Tomaso9 Posted January 2, 2009 Posted January 2, 2009 I am the second proud owner of a beautiful 1935 L4, well cared for with original case. Like so many folks nowadays, I need to raise some cash. (First, the toys... Now the treasures). Forgive my rudeness, fellow Gibbers, I know it's ill-mannered to solicit sales information hereabouts - But what I'm after is some notion of value, and if anybody thinks e-bay is the way, or if there is a better alternative marketplace for selling ones favorite child.
brians356 Posted January 2, 2009 Posted January 2, 2009 At the risk of starting another religious argument here, you really should check in the 2009 Vintage Guitar Price Guide for one reference. Then I would go to Elderly Instruments', Gruhn's, and Mandolin Brothers' web sites and find any L4s they have listed. And yes, search Ebay "completed listing" for actual sale prices in the last 30 days (Ebay account required.) I only have my 2004 Price Guide to hand at the office, but it lists a top value of $2000 for that guitar. I would rather not guess what five years might have added. Oh, I almost forgot, search gbase.com, too. The highest '34-'35 I found there was $3500.
Hoss Posted January 2, 2009 Posted January 2, 2009 I was in the Market for a Roundhole L-4 for some time. EVer since I played a beat up and trashed version three years ago that sounded amazing. The seller wouldn't budge from @ $4000, so I still don't have one! The price for this model has softened- A check of Gbase is a good place to confirm this. You'll notice that there are a number of these available. (When I was looking, for a period of over a year, there would be nothing listed on Gbase, so you also get the idea of what's happening in the market.) There are some stores that are known for asking for the moon, but these sellers are mostly absent from the listings I'm looking at. In decent condition, looks like you could ask $2500 - $3000.
retrorod Posted January 2, 2009 Posted January 2, 2009 Hello, I know it must be painfull to let go of a treasure...I feel your pain. What Brians356 says is good advice for finding a close value. As far as the actual sale medium. Ebay is a good choice, only if you have experience and feedback history with Ebay. It would be quick and easy. You may generate local interest by placing an ad on CRAIG,S LIST. Place a picture and a phone #. I assume you want to sell reasonably fast. If not, you could consider putting it on consignment with a honest dealer...But that could be for the long-haul and I think they take a pretty hefty cut. Overall, the vintage market appears to be a little depressed right now. Good Luck....RRod
retrorod Posted January 2, 2009 Posted January 2, 2009 Hey brians356, I didn't get the religious argument reference. Near as I can figure, there ain,t no argument. Its pretty cut and dry....either we're going to hell...or we ain't .....
Modac Posted January 2, 2009 Posted January 2, 2009 Elderly Instruments', Gruhn's, and Mandolin Brothers' web sites These people are in denial.
sfden1 Posted January 2, 2009 Posted January 2, 2009 Hey brians356, I'm sorry if you felt that was a religious argument. From my perspective it was just a minor difference of opinion between two people who otherwise essentially agree. Sorry if you didn't feel that way, and apologies if I offended you. It was not intended.
brians356 Posted January 3, 2009 Posted January 3, 2009 How are three of the premier dealers in denial? I missed something. Are you saying they're optimistic? Those are asking prices chaps. Make 'em an offer if you think they're too high. They have the luxury of hanging on to a guitar indefinitely if they want ot hold out for a price. Otherwise they will negotiate. The Price Guide is valuable is because they analyse actual selling prices, not asking prices. "sfden1" no apology required. But to my earlier point about the inadequacy of Ebay, yesterday there were no recent completed auctions for mid-30s L-4s to browse. So how would this particular gentleman be able to make use of Ebay to answer his simple question: What's my L-4 worth? You can find hundreds of models of guitars in the Price Guide that seldom show up on Ebay.
sfden1 Posted January 3, 2009 Posted January 3, 2009 Brian, your quite right. In the absence of any other information, it's a great resource.
Hoss Posted January 3, 2009 Posted January 3, 2009 You couldn't find an L-4 a year or two ago for less than 3K ( if it was in decent shape.) I was looking all the time- and most seemed to be in the $3500 range. I don't think these dealers are in denial-- they're just trying to hold a price point. As their business is selling guitars, I don't blame them. But two years ago, I'd have jumped on a good sounding/playing L-4 roundhole in the $2500 range. It does seem that the economy is affecting prices of guitars. Unless you really need to make a sale, I'd hold onto it. I don't think there's a lot of inventory, new or used, moving at the moment. Just my sense of things-
retrorod Posted January 5, 2009 Posted January 5, 2009 I think when the original poster stated that he needed to raise cash, it sounds like 'sooner than later'. The Vintage Guitar Price Guide is a great reference book. One must keep in mind that the prices stated are for 'original, excellant cond.' specimens. Very few vintage guitars fall into this category. With the market in its current state, I am willing to wager that most guitars will sell for 75% or less of the VG Price Guide values on....on Ebay at this time. ....Or not sell at all. From what I see in the VG rags....the 'big dealers' are asking more than inflated book values for certain items. By the way Brians356, You have a lot of' 'nice horses in your stable'... Rod
brians356 Posted January 5, 2009 Posted January 5, 2009 RetroRod, Re: "Excellent Condition" as stated in the Price Guide, I, too, assumed that few guitars typically met that standard, but then I noticed how dealers like Gruhns and Elderly were assigning EC and VC+ ratings to guitars that had a lot of what is lovingly refered on this forum as "mojo" when in fact it amounts to severe finish deterioration and wear-and-tear. As long as a guitar has no structural deficiencies of the kind that affect tone or integrity, or such have been "professionally repaired", a guitar can look like an absolute nightmare to the layman (i.e. present company excluded!) and it will get an EC or VC+ rating as long as it's original ( and includes the original case.) An exception to my rant is the case of color fade. Here the Price Guide is explicit, for example Strats with faded or morphed color (i.e. nearly all guitars that have not been under a bed for 50 years!) will be heavily discounted below the listed value. So relatively few Strats will reach the stratospheric (sorry) levels listed for early, custom color examples. Likewise, faded Burst LPs should take a hit as well. Re: My stable of guitars: I've only listed my Gibsons for brevity and apropos to this forum. I'm still in acquisition mode. Which brings up another point made earlier about how the economy is depressing vintage guitar values. It is worth thinking about this: Remember the great price bubble (since burst) of the 1980s? It is my opinion that the single strongest driver of prices for premium collectibles in the '80s was what is now refered to as Japan's "Lost Decade", when Japan's economy stagnated so badly that Japanese investors looked to vintage guitars, cars, etc. as a place to dump their cash. We could see the same effect here if the equity markets stay flat much longer. Personally, I am proof of the concept, as I can justify my current buying binge partly because I have so much retirement money on the sidelines right now.
Tomaso9 Posted January 6, 2009 Author Posted January 6, 2009 Thanx and a huge tip 'o the hat to all you pickers who've replied, responded and otherwise meditated on the topic of my Lost Treasure. One thing, it's not a round-hole (sorry Hoss) - she's an f-hole. I wish I knew how to paste a photo into this maze, but apparently there's some kind of 3rd party subscriber jpeg application? If anybody wants to e-mail me directly I can reply with some good pix. (Tomaso9@msn.com) A little bit of history, since I lived in Colorado Springs when I bought the L4, I naturally took it to Johnny Smith for a refurb in 1971... He didn't give it back until 1972, and I practically had to fight him for it! He did however, offer me any instrument in his store for trade, so I did get that it had some pretty fair value (even given the profit margins for the 4 and 5-thousand dollar instruments he had hanging on the wall). Johnny told me it was sentimental value that interested him, and now that I know his long and venerable relationship with Gibson, I can certainly allow that. He felt better when I told him that I had a "party" guitar at home and promised to care for and cherish the Gibson for all my days. (My party guitar was an early-release Ovation Balladeer, Model 1111-1, which I still own and may actually have some fair vaue too. Remember, I lived in Colorado Springs - home of Kaman Sciences -for you 'O afficianados). I would love to wait out the vintage markets, but I hope I can win the lottery in the meantime. I've got some other goodies besides: Martin D12, Ovation Thunderhead-12 (probably one-of-a-kind) the Balladeer, and so on. Thanx again from another old rock'n roll warrior (whose fingertip callouses migrated to his vocal cords).
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