Gibson ES-175 / 165 prices on the rise

[Hammertone]

I don't know. I checked a few online sources that mentioned 2019, but it could very well be 2017. Either way, the point is made. My best guess is that it will be back, at some eye-watering price point, as some limited edition dealio. Our little niche will soldier on one way or another.

[Cunamara]

waiting for someone to make a reply starting with "actually..."

Actually, I thought about doing that and then actually stopped myself. Until I actually read your comment and then I actually did it.

[joe2758]

Actually, I thought about doing that and then actually stopped myself. Until I actually read your comment and then I actually did it.

lol!

As far as the topic goes:

I got a new 2013 175 for about 3,500 and it was awesome. it actually came stock with p90 but i had them put in HB, so i got both.

I regretted selling it and years later got a new classic eagle for over $5,000 but It seemed to be about a lateral move imo. Well the eagle is growing on me. I take random years long breaks from playing so I dunno.

But yeah value wise I probably should have kept the 175..That consideration didnt really occur to me at the time

[yebdox]

Do we enjoy our favorite guitars more when they become worth more, or does it add a little unconscious stress to our playing, thinking about what a scratch, ding or spot of coffee or mayonnaise might do to the resale value of the beast and cause us to reach for another?

My L5 sits on its stand more than my 175 ‘59 VOS, in part because it came with faux grime. Originally not a fan, but it does get played a lot more, even though the WesMo sounds soooo lovely.

Not selling either, but to some degree, as the values climb, both guitars get a tad more respect as I pick them up to play. Wonder if picking up a $2 million Stradivarius to play professionally causes testicular retraction….

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

Do we enjoy our favorite guitars more when they become worth more, or does it add a little unconscious stress to our playing, thinking about what a scratch, ding or spot of coffee or mayonnaise might do to the resale value of the beast and cause us to reach for another?

Pleasure is priceless to a hedonist. I’m a life long auto racer. I built or restored and maintained many cars over about 55 years, living by the rescue-restore-race-resell plan to pay for the hobby.

Although I stuck to inexpensive cars I could flip easily, I have many friends who bought out-of-vogue high end cars on the cheap. The most notable was a mid ‘50s Ferrari that was worth almost nothing back in the late ‘60s when two school teachers bought it together and raced it for many years in our vintage club. By the ‘90s, it was extremely valuable - but they brought it to the track and raced it just as I did with original Mini Coopers, formula Vees , Bug Eye Sprites etc.

I once asked them how they felt about racing a car worth over a million dollars. They both told me it cost them about $2k each when they bought it. Even if they rolled it into a ball, it was worth at least $100k. The fun was worth it to them.

Another friend bought a well worn Porsche 550 back when they could be had for peanuts. I noticed a dollar sign painted on the steering wheel hub and asked him what it was. He relied “ That’s my rev limiter”.

[Jsparr1983]

One thing I like about Vintage guitars is playing them just adds to the character. That means for every ding or dent or rub doesn’t impact the value as much as when you get that first ding in your brand new guitar.

The one thing I dislike though is when something breaks down and you need to get it fixed. Luthier and good ones are hard to come by because it’s more of a profession of passion

bad refret job was my biggest fear.

[garybaldy]

Wonder if picking up a $2 million Stradivarius to play professionally causes testicular retraction….

Probably not in this case!

[yebdox]

Pleasure is priceless to a hedonist. I’m a life long auto racer. I built or restored and maintained many cars over about 55 years, living by the rescue-restore-race-resell plan to pay for the hobby.

Although I stuck to inexpensive cars I could flip easily, I have many friends who bought out-of-vogue high end cars on the cheap. The most notable was a mid ‘50s Ferrari that was worth almost nothing back in the late ‘60s when two school teachers bought it together and raced it for many years in our vintage club. By the ‘90s, it was extremely valuable - but they brought it to the track and raced it just as I did with original Mini Coopers, formula Vees , Bug Eye Sprites etc.

I once asked them how they felt about racing a car worth over a million dollars. They both told me it cost them about $2k each when they bought it. Even if they rolled it into a ball, it was worth at least $100k. The fun was worth it to them.

Another friend bought a well worn Porsche 550 back when they could be had for peanuts. I noticed a dollar sign painted on the steering wheel hub and asked him what it was. He relied “ That’s my rev limiter”.

Never, reading your posts over the years, listening to your obvious musical skill, enjoying your eloquence on physics, electrical engineering and now auto racing, I can only conclude that you have been hiding your true identity from the rest of us all this time:

[John A.]

You get in your car every day and cost yourself perhaps a couple of hundred bucks in depreciation, risk thousands more in repair/collision costs, and thousands beyond that by parking it on a street where someone might steal your catalytic converter or your fancy wheels. And you worry about a scratch in your guitar? Play it.

[Aiq]

…bad refret job was my biggest fear.

Robert Scoby at Martin Music in Memphis.

Archtop master.

But…he doesn’t deal with shipping, one must drop off/pick up.

[garybaldy]

One reads the words 'resale value' quite often this forum. That doesn't interest me one bit. My now rather grown up kids will inherit them all. They know very little about guitars so in each case will be a note about what the guitar is, any quirks or interesting facts about it and roughly (because who knows?) what they may get for it. It's up to them then.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

Never, reading your posts over the years, listening to your obvious musical skill, enjoying your eloquence on physics, electrical engineering and now auto racing, I can only conclude that you have been hiding your true identity from the rest of us all this time

Thanks for the kind words! I’ve always loved learning and doing things. But I’ve never been a faddist, and I have a few enduring lifelong passions. I’m a lousy spectator - so if I can’t do it, I rarely enjoy watching it for long. When we downsized to an apartment, I no longer had a shop and had to stop racing or pay somebody to do what I used to do myself. Unless you do it all, racing is expensive. I always got my $ back when I sold a race car because I did pretty well on the track and had a reputation as a decent builder & mechanic. I often raced against cars I’d built, which was great fun. But I can’t do that any more.

Interestingly enough I was occasionally accused of substituting a less potent engine in a car I sold, because the new owner couldn’t come close to my track times. Fortunately, either I or friends in the club who were as good as or better drivers than I am would take the car out and hit my times

But it’s OK. I still have music, photography, food, wine, audio, travel (to some extent), plus my kids and the love of my life (my wife). Here I am at Summit Point Raceway in West Virginia in about 1985.



And this was my most aggressive restoration in its maiden voyage at Mid-Ohio in 1989. It’s the 16th Lotus Seven made. I got it for next to nothing after an overly aggressive club member wrecked it and his shoulder. I did the entire restoration myself and put it on the pole at the 1989 Vintage Fall Festival at Lime Rock, CT. I came in second when the guy behind me made a wildly dangerous kamikaze pass attempt in the final turn on the last lap. I let him go by rather than risk the integrity of my car (and its driver!)

[yebdox]

You get in your car every day and cost yourself perhaps a couple of hundred bucks in depreciation, risk thousands more in repair/collision costs, and thousands beyond that by parking it on a street where someone might steal your catalytic converter or your fancy wheels. And you worry about a scratch in your guitar? Play it.

Oh, they still get played! my L5 has a nasty ding that my favorite dog put in it 20 years ago, while rough housing with his brother... had it touched up, but I can still see it, which makes it all the more special.

Then there's that wabi sabi thing. Does the water worry about what it's doing to the rock, or the iron gate? Or the sun on our aging cheeks? If everything is gently collapsing in a disintegration dance towards entropy, then maybe we should celebrate those forces at work. Still, I like other people's scratches on their guitars more than I like mine on my own

[yebdox]

Thanks for the kind words! I’ve always loved learning and doing things. But I’ve never been a faddist, and I have a few enduring lifelong passions. I’m a lousy spectator - so if I can’t do it, I rarely enjoy watching it for long. When we downsized to an apartment, I no longer had a shop and had to stop racing or pay somebody to do what I used to do myself. Unless you do it all, racing is expensive. I always got my $ back when I sold a race car because I did pretty well on the track and had a reputation as a decent builder & mechanic. I often raced against cars I’d built, which was great fun. But I can’t do that any more.

Interestingly enough I was occasionally accused of substituting a less potent engine in a car I sold, because the new owner couldn’t come close to my track times. Fortunately, either I or friends in the club who were as good as or better drivers than I am would take the car out and hit my times

But it’s OK. I still have music, photography, food, wine, audio, travel (to some extent), plus my kids and the love of my life (my wife). Here I am at Summit Point Raceway in West Virginia in about 1985.



And this was my most aggressive restoration in its maiden voyage at Mid-Ohio in 1989. It’s the 16th Lotus Seven made. I got it for next to nothing after an overly aggressive club member wrecked it and his shoulder. I did the entire restoration myself and put it on the pole at the 1989 Vintage Fall Festival at Lime Rock, CT. I came in second when the guy behind me made a wildly dangerous kamikaze pass attempt in the final turn on the last lap. I let him go by rather than risk the integrity of my car (and its driver!)

More evidence of your career before Dos Equis!

[Jsparr1983]

The resources out there say that magnet length didn’t consistently change on a specific day or year and there isn’t a great way to crack them open but you can tell long and short but looking under the pickups

[gaheris]

I have been feverishly looking for 175 in the last couple of months and the prices are truly eye-opening. I recently bought a Nashville built, 1997 ES-175, for about 3800 USD. I kept wondering if it was too much before I pulled the trigger.

In the beginning I wanted a early 50s P-90 equipped 175 a la early Jim Hall, but ones with decent condition and from reputable sellers are in the ~12000 USD range, so factoring in the risk of buying vintage sight unseen and the troubles with Brazilian Rosewood, I went with the 90s ones which seem to have great reputation and a relatively wise buy from the cost-performance perspective.

The "bargain find" seems now to be with the no-mahogany ones from Norlin, but they are still somewhere in the 2500-4000 range, which is too much for their not very attractive heavy plasticizer finish. And then there are the Memphis ones from mid 2000s til the late 2010s, but those are about 4000 these days and a bit meh, in my humble opinion.

Not easy to find good deals with ES-175 these days. You are more likely to find good deals with L-4 CES, Les Pauls, Byrdlands, etc.

[jim777]

My 175 is a 70's Ibanez copy, but I LOVE that guitar. I think I'd be more upset if that guitar got stolen than any of my other guitars, honestly.