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You must have 18 wonderful guitars!
Originally Posted by Stringswinger
I have always thought of guitars as tools myself, but at some point in the last 20 years, I began to think that they might be better than cash, investment wise, and for awhile, the right guitars (iconic Fender, Gibson and Martin models) were in fact, better than cash in the bank. But I think that day has passed.
I will turn 69 in a few months and I do not see adding any more guitars to the 18 that I own at present. At the most, my guitars may be worth about 120K altogether, though I think if I sold all of them, I would probably net around 90K, which is more than I paid for them. Even if the values were to go down to 25 % of current value, my loss would still be less than what I would lose over time if I bought a nice new car, and my enjoyment of the instruments has been priceless, so it is all good. I have pretty much had every model of guitar and amp that I have ever wanted.
At some point, I may trim the herd just to reduce the amount of time spent looking after them, but that point ain't today.
I have a Harley-Davidson motorcycle that I bought new for $7500 in 1983. In 1997, when Harleys were in super high demand, a guy offered me 10K to sell it to him. At the time, I was mostly riding a 1996 Harley that I bought new for $10,000, so I could have recouped the purchase price of the new bike by selling the older one. But that 83 Harley was my first new Harley and I had ridden it to Alaska (among other cool places) and with all of the memories of the many trips done on that bike, it had become family. Today, that bike is probably worth about 5K and if you factor in inflation, that means it is now worth about 25% of what I was offered in 1997. Do I have any regrets about not selling back then? No. I have enjoyed owning that bike since I bought it and I continue to enjoy ownership of it.
Obsessing over the value of your stuff is a surefire way to stop enjoying your stuff. One day, we will all die and our stuff will be sold, donated or given away (mostly). Enjoy your stuff while you can. Life is short and the grim reaper is waiting.
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07-17-2026 02:16 PM
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I've told this story before, but it bears repeating here. I'm a lifelong auto racer in both SCCA and vintage clubs. Like many of my friends, I've always built and maintained my own cars (which is the only way I could afford to race). Two of my friends are teachers who raced an early '50s open Ferrari that they bought in the mid '60s when battered old Ferarris were of no interest to anybody and worth very little. But by the early '90s, the car was worth about half a million dollars. Yet they continued to race it regularly in our vintage club, where mishaps are uncommon but not unheard of. Originally Posted by Stringswinger
Obsessing over the value of your stuff is a surefire way to stop enjoying your stuff. One day, we will all die and our stuff will be sold, donated or given away (mostly). Enjoy your stuff while you can. Life is short and the grim reaper is waiting.
I once asked them how they could justify racing a car that was so valuable, when they could have just as much fun in a $20k car while safeguarding their investment. The answer was simple: they paid a few thousand dollars for it and they loved racing it. Even if they rolled it into a ball, it was worth $100k because pretty much anything can be restored these days and someone would buy it.
If you love it, play it. We have Mark C, and there are others waiting with open arms and shops to bring the dead back to life. 'Nuf said!
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I have some gems to be sure. My hope is that they all find their way into the hands of skilled players who will continue to enjoy them after I am gone. Originally Posted by garybaldy
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At first I thought you meant the price of a NEW one went down. But now I see you're comparing the new price paid to the same guitar's 2-yo value. Correct? Doesn't surprise me at all. Several years ago I bought a new PRS C24 Piezo, I think about $2800, because it had a minor unattractive grain pattern flaw, purely consmentic, and had sat in the shop for around a year . Today they are asking in the $5k-$6k-ish range for a new one, depending on the wood/finish. I just sold mine for $3k this year.
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Originally Posted by Stringswinger
I can understand this. I was doing some framing and while I was at the hardware store, I saw framing hammers. $45 for hammer? Then I thought about the hammers I have a home, regular claw hammers that were my wife's grandfathers. I was a little miffed about the project I was doing so I thought, why not by a nice hammer if I've got to be doing manual labor on my day off.
To say it was an improvement is the understatement of the century, this hammer has a magnet to hold the nail, no smashed fingers. It's weighted in a way that makes it hit hard but easy to swing. It's got 3 ways to pull a nail, and the head is designed in a way that buries a nail without marring the wood. Sometimes you don't even realize you need a better tool.
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How does it sound? Originally Posted by AllanAllen
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Give it a couple more years, yet. Folks are holding onto their beloved high end guitars and/or still asking high prices, but when the reaper comes a-calling, and it'll happen for a whole generation reasonably quickly , then the families will be much happier to sell collections off at much lower prices - although I suspect dealers will get there first often and try and maintain high prices for a while. But that won't last when they realize that the next couple of generations aren't overly interested.
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I remember some years ago a guy in a suit was buying a 1958 Fender Strat at a local vintage guitar dealers store. I told him I thought the neck had issues when I tried it earlier.
He said,that’s okay I don’t play. I’m just reselling to some one on the west coast for more $$$$$.
That in a nutshell,sums up what ruined vintage instruments for me.
Also they actually make better guitars consistently in the last 15 to 20 years. So other than it’s connection to some long lost time ago.
As a player I could care less. But I never was good at making money.
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I'm not into this for the investment. As long as I don't lose $, I'm happy to use an instrument for as long as I want rent-free.
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I would say that the iconic models from Fender, Gibson and Martin have done the best over time from a purely monetary perspective. Some guitars made by individual luthiers have also done well.
In the world of archtops, this means L-5's, Super 400's, ES-175's and Johnny Smiths along with guitars made by D'Angelico, D'Aquisto, Montelleone and perhaps a few others.
It is said in real estate that the best locations are the first to go up in price and the last to come down in price (in any market, sometimes prices go up and sometimes they come down). I think the same applies to guitars. If preserving value is important to you, choose well.
Bear in mind that guitars will incur maintenance costs, insurance costs and also factor in that inflation must always be considered. Sometimes a guitar could increase in value over the years of your ownership and still be a money losing proposition.
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It does feel a little bit morbid to ruminate on it, but as a member of a younger generation, I do (very selfishly) hope prices come down a bit if there is an influx of these guitars on the market.
I don’t really have any plans towards building an extensive collection, but a nice acoustic L-5P or L-5C or perhaps one of the old D’Angelico cutaways would be something nice to have some day.
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That's basically my view. I had a new 2013 175 for about 10 years and sold it for the same price. I was happy with that for sure. Originally Posted by Woody Sound
Even a little hit would be ok. 1/3 decrease in two years tho...
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Well I do recommend a 2024 eagle at the price they are now! Originally Posted by wfarr
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I bought my ES175 (a 1976 model) in 1982 for about £450, which according to google was equivalent to about £2000 in today’s terms. So I think it’s probably appreciated quite a bit.
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It’s a buyer’s market. The economy has been difficult for the last 6 months. Not a good time to sell, but buying is a great.
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According to AI I bought my first real carved top guitar in 1979. I bought a Bill Barker archtop for $750 from a friend of his. So AI says today that is about $3462 taking into account inflation. The guitar sits here quite nicely in the case and I play it all the time. Since it is pretty close to near mint and I knew Bill very well I put the top dollar value on what I could get if I sold the guitar.
I am not in any way selling the guitar and I would not take double the amount of inflation adjusted amount. Frankly I would have trouble even selling it for $10k but it is not worth that on the marker. Maybe $7500-$9 optimistic for at $9. The S & P index fund I would have $115,000.
Hum.........
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Exchange rate swings also factor in. In 2007, I felt comfortable enough to buy a Benedetto Bravo, when it appeared in a music shop in Helsinki after NAMM. After all, I had slept with Bob Benedetto's book under my pillow and treasured a slab of spruce (still have it) in the hope of becoming a late-in-life luthier like my uncle. He started making violins at 50 and became quite famous.
According to some sources, the Bravo's retail price in the US was 4,799 USD at the time. My price was something like 5,200€, reflecting import costs, Finnish VAT, the seller's commission and the USD/Euro rate at that time. I recently parted ways with the guitar. The Finnish operator Tonefest Guitar Gallery found a buyer in South Korea who offered 5,000 USD. Not bad? Well, the weak USD and the vendor's commission left me with 3,200€.
Tonefest is still trying to sell my pristine 2011 Tal Farlow and a 1970s Fender Artist Plectrum Banjo bought from Elderly in the early 2000s. I'll lose money on the banjo for sure. Tal - probably.
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It wasn't until 2022, at the age of 66, that I was able to start my modest collection of 4 figure (£s) archtops here in the UK.
The prices were irrelevant. I felt that time was running out for me! Four years on it's speeding up. I play them to death. I'm not selling any and I don't know what they are, or will be, worth. My 5 kids can share them (and all the other instruments) and get what they can for them.
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Yup. That is a very wise point. Originally Posted by Stringswinger
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A friend of mine once told me, "If its not for sale it has no relevant monitary value."
They are just trivial talking points that distract from an items intrinsic value.
Put your ledger away and listen intently as you pluck a few strings. That will reveal its value.
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We will always live in a society that prizes fame or objects connected to it. How that value is perceived,depends on each generations concept of value.
And while in the case of guitars,the upside is reproduction of some great guitars at a more reasonable price. Also the interest in Fine Lutherie is as well.
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Indeed. The enjoyment of an instrument that inspires your playing is impossible to reduce to monetary terms. Originally Posted by Sigmund451
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Value is a simple mathematical calculation : value = worth / cost. Either consciously or subconsciously, we each define the worth of many, many things to us and act accordingly. Originally Posted by jads57
More often than not, worth is a relative value that we determine by comparing how much we want each of the many things competing for our dollars and other resources. For a guitar, that includes not only the actual instrument but also the image you think it conveys and how you think having it would make you feel.
Buyer’s remorse is probably as much the realization that it didn’t deliver the intangibles as it is that the actual instrument disappoints. For whatever reason, you realize that having it wasn’t worth its cost to you.
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I have never been fond of just making money for money’s sake. And I never attached perceived value as in who’s owned or played it for the most part.
I try and enjoy the individual instrument for what it affords me as player, not to show off to others.
I’m old enough to remember vintage guitars as used instruments. And also understand how and when the market more or less started with Sunburst Les Pauls.
In fact I remember in the early 1970’s you could hardly give away old Fenders. And buying pre CBS rosewood Teles and Strats for $150 each.
Everybody is entitled to their opinions and likes. But the main thing is it’s always the Magician and not the Wand.
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Lots of interesting points made in this thread, but with regard to your original point, why would you expect the 2 year old used Heritage to be listed for any more than 1/3 off the new price? Originally Posted by joe2758
For starters, you got a 2 year warranty, the buyer of that used one doesn’t.
When I’m buying used, I’d expect to pay considerably less than 1/3 off the cost of new. If the seller isn’t budging I’d rather just buy new (especially since a discount from MAP is typically available).
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