SlagJones Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 Thought people might be interested in this. http://money.cnn.com/video/#/video/news/2008/04/17/romans.vintage.guitar.cnnmoney Looks like it won't link directly to the video. Choose the video called "A sound investment" in Top Stories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesstringer Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 I don't know....If I was in the position to be paying the prices for vintage guitars, I don't think I could get rid of them. I've been playing for 40 years and every time I think of the current market value of some of the guitars I've had and sold/had stolen trough the years, I get depressed. In 72 I was playing a gig on a mountain in West Virginia and had a 56 Strat, 66 firebird and a 60 something ES-175-td stolen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RotcanX Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 A '59 Les Paul with a nice burst currently sells in the $300,000 range. I remember when they went for a paltry $80,000. People are saying that it is only a matter of time before they are worth a cool million. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyelcrrt1281733995 Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 Only is someone survives... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Obscure Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 Interesting story, SlagJones. Bluesstringer, I would cry if that happened to me! What a crappy thing to happen. Some people are such a-holes. I think my days of buying vintage guitars are over, barring some sort of monetary windfall. I have a few guitars that are considered vintage, and I've been slowly working on refurbishing them. My '65 Jaguar plays better than ever after I had the frets re-crowned a few years ago. My '64 Gretsch Tennessean is in the shop right now getting some much-needed work done on it (about $350 worth). I have a couple more lined up for some TLC as time and money permit. I don't buy 'em for the investment, I buy 'em to play. When I bought most of them 20-plus years ago, I got some really good deals because they weren't in the best shape. Playable, but with room for improvement. It's worth it for me to spend the money now to repair them, as the cost is still well below their value. I did have them appraised years ago for insurance purposes, and was pleasantly surprised by their current worth. But regardless of their market value, losing one or all to some natural or other disaster would be like losing part of my family! Luv them geetars! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prospero Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 Yeah, well if there's a buyer. There's no guarantee that 20 years from now attitudes won't change. 20 years from now the "in" thing might be super high-tech modern guitars, while all the vintage stuff may fall out of fashion and be considered just quaint junk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HisDudeness Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 i'd consider the vintage guitar market about like muscle cars. they're only going to fetch maximum prices when the generation that grew up lusting for them has the most money to throw around. that could be way wrong though, as old cars are probably a lot more finnicky than the typical vintage axe and there are always timeless classics that will sell high no matter what Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron G Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 My wife likes to watch Antiques Roadshow on PBS. The business of collectibles is a very strange one indeed. Oh, and vintage guitars show up there sometimes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yosoybay Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 "Vintage Guitars a sound investment?" Funny pun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarxBros Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 A '59 Les Paul with a nice burst currently sells in the $300' date='000 range. I remember when they went for a paltry $80,000. People are saying that it is only a matter of time before they are worth a cool million.[/quote']I remember when they were $3500-5,000. I passed up one in the late 1970's for $4800. I ended up taking the money and buying a car and with what was left a new 1979 Explorer. I still have the Explorer. BAD move for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carverman Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 A '59 Les Paul with a nice burst currently sells in the $300' date='000 range. I remember when they went for a paltry $80,000. People are saying that it is only a matter of time before they are worth a cool million.[/quote'] Well obviously, there are a lot of people out there sitting on a lot of money invested in retirement savings plans with nothing to spend it on, so a LP that has been "touched" by some famous rock/blues/or jazz star is worth the asking price..just for bragging rights. The main problem with these, besided theft, is the insurance on these...expect to pay a whopping premium and don't expect the insurance company to find you "that 59 Les Paul" that you had. Once it's gone, it's back to current issue LPs. I doubt that insurance companies are going to be sympathetic about "replacement value". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carverman Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 My wife likes to watch Antiques Roadshow on PBS. The business of collectibles is a very strange one indeed. Oh' date=' and vintage guitars show up there sometimes.[/quote'] Not that long ago, there was a 60-ish cherry SG on the Canadian version of Antiques Roadshow. Some guy brought in the SG and mentioned it was passed to him by his dad. The evaluator (if thats what they are called) says to the guy "Do you know what you have here?..its a "60 ish" Gibson SG like the kind Angus Young plays...and these days its worth in the $18,000 range. Not long ago there was an article in the local paper here of a 50ish LP Gold Top that some guy bought on payment plan in the mid 50s. It was a lot of money to him at that time. He sold it to some guy in Montreal ( a couple of years ago) for over $18,000 Canadian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olman Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 The only solid investment is gold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarxBros Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 The only solid investment is goldNot really, buy at the wrong time and you'll lose money. Gold is a very volatile market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prospero Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 The only solid investment is gold Again' date=' only if someone is willing to buy it from you in the future. [i']The Simpsons[/i] parodied this expertly with the whole "Pumpkin futures" idea. Just because something was valuable yesterday doesn't automatically mean it will be valuable tomorrow. There has to be someone willing to buy it from you (for more than you paid for it yourself) on the other side. And there's no way of guaranteeing that. Not with gold, not with guitars, not with anything, really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carverman Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 Again' date=' only if someone is willing to buy it from you in the future. [i']The Simpsons[/i] parodied this expertly with the whole "Pumpkin futures" idea. Just because something was valuable yesterday doesn't automatically mean it will be valuable tomorrow. There has to be someone willing to buy it from you (for more than you paid for it yourself) on the other side. And there's no way of guaranteeing that. Not with gold, not with guitars, not with anything, really. How do you explain real estate continuing to escalate. Some people (baby boomers) bought these little houses in the 50s for 10,000 (or maybe even less) and now they are in the $300 K range. Ok, the real estate agents responsible to some degree, but you also have to look at it in terms of buying power. $10,000 back in the 50s, was a LOT of money. Does' anybody remember the $64,000 question in the 60s. Now they have game shows that typically run up to 1 million. So the same for any vintage commodities..there will always be somebody around in the future to buy them and maybe at inflated prices. I just saw an ad in the local website "musical instrument for sale "..some guy is coming her with a bunch of Gibson vintage guitars to sell. Here is the advertised asking prices.... 1961 ES345 $ 19,000.00 1967 ES345 5,000.00 1968 ES335 6,000.00 1990 Rickenbacker 360/12 2,200.00 1958 Fender Super amp 6,000.00 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarxBros Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 How do you explain real estate continuing to escalate. Some people (baby boomers) bought these little houses in the 50s for 10' date='000 (or maybe even less) and now they are in the $300 K range. Ok, the real estate agents responsible to some degree, but you also have to look at it in terms of buying power. $10,000 back in the 50s, was a LOT of money. Does' anybody remember the $64,000 question in the 60s. Now they have game shows that typically run up to 1 million. So the same for any vintage commodities..there will always be somebody around in the future to buy them and maybe at inflated prices. I just saw an ad in the local website "musical instrument for sale "..some guy is coming her with a bunch of Gibson vintage guitars to sell. Here is the advertised asking prices.... 1961 ES345 $ 19,000.00 1967 ES345 5,000.00 1968 ES335 6,000.00 1990 Rickenbacker 360/12 2,200.00 1958 Fender Super amp 6,000.00 [/quote']Don't hang your hat so fast on real estate. Look at what happened to Japan's prices when they crashed. It's taken many years for thier prices to recover. A quick look at this graph should have folks really concerned about the over inflated housing prices in many areas of the country: Certainly there are some pretty permanant price increases passed along in housing in the last decade, such as the price of wood and such, but... don't be fooled into thinking housing couldn't correct down A LOT further than it already has. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluefoxicy Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 In 72 I was playing a gig on a mountain in West Virginia and had a 56 Strat' date=' 66 firebird and a 60 something ES-175-td stolen.[/quote'] There should be a national holiday where parents beat their kids' asses unless they justify their own existence in a satisfactory way, totally up to the objectivity of the parent. Instead we have parents threatening schools if the teachers tell their kids to stand out in the hall (hey, everybody's child is a perfect angel and can do no wrong, how dare you...). More kids need to be beat. I'm not kidding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluefoxicy Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 The only solid investment is gold The only solid investment is porn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yosoybay Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 So the same for any vintage commodities..there will always be somebody around in the future tobuy them and maybe at inflated prices. I wouldn't say ANY vintage commodities. I think guitars are pretty safe, but what about baseball cards for instance? The value of those has plummeted in the last 15 years! (I understand we're comparing pieces of paper with wooden works of art, but you get my point.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prospero Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 How do you explain real estate continuing to escalate. Some people (baby boomers) bought these little houses in the 50s for 10' date='000 (or maybe even less) and now they are in the $300 K range. Ok, the real estate agents responsible to some degree, but you also have to look at it in terms of buying power. $10,000 back in the 50s, was a LOT of money. Does' anybody remember the $64,000 question in the 60s. Now they have game shows that typically run up to 1 million. So the same for any vintage commodities..there will always be somebody around in the future to buy them and maybe at inflated prices. I just saw an ad in the local website "musical instrument for sale "..some guy is coming her with a bunch of Gibson vintage guitars to sell. Here is the advertised asking prices.... 1961 ES345 $ 19,000.00 1967 ES345 5,000.00 1968 ES335 6,000.00 1990 Rickenbacker 360/12 2,200.00 1958 Fender Super amp 6,000.00 [/quote'] Well, not to get too off-topic here, but Mark Twain said it best, "Buy land, they're not making any more of it." And that's a big part of why real-estate has been seen as a sure-bet investment. Unfortunately, the huge demand caused partially by speculating investors looking to cash in on the perceived reliability of real estate has raised prices well above where they should be. Unfortunately, this has now caught up with us, and if you read the news, you'll notice that something called "sub-prime mortgages" are driving the global economy into the waste-basket pretty quickly these days. Real estate investment ain't what it used to be. I notice we're in the same neck of the woods, so you may have seen this story that was all over the papers yesterday. Edit: To bring this back on topic: Here's the thing: guitars are popular because guitar music is popular. When The Beatles are long gone and the kids who grew up listening to rap/hip-hop come into their own, where are the vintage guitar buyers going to be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carverman Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 Don't hang your hat so fast on real estate. A quick look at this graph should have folks really concerned about the over inflated housing prices in many areas of the country: Certainly there are some pretty permanant price increases passed along in housing in the last decade' date=' such as the price of wood and such, but... don't be fooled into thinking housing couldn't correct down A LOT further than it already has.[/quote'] Well that graph could also be reflective of Gibson guitar prices too...not sure about Epis, being made in Asia, they are treated like any other asian commodities right now. You have a point, somewhere in time, there may be an adjustment to housing prices, the bubble may burst, but it will be a short lived adjustment. Houses (and guitars) are commodities that will always find buyers (people with money) even in the worst of economic times, even during recessions. In a world that is progressively becoming more uncertain, the generation that grew up after WWII, are looking for something more tangible...and a good musical instrument that will bring satisfaction to its owner and the audience is one of these. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strangedogs Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 I have 3 vintage amps right now from the 60's - my wife is all for VINTAGE as she knows they only increase in value. Buying all the vintage amps I can when I have the $$$$ - even ones needing work. I could have bought a vintage CHERRY Supro Combo w/Reverb and Tremelo 3 years ago for $150. Same amp has now tripled in value. Guitars too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carverman Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 Edit: To bring this back on topic: Here's the thing: guitars are popular because guitar music is popular. When The Beatles are long gone and the kids who grew up listening to rap/hip-hop come into their own' date=' where are the vintage guitar buyers going to be?[/quote'] Well the Beatles are (almost) long gone...Ringo didn't play guitar and Paul McCartney has "found himself in times of trouble, that he wishes.....he never met.... well...LET IT BE. Guitar music has been popular since the turn of the last century and it will continue after we are long gone. Its a huge business...and unlike the car industry that relies on another world commodity (oil), guitars are "green" and nobody ever got killed or injured by a guitar. The current generation who are into other types of music (Goth, whatever ) are still interested in their kind of music and need instruments to create new music. Elvis, the Beatles, the great rock groups of the 70s are now classics. There will always be someone who wants to listen to that kind of music, just like there a still classical music scholars who still appreciate Beethoven, etc...but there aren't as many of those these days. Vintage guitars going for thousands will be either inherited or sold for more! Just like the song goes "If I had a million dollars...we wouldn't have to eat Kr*ft D*nner...but... we would eat more (KD)..and buy those vintage guitars that have "that sound". Whether "that sound" is worth the asking price depends on the who the buyer is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strangedogs Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 I'm 56 now and my wife and I have collected Antiques for 30+ years. Better than money in a bank! Antiques, Amps, Guitars, etc. are all great investments. In the 70's I had a 68 Gibson LP Custom (Black w/Gold) and in the 70's my wife bought me a 25/50 Anniversary Gibson LP Custom (Tobacco Sunburst - only color they came in I think). I paid $600 used for the 68 and the 25/50 was $800 used. I sold the 68 for $150 and the 25/50 for $300 at the end of the 70's (heroin addiction). Had I kept em' they'd be worth their weight in gold... :- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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