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Literally all new items lose up to 40% of their value shortly or immediately after purchase.
Originally Posted by joe2758
Has nothing to do with guitars and the age of a guitar is not as relevant as miles on a car etc. In the case of guitars, the older, the more value they tend to have.
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07-15-2026 06:59 PM
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Even a Gibson will lose 20-30% Originally Posted by 58flame
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I don't give a rip what my 1990 Bob built Benedetto Cremona is worth in dollars and cents to someone. It's my voice, my instrument to express what I hear in my head and it does a superb job of that.
When I go to live with Jesus it will go to my Niece and Nephew as I never sired any children....not for lack of trying.
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Yeah, no… PM-3C were like $1,200 new and $1,150 used. Then both went up $500.
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Hi Joe - I have a 2023 Heritage Eagle Classic and my guitar has no such depression in the top. Originally Posted by joe2758
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I have seen a lot written that this guy is not really an expert. I would take it with a grain of salt. The boomers were about to sell out their guitars about 10 times in the last couple of decades. Originally Posted by Litterick
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I've never had expensive guitars, but a nice herd of decent middleweights. I've sold six recently, all of which achieved my (realistic) asking price. Whether the fact I'm down-sizing, or the fact that they all sold quickly sheds any light on the current guitar market, I don't know.
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Got a picture? Originally Posted by joe2758
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I looked to see if I could capture at any angle, but I couldn't so I just stringed it back up. I'm not even sure it's visible. It's like a 1" x .5" little imprint you can only feel by sliding you finger on it Originally Posted by 58flame
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Guy is like those doomsday preachers. He's been saying guitar prices are going to crash any day now since he popped up on me feed in 2020. So, for at least six years we've been on the precipice of collapse... Originally Posted by bluejaybill
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I don't see any price collapse on the horizon, but with the exception of Gibson archtops, I have seen a real decline of archtop values over the last 10 years when inflation is factored in. I expect that to continue, albeit slowly and I also expect Gibson archtops to start declining in real value over the next 10 years.
I think classical and Gypsy guitars have also shrunk in value in the last 10 years. Solid Body guitars, semi hollow and flattop guitars, like Gibson archtops have kept up with inflation, but I would bet they start to fall soon as well.
It is all about supply and demand. We are entering a period where the number of guitar players, world wide is on the decline. As the demand goes down, so shall the prices. If you have a guitar collection and justify it by thinking that you have a hedge against inflation, I would suggest that there are better investments for that purpose. The thing is, those other investments are not nearly as much fun to own as a bunch of guitars.
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So, if this is trend is correct, then hopefully in the future, I'll be able to buy some more good archtops at a very low, low price.
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Pretty sure its generational , I coach bands at the local jr college. The young player in one group played a new Gretch and told me he didnt think any git was worth more than $1k. When I showed a few collectable prewars to a fine young player with an Eastman he just smiled...very little interest. I dont see Gibsons "holding their value" reverbs glutted with L5s and 7s very few moving at asking, I had to get well under those askings to sell an excellent '42 7 recently. The gits from Korea and China are now of such quality the current generation of buyers has little attachment to or sentiment for Gibson or boutique archtops. Also semi hollows seem to be in favor and there's some realy nice designs coming out of the east.
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I dont really expect low low prices. The bottom wont drop out unless the bottom everywhere drops out. At that point most of us will be holding on to our cash rather than buying gutiars.
However, I do think there will be a correction. Its hard to say how much becuase at the same time we continue to have pretty significant inflation. I think its inflation more than supply and demand that has driven the prices so high.
Just like there is always one guy saying "The stock market is gonna take a dive" there will be guys saying the market for guitars will. You can say three hundred times for ten years. Eventually you will be right. Kinda like a broken clock being right twice a day.
I do think the guy in the video has a point about people overestimating the worth of their posessions. That is nothing new.
Its really tough to pinpoint a real valuation becuase everything is out of wack. The only real way to nail it down is to know at what price the item will move. You can stick it on Reverb at your wishful price and it can sit for 3 years (like many have) or you can determine a price point that will inspire the buying public to open their wallets.
The boomer's guitars are going to hit the market. Im on the young end of the boomers and Im getting old. Sooner or later Im gonna croak and someone will get some guitars.
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dibbs Originally Posted by Sigmund451
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Right- and then watch them keep going down after you get them! Originally Posted by GuyBoden
So, if this is trend is correct, then hopefully in the future, I'll be able to buy some more good archtops at a very low, low price.
It's hard to say about arch tops. I would expect the ones made in Asia will not hold their value as well as, say, Gibsons. Boutique guitars, arch tops included, don't tend to hold their high initial value either. The solid body and semi market, Gibson and Fender included, is absolutely flooded with instruments. Those companies have been cranking out so many versions that I have not been able to keep track of them all.
Overall, I would expect that guitars will revert to the way their values worked in the '70's, in that you will take a big hit on a new one, and expect the value to keep going down if you are gigging them and beating them up a bit. The Covid guitar bubble is long gone, as it should be.
The only ones I would expect to hold their value are blue chip, golden era Gibsons, Fenders and Martins. And collectible arch tops from the masters.
One other thing, I wouldn't buy a refinished vintage guitar, except to play it, I think they would be less likely to hold their value compared to original instruments.
As everyone has said, buy them to play, and to improve your skills. Invest in investments.
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Depends where/when you buy it. I've never lost money on any Gibson, even ones I bought new. My buddy was a dealer though, so, that helped a lot. Originally Posted by Archie
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This! I started a thread about 6 months ago about whether Eastman would continue to sell well now that various factors have pushed their best archtop prices (new) up toward decent vintage Gibsons and other favorites. Eastman is a private company, so there are no published sales or financial reports from which to glean actual sales volume or revenue by model or segment. Multiple internet reports state that many dealers are selling out large shipments as soon as they come in, but there's no info on which models are moving like that and I can't find any data on archtop sales or even overall sales. Originally Posted by Rickco
The objective info I can find suggests that archtops are not among the fast movers. Guitars 'n Jazz shows 34 new Eastman archtops in stock (incuding a few El Reys), plus several NOS 2022, 2023, and 2024 models and a few used ones. They also have a few new semis and some acoustics. Sweetwater has 372s (HB and P90), 480s, 503s, 910s (for $4799) etc on 10 full pages of Eastman stock. Many other dealers show equally plump inventories on their websites. So it appears that stocks are pretty high right now and the acoustics and lower end electrics are the big sellers.
It will be interesting to see how quickly GnJ moves their current inventory. They had few to none for quite a long time, so I'd expect there to be a backlog of demand. Based on the slow sales of vintage Gibson archtops you and others cite, it appears that few are biting the bullet and buying used L50s, L7s etc in lieu of the flagship Eastman archtops. So it's very hard to predict where archtop prices will be in the near or distant futures. But I think it's clear that few younger buyers think it's worth the price of admission to join the vintage archtop club.
The less common and more desirable stuff is also subject to the simple rule of supply and demand. But in this case, the supply is usually only 1 or 2 and the demand is between 0 and 3. So if I decide I want an L7 and there are none for sale, I'll snap up the first decent one that comes along at or close to the asking price. If there are 2 for sale, I can bargain a bit - and once I buy one, the other will be priced down if it sits much longer. If a second buyer appears, there'll be less wiggle room. If a third comes out of the woodwork, there'll be a bidding war. OTOH there are the "sorta sellers" who ask top dollar plus, and are willing to hang on until they find a buyer who'll pay it. But they're only kinda sorta trying to sell, living in the hope that someone will reward their patience.
These are interesting times...
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One has to always remember when it comes to any kind of rare musical instrument at some point price matters. You could own a real live Stradivarius Violin the real deal. Granted they are worth millions of $$$, however you still have to find someone who has that amount of money and wants one.
As the market shrinks for buyers it becomes hard to match the needs with those who have means. The number of players/collectors that have the money for a pristine James D'aquisto archtop is very small. You have to find them and frankly they probably have enough money that they are busy doing things like working, traveling, hanging out in places that really don't focus on archtop guitars.
It is the small-time crazy people like me and a few forum members that spend time playing guitars and going over them like art works, that really do not represent the usual suspects.
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I’m in the same mindset as those kids. Back when a used Casino was $300 and an ES330 was $3,000. I played both options and can easily say, the Gibson is not 10x better. Originally Posted by Rickco
The brand on the headstock means nothing to me anymore. Made in the USA is no longer a mark of quality and unfortunately can be a mark of cut corners and bean counter syndrome. After all, paying craftsmen to do quality work doesn’t make the stocks go up.
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The number who will gig with a valuable classic guitar or amp is far smaller even than that. Bonamassa owns 10 Dumbles and gigs with his Fuchs. As the world's supply of vintage guitars and amps dwindles through unavoidable attrition and collector hoarding, what remains will be even more closely guarded. Everything has its price, so those with enough money will always be able to buy what they want. But as time goes by and prices go up, there will also be fewer and fewer with enough money. Originally Posted by deacon Mark
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I wonder if when people stop paying the premium for the branding on archtops those companies will simply stop making them rather than try to reduce price point and increase QA
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I think Gibson has already answered that question. Originally Posted by joe2758
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Looking at all the major dealers of archtops online,they don't seem to have gotten the memo that archtop prices are falling,just saying.
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oh I didn't know, I don't really follow this stuff. More of a 1 guitar guy Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
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Dampening a carved top for thunk I think
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