretty much be ok no matter what you do to it. If it is in your house and you are comfortable well, it's just a guitar, it'll be fine. And then, after all those five years of non-compounding quite possibly not even accumulating interest have piled up into about three hunnert bucks less than what you paid for it, well, it is just a guitar. rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vangoghsear Posted October 24, 2013 Author Share Posted October 24, 2013 My answer is the same for both the relative investment value and the storage of it: It's just a guitar. Short of laying it in the driveway for five years it will pretty much be ok no matter what you do to it. If it is in your house and you are comfortable well, it's just a guitar, it'll be fine. And then, after all those five years of non-compounding quite possibly not even accumulating interest have piled up into about three hunnert bucks less than what you paid for it, well, it is just a guitar. rct Usually I'd agree with this, but these are already selling for $1000 more than they were first asking for them, and the last batch from Gibson just finished selling about six months ago. It's a piece of history: a major manufacturer publicly thumbing its nose at the government. If you can think of another guitar created for that purpose, tell me; I think it's unprecedented. Even in just manufacturing history, how often is that done? Then again, you may be right. Basically it is just a nice studio LP guitar with some limited edition touches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 I've been around guitars a very long time. They idea that they are some investment quality commodity is just ridiculous, and I'm sorry to say it to you. Sure, it's a great idea on paper, sure, somebody is selling one right now for a grand more than people paid for it, I get all that. It's a studio. Studios are less than a nickel a dozen, you can't really throw a rock in any direction without hitting one. If you stumble upon exactly the right collector, you would be lucky to have found the one guy that needs that guitar. But since he is a guitar collector, he's pretty good at pricing them, and you will be surprised at just how little that thing will appreciate in five years. And past five years, even less, nobody will remember or care that some company "thumbed their nose" (which I highly doubt, the whole thing was just a publicity stunt) at the gummint. Good luck with it. I'm not telling you your guitar is worthless or will be worthless. I'm telling you they are not investments, they are just guitars. My suggestion would be that if people are actually getting a grand more than you paid for it you should be selling it right now and take your profits and run, just like real investors do with real investments. rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quapman Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 if people are actually getting a grand more than you paid for it you should be selling it right now and take your profits and run, rct I was just about to say the exact same thing. At least now the return on your investment would be huge in a very short period of time. Can't beat that. Put it up for sale and see if what you think is even true. Are they asking a thousand more or are they getting a thousand more. If I didn't like it I wouldn't hesitate to take the money and run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 I was just about to say the exact same thing. At least now the return on your investment would be huge in a very short period of time. Can't beat that. Put it up for sale and see if what you think is even true. Are they asking a thousand more or are they getting a thousand more. If I didn't like it I wouldn't hesitate to take the money and run. I am far too lazy to actually sell something. I would trade it and take a bath on it, like I have for 40 years now. rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 I was just about to say the exact same thing. Ditto.. Let the vintage market as your guide. 10 years ago a 57 start would fetch 30 40K.. Today, sellers would probably be THRILLED to get 12k for the same thing with today's economy. The "investment" / "appreciation of value" argument is a time sensitive variable. If you are intending to sell it, and you think you can knock an extra grand down,, do it while you can. I too have been around guitars for a very long time, and overall I think Rich has it right, Are there exceptions, yes,, of course.. but I don't agree that this will be one of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karloff Posted October 25, 2013 Share Posted October 25, 2013 don't loosen the strings. guitar necks have had their truss rods adjusted to compensate for string tension. whether you play it for 5 years, or it sits in a closet for 5 years... the guitar has no idea if its being played or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveinspain Posted October 25, 2013 Share Posted October 25, 2013 Don't fall prey to the hype... Guitars that are being produced today will never be the iconic guitars from the 50's and some 60's. No matter how limited it is, it's just another run of a guitar. I do see a value spike coming in the future for guitars made of real wood... This is not saying they aren't made of real would now but alternative materials are slowly being worked into production. As our natural resources get used up or limited, alternative materials will be the norm... just sayin'... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Izzy Posted October 25, 2013 Share Posted October 25, 2013 don't loosen the strings. guitar necks have had their truss rods adjusted to compensate for string tension. whether you play it for 5 years, or it sits in a closet for 5 years... the guitar has no idea if its being played or not. Ugh, Thanks for reminding me. I gotta take out all my guitars and unloosen them...I will do D# though, just to be on the safe side Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdgm Posted October 25, 2013 Share Posted October 25, 2013 ... the guitar has no idea if its being played or not. Umm, er...well....mine sort of do.... For 5 years I'd loosen the strings but you'd have to put new strings on when you took it out of storage so just play that thing...whatever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted October 25, 2013 Share Posted October 25, 2013 Storing guitars well tuned and with a proper truss rod adjustment is always a good idea, regardless if five days or five years. I never did anything else with my guitars and basses since thirty-three years. No matter how long the breaks had been, I never had any trouble. The longest period of a single string set on a guitar of mine was fifteen years (1985 - 2000), and nineteen years on my bass (1994 - 2013), stainless steel in both cases. They were still fine but I wanted to switch from flatwounds to roundwounds on that particular guitar, and to a higher gauge on the that time only bass of mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vangoghsear Posted October 27, 2013 Author Share Posted October 27, 2013 Thanks for all the replies. I think I will listen to the advice and continue to play the LP, but I will most likely baby it and use it at home where it is a more controlled setting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobF_ Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 I am far too lazy to actually sell something. I would trade it and take a bath on it, like I have for 40 years now. rct Same here. I hate dealing with people when selling stuff so much that I'll trade, take the 'loss' and happily move on quickly to the replacement :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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