If you're a recent vintage guitar collector, the stories you've heard
are true. You used to be able to walk into pawn shops or flea
markets and find vintage Gibson Les Pauls and Fender Stratocasters for
$50 to $100. True. Nowadays, these guitars sell for
thousands of dollars on Ebay and Gbase.
Those bargain-finding days are gone -- but there are still deals if you know what to look for.
The simple thing to remember in vintage guitar collecting is ...
American guitars. Not to say Japanese or European luthiers
haven't made fine guitars, but the vintage market isn't looking that
way. If you stay American-made, you'll have the best chance of an
instrument that will appreciate in value.
Next, forget about those who claim certain years of American guitars
aren't desirable. It's true that folks once looked down on '70's
Stratocasters -- but folks are now scrambling and paying top dollar for
70's and 80's models! Same thing with '80's Gibson guitars --
once thought of as poor-quality examples, people now bid high amounts
for them.
Why? Well, once the most desirable pieces are gone, whatever's left is going to command attention.
So -- to find the next "deal" -- look for American made guitars that
collectors are currently ignoring. Because -- soon enough, these
will be at the top of the food chain.
How about specifics? Well, think "student" models. Some
models are already desirable -- Fender Mustangs and Gibson Melody
Makers, for example other models haven't gained notice yet ... but
they will!
For instance, Fender Bullets, made in the early 1980's, are student
model guitars, but are American made and use parts found in Telecasters
of the same period (pickups, etc). These are great-sounding,
easy-playing, and nice looking instruments. You can still find
Bullets for less than $300 ... although they're beginning to gather
attention. Note, we're not talking the Squire Bullet
Stratocaster-type model, but the American-made Fender model (looks like
a Telecaster).
Fender also put out a Lead series -- the Lead I, Lead II, and the Lead
III. Again, these were an American made student series -- but are
great playing, solidly made, and sound wonderful. You can still
pick up Lead's for less than $300.
Gibson Melody Makers have already been discovered by collectors -- but
there's not a lot of action with Gibson's Kalamazoo line ... yet.
These student models are similar in quality to the Melody Makers and
Fender Mustangs. I've found Kalamazoo models for less than $100!
I haven't mentioned other brands -- Epiphone, Gretsch, Guild, etc --
because either their student models have already exploded in price or
they really don't have student models. Stick with Fender and
Gibson, stick with American made, and keep your eyes on lesser-known
student models ... and you'll find deals that will likely join other
lines in appreciating over the coming years.
Also, look for models that were not very popular when introduced.
For example, Gibson's Victory series or Fender's Prodigy line.
Since they weren't popular, they were quickly discontinued -- making
them fairly rare and desirable.
» left by Anonymous (3 years 114 days ago.)
The author is right. Please consider visiting Rock N Roll Vintage in Chicago for a wide range of vintage guitars for investors and collectors. They are nice guys and the have great stuff ! Respond to this comment
I know I'm responding to an old post, however, finding good deals for vintage guitars is still a challenge, even in today's down economy. I've been very lucky at getting great deals on eBay. The trick is being the first person to find an auction where someone is selling something that you are very familiar with at a low Buy it Now (BIN) price. I use a free tool called AuctionStud (auctionstud dot com - sorry - can't post URL's here...). It immediately notifies me via e-mail when a new item has been listed that meets my search criteria. Since I get to the auction first, I get a great deal. Pretty simple concept and auctionstud makes it happen.
» left by Anonymous (32 days 5 hours ago.)
This is a typical American view of the world! Only American guitars collectable? No Way. There's a lot of great British, German and Japanese guitars that are a lot more affordable and are very collectable. I'm not dissing US guitars, of course there's plenty of fantastic ones to choose from... but don't right off the rest of the world. ;)
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