-
that's not true though. With paypal you have to have a backup funding option of a credit card. It's easy to specify your credit card for your paypal purchases. All my paypal purchases are done via my american express card though I personally do not revolve the payments on it.
Originally Posted by mispeltyoof
-
10-02-2015 03:14 PM
-
Sorry about mis info then. All the years,and there are many,I have ben an ebay customer I never knew about the credit card option...nor do I hasten to add did some of my purchasers. Still can't buy from an individual with your card though....
-
You can buy from an individal with a credit card using paypal. You just need to know how to use paypal....
-
Interesting perspectives from both sides of the pond. Let me add my perspective:
1. A good indicator of the economy has always been parking lots at shopping centers and the wait time at better restaurants (not the fast food places). However the internet is changing our shopping habits so shopping area parking lots may not be a good indicator in this age. You can't eat on the internet so I would say restaurants are still a good indicator. Lately here in the states I've not seen a wait list at any of the better restaurants even though the economy is supposed to be doing better. Perhaps folks are overhyping the economy or people are still wary of the future of our economy.
2. My generation (boomer) has been very active in collecting things...it started with baseball card collections for boys and Barbie Doll wardrobes for girls when we were younger. I have not seen anything close to this in the last two generations. Unless this changes we could see severe impact to vintage collections..guitars, cars, Hummels, etc. It's all about supply and demand. As we Boomers pass on our collections will go up for sale to a declining market.
I have seen the markets for vintage articles decline here during the past 4-6 years. They still sell...but prices are a lot more negotiable. Will things improve or get worse...who really knows. In my opinion the next generations will decide.
-
The US economy has been growing at a rate that is greater than in any period since the Clinton era, I believe I saw in the paper yesterday. The deal is, the income associated with that growth is not filtering down broadly. You really have to have an asset portfolio that is thick in stocks and other forms that represent claims on corporate profits in order to be participating in the growth going on right now. Ownership of real estate, etc., just isn't cutting it, and wages aren't growing much at all.
Thus, you may not be seeing lines getting longer at nice restaurants, while the economy may be surging ahead. It's a different kind of recovery, this go around. The guy with the hotel on Boardwalk is doing well; the guy with a house on Mediterranean Ave isn't really experiencing much of a bump. [These are metaphors...I am not talking real estate, here.]
Please don't take this as sour grapes. I offer no commentary on this...only an observation.
-
I don't need to know my purchaser does...not come across one yet who has heard of this
)
-
Eddie Charles makes a point that is consistent with what I have run into. Stuff still sells. Stuff at the lower end of the spectrum still sells reasonably well. Mid-to-higher grade stuff is somewhat "mushy" right now. Even though the economy is broadly well enough, people are balking. Originally Posted by Eddie Charles
I just don't see that X-ers and Millennials are the collectors that the Boomers have been...at least not the same stuff. You can probably sell a pile of Yu-Gi-Oh cards to somebody, while Gibson archtops gather moss on listings.
What's happening with classic cars, these days? Collectible shotguns? Etc?
-
Last couple of classic car shows I attended were short on attendees and long on "for sale" signs. They had some real nice cars. I also noted that the attendees at the shows were about as old as the cars and trucks!
Collectable firearms are going through a change...classic Winchesters, Colts, and S&Ws are definitely mushy. Lots of them sit on the shelves for a while. For some reason Vintage military market seems strong but I've heard the Garand market is about saturated. The last CMP Garand match I attended was definitely the geriatric crowd. Most needed help getting into a prone shooting position! Parker, LC Smith, and old English shotgun markets are definitely down. These usually spent little time on consignment racks. Not so today. Shotgun sports..Trap, Skeet and Sporting Clays do not have the numbers of shooters competing. I do not see growing markets in collectable firearms at the moment. Modern tactical weapons on the other hand appear to be hot. This segment of the firearm market does appear to have a younger market. Matches with these weapons are well attended by a younger and more mobile crowd.
-
never seen a 125 with a cc Originally Posted by ArchtopHeaven
(150's with cc's yeah)
-
The irony here is that FDR ran on a platform of reducing gvt. expenditure. I know this because I had to debate this in HS history class, and I was Hoover. Much to my surprise, FDR's stated campaign planks turned out to be 180 degrees from what he actually did once he got into office. (My opponent, as FDR, was also dumbfounded when he found out the positions he had to try to justify---in essence, out-Hoovering Hoover.) Originally Posted by Klatu
I did have a lot of fun concluding the debate as follows: "Hoover, the man who will beat back the rising tide of unemployment... Hoover, the man who will sweep away the excesses of bloated gvt.....Hoover, the man who will clean up the scandalous politics of big-city political machines....vote for Hoover, the man who beats as he sweeps, as he cleans!"
-
Definitely not a good market for expensive archtops. Originally Posted by jorgemg1984
An Ibanez Artcore costing $289 at Guitar Center costs 3x+ for us Brazilians!
-
Hi,
I thought this thread was really interesting and have been thinking about it over the last few days. A couple of things;
* There was a fashionable boom in Americana, Alt country, rockabilly and folk on both sides of the Atlantic that I'd guess took off in the late 90s and seems to be tapering off a bit now. It definitely saw more archtops on display. However, the non-jazz use of archtops, like the hipster beard, has probably reached its peak. Fashions change and I'm not convinced a lot of the people using archtops a few years ago are commited for the long term. 80s electro seems to be the latest fad. Not many archtops in there. Moogs maybe .... And some beards.
* As mentioned in a previous post, I agree that the baby boomers are cashing in, stopping gigging and unfortunately some are passing on. There is, inevitably, less people in that age group around to buy the guitar they dreamed of in their youth.
* many new archtops that are "75% of the way there" are often very good guitars and stack up well against vintage instruments for buyers. Clearly not if your the kind of person who will only settle for a vintage Gibson nothing will change the equation but in reality there are many more types of buyers for whom new instruments make more sense.
* undoubtedly controversial on this forum but ........ I was talking to reputable luthier last month who said guitars begin to deteriorate after roughly 40 years and usually need some attention. I have no idea if this is true and can't defend it as a statement but clearly it is true that older instruments do develop quirks and the older they get the more likely it is to happen. Hence the risk to the buyer of spending a lot of money on something that turns out to be a box of problems increases as the guitars get older and older. Perhaps the classic archtops are looking a bit risky for the price unless you have high levels of knowledge on what you're buying.
So, could it be that there are less young fashionable folk into the Archtop, less old folk around to buy them, fashions have changed, the instruments are getting physically older, they're over priced in the current market and the new alternatives just offer better value and less risk to new buyers? Just a thought.
-
I have a hand carved archtop and a solid wood thin line archtop. I just bought a Fender Standard Tele made in Mexico brand new in sealed box for £285. Put a set of Thomastik swing 10's on it and guess what. The jazz sound is terrific and playability beats my archtop hands down plus no feedback nothing to lose taking it out if the house. Can't see me touching my archtops much. No wonder the Young Turks coming out if jazz courses aren't buying archtops why would you.?
-
I have a friend at the Arlington, TX, vintage guitar show this weekend. When he returns he will report on the status of the archtop segment of the market to me. He took a bunch of archtops to the show.
-
I meant to comment on Paul Hughes' comment.
Re: the need for attention after 40 years concerning the deterioration of guitars...I'm surprised that the luthier indicated that the interval was that long.
I used to be in the piano business. Grand pianos generally require a rebuild--not just regulation of the action, but an honest to goodness rebuild--after about 20 years. The entire time you own one, the arch on the soundboard is sagging, the pin block is in process of delaminating, the holes drilled into the pin block for the string tuning pins are becoming out of round and oversized, soundboards crack, and actions get badly out of regulation. Piano strings lose their zing and even fail. All of these things can and should be taken care of.
Guitars are not strung as heavily as pianos (the forces are not, therefore, as tremendous), yet over time necks need resetting, top plates need restoration (re-arching), bridges need attention, nuts need attention, frets need attention, fretboards need attention, binding needs attention, seams..., braces, you name it. This seems to be more problematic in moist, humid places like Japan, than in many locations like the USA--moisture is the enemy of water soluble glues.
Unless you are buying "throw-away" level instruments, you are acquiring guitars that will be around after you are gone. Thus, you are merely a caretaker of the instrument. Ownership involves the obligation to maintain the guitars so that they can be sold in good repair to the next players/collectors--lest your heirs be left with a pile of "stuff."
Of course, one of the characteristics of capitalism is that you are fully able to buy something and just wear it out--if you prefer.
-
I agree Greentone. I have a few instruments that I take the caretaker role with. However, in relation to the OP on Archtop market I think many people are put off, particularly at current prices and the fear of buying a dud. Though an admirable idea, I suspect there just aren't that many people looking to buy an obligation hence the price wobble.
I think there's a whole range of guitars between vintage Archtops and "throw away" (although there's always usaully someone grateful for a guitar of any quality instead of binning it) that are very tempting to buyers as well that require far less maintenance and far more playing/gigging time. I think that's a factor in the current market.
-
I always advise people (in the market for electric guitars) that if you want to buy an instrument that you can play and play--without having to maintain much--the Fender Telecaster is the ticket. You can play any kind of music on it. At the end of the day, you can paddle a canoe, shovel some snow, etc., and it will still play well. It's damned near indestructible (which is why Pete Townshend stopped using Fenders--he couldn't destroy them on stage in his act). AND, they sound simply great.
-
My personal interest in the archtop market was boosted by the D'Angelico and others exhibit at the Met in the summer of 2011. I've collected various archtops over the years as a result. Some were fine. Most were dogs, which goes directly to the earlier comment about maintaining a vintage instrument.
I don't have any problem dumping some money into a 30s L5 so that it continues to be playable.
Eventually, some parts will have to be replaced, which is why the vintage market can be separated into those that play the older ones (and maintain them) and those that are absolutely obsessed with parts originality, but seem content to let them sit in the corner. (I recently spoke to a dealer about a 60s S400 and he was surprised that I would want to purchase it to actually play it!)
Will the 'm' generation be interested in these guitars as they grow older and presumably gain some wealth?
My guess - largely based on those that work for me - is, in short, no.
So buy what you want and can afford. Enjoy it according to your own schedule. The price appreciation on guitars is a fool's game, in my opinion, since the truly valuable ones have been bid up beyond belief. And there are other ways to realize a return on one's money than investing in guitars.
-
haha. since the Clinton era eh? Originally Posted by Greentone
What incredible spin that is. As soon as Bush got in, 9/11 happened. The "Bush Tax Cuts" helped prevent the nation from sinking into the abyss. Even Obama admitted that, when he extended them - remember? I sure do.
Facts are facts.
1. The economy is growing but not fast enough to manage the mounting, astronomically high, debt. Or budget deficit.
2. The number of capable people who are OUT of the work force is at an all time high.
So you're right. It's a jobless recovery. That's not healthy for this or any other nation.
-
archtops were beginning to come into disfavor in the late '70s when I went to the university of miami. I went there being into joe pass and pat martino and while there were still plenty of guys who liked and played that music, there was a very strong anti-tradition sentiment and even then you were looked at as being old-school if you played an archtop.
The guitars that were in favor were Les Pauls and Strats. So, it's no surprise that 40 years later we are seeing the actual fallout of the change-over.
-
jzucker and I were at university at about the same time. I showed up with an archtop acoustic and an archtop electric! People were pretty confused. Oh, I bought a Stratocaster for some credibility factor, but I was so into Barney Kessel, Johnny Smith, Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass, etc., that my peers were inclined to just walk right by my residence hall room.
The anti-tradition sentiment, though, was really just a continuation of the movement that had begun 20 years earlier, when Miles Davis and others pushed people away from diatonic music to modal playing. From "Kind of Blue" right through Pat Metheny, music evolved in the direction of longer vamps with phrasing that intentionally doesn't resolve II/V/I. Coltrane may have sucked up everyone's oxygen, though. I'm not sure the movement progressed all that much after his explorations, IME.
Solid-body guitars were great for these 60s/70s extended explorations. I'm still locked in the time warp I was locked in 40 years ago, I guess. The beauty of the Great American Songbook has me hooked. So, give me an archtop.
And, sure, this art form is going the way of the HAM radio operator.
-
I can relate to that... another of my hobbies, now eclipsed by the effortless global communications made possible via the internet. Originally Posted by Greentone
I'm a little younger than you guys; my college days were in the 1980s. I was coaxed into archtops by Pat Metheny. Only once there over the ensuing decades did I discover all the older guys, all the way back to Eddie Lang as it were.
Clearly somebody is still buying archtops. They do seem to be everywhere. The vintage ones are not being made any more, so I have no real fear for their long term value. If I was a young or less-established builder perhaps I'd be a bit worried. There's no more annual price raising ritual (thank goodness). Guys did that to boost their prestige and exclusivity, perhaps after selling one guitar to a famous cat, but to me it was arrogant and now it might put them into the tiniest niche of markets. If you're Linda Manzer or John Monteleone, you're loving life and not far from retirement anyway, but other luthiers should tread carefully (I'm not going to cite names).
I'm not happy that my collection will be harder to sell one day, but it just underscores that I should get the most enjoyment I can out of it rather than fret (pun) too much about its fluctuating market value.
-
Great post. I'm in the same predicament, and younger than you are (not to mention I'm French). Such is the appeal of the Great American Songbook, I'm not sure it will be going anywhere any time soon. I've had arguments on the Web with veterans of the 60ies era who think the Yardbirds, Hendrix and the Beatles were the greatest musical geniuses since J.-S. Bach and like to lecture the younger generations about their poor musical taste. Yet those guys did not know the first thing about the Songbook, also referred to as Traditional pop, or pre-Beatlemania American music, their own American musical heritage and the significance of people like Porter, Kern, Arlen, Carmichael, Gershwin etc. Once I said that Lennon/McCartney, in my view, were greatly inferior to any of the traditional pop masters, and that the 60ies were what started the dumbing down of pop music, and got flamed. I wasn't just trolling, I truly believe that. That very ignorance and arrogance on the part of the hippie generation is reason enough to think there will be a resurgence of the Songbook and the artistic values associated with it. Originally Posted by Greentone
-
I agree entirely and in addition to the composers you cite, I would add Cahn/Van Heusen, Johnny Burke, Johnny Mercer. Irving Berlin, Rodgers & Hart and lesser mentioned composers such as Tom Adair/Matt Dennis and others. Originally Posted by m_d
The American songbook is the standard by which all else must be measured and your estimation of Lennon/McCartney is exactly the same as mine. Part of what contributed to such ignorance was that the generation in question went from early rock to "Beatlemania" blissfully unaware of the mid'50's to mid '60's contributions to the American songbook by its greatest exponents: Sinatra, Torme, Cole, Hartman, Prysock, Ella, Sarah,Dinah, Holiday, etc.
I often chastise my fellow Americans for their ignorance regarding this topic , when many Europeans, still love those timeless songs and melodies.
Merci beaucoups , mon ami !
-
I would love to play in a rockin' blues band ... Zep and Hendrix covers and some newer stuff to spice it up Originally Posted by m_d
But I always seem to end up in another Big Band playing 30s and 40s music
I've grown to love that stuff
I'm playing bass in a big band now ... we used to play more of the old stuff, but our band director is trying to relive his 70s High School band days so we do more modern big band stuff now than some of us woul dlike
A small jazz group would be my next hope for a gig, even just for jamming, but my day job keeps me on the road too much to commit to something like that
Reply With Quote
Recommandations for Hollowbodies for $600 and under?
Today, 05:20 AM in Guitar, Amps & Gizmos