The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
Reply to Thread Bookmark Thread
Page 2 of 9 FirstFirst 1234 ... LastLast
Posts 26 to 50 of 218
  1. #26

    User Info Menu

    Likely many of these non-professional "rich" (?) used to be poor too when they were young, and could only dream of the expensive Gibsons of their heroes. Now these "rich" finally can afford these expensive guitars and are willing to pay for them. Current young professionals play even more expensive and exclusive Schottmüllers, Moffas, Bakers, Marchiones. Not unlikely a next generation will complain that these guitars are only available for the "rich" (whoever that may be at that time).

  2.  

    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #27

    User Info Menu

    Prices of archtops have been steadily increasing for decades. Since they’re not making any more of them (i.e., Gibson’s iconic archtops), it’s a sure bet they will go up in price. Supply/demand, you know.

    I read that 8% of the US population are millionaires. That’s a lot of $$$ to chase guitars. Recent money injections into the economy probably accelerated things, but the trend was clear way before 2020.

    Anyway, I think it would be more rewarding to praise the current crop of affordable (non-Gibson) archtops, and perhaps persuade Gibson to make affordable archtops again, than to bitch about prices of guitars they aren’t making any more.

    Light a candle, don’t curse the darkness.

  4. #28

    User Info Menu

    We also lose perspective on what expensive really is as guitarists. Many bass players are gigging on basses that cost more than their cars

  5. #29

    User Info Menu

    Honestly it's pretty obvious prices will not go down, probably ever. Perhaps plateau sometimes, dip a bit, but overall the trend will be up.

    Have prices for Strads ever gone down? I don't think a Strad has been in a top 40 tune, maybe ever, but doesn't mean anything for their intrinsic value (I could be wrong about Strad recordings, I'm not an expert in that genre).

    Bassist friends of mine seek out century old instruments from Europe, and a basic one will be tens of thousands easily.

    Compared to that, almost any guitar is cheap. But for the ones that are distinctively of another era, and cannot be replicated, the scarcity will forever keep the prices up.

    And even the well made Eastman, Ibanez, and yes Gibson guitars made today will hold their value if they survive another 50 years.

    But - they must be played the whole time, as much as possible. The wood learns to sound good by being played. Don't stash your fine Chinese made Eastman in the closet hoping it will accrue value. When that thing is played almost into the ground, repaired as needed, played into the ground again, that's when it proves itself.

  6. #30

    User Info Menu

    And you have to factor in for a bit of Old Man Syndrome, especially on these boards :-)

    OMS: "The cost of things today is crazy! Why, I remember when a bottomless cup of coffee was 30 cents, and a gallon of gas was about the same."

  7. #31

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by ccroft
    And you have to factor in for a bit of Old Man Syndrome, especially on these boards :-)

    OMS: "The cost of things today is crazy! Why, I remember when a bottomless cup of coffee was 30 cents, and a gallon of gas was about the same."
    Darn kids these days! Why, when I was growing up, we walked 12 miles to school every day, up hill in both directions and in 6 feet of snow, and I grew in Southern California. Kids these days, don't know nuttin' from nuttin'. Get off my lawn, you, you whippersnapper. Harummmmmph!

    Tony

  8. #32

    User Info Menu

    Is that why they wear gloves?

  9. #33

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by Litterick
    Is that why they wear gloves?
    Definitely. Real men wear gloves when they play guitar.

    Tony

  10. #34

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by tbeltrans
    Definitely. Real men wear gloves when they play guitar. Tony
    I played a Christmas gig wearing gloves. It was a country club and they were skimping on heat. They also tried to short us. Goodwill to Men, indeed!

  11. #35

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by citizenk74
    I played a Christmas gig wearing gloves. It was a country club and they were skimping on heat. They also tried to short us. Goodwill to Men, indeed!
    Internet reviews are a powerful tool today. Negative reviews can cost a business serious money. Before posting, why not tell them how you'll let others know online how you were treated? You might be surprised at their compassion.
    Marinero

  12. #36

    User Info Menu

    [QUOTE=Litterick;1216117][FONT=book antiqua]I saw a photograph, I think on this forum, of part of one man's collection: more than twenty examples of one model of Gibson archtop. It struck me as obsessive to hoard all those guitars, when one would have been enough, and unfair on all the musicians who would not have the opportunity to play them.Of course, hoarding can be a form of market manipulation, since it creates scarcity.


    (End quote) With respect, my friend, such player/collectors perform a valuable function in preserving and mantaining these irreplaceable instruments for future players and scholars to enjoy.There are lots of playable instruments at many price points. I began with junk and worked my way up playing music. Life isn't fair, but it does provide opportunities!

  13. #37

    User Info Menu

    [QUOTE=citizenk74;1216238]
    Quote Originally Posted by Litterick
    [FONT=book antiqua]I saw a photograph, I think on this forum, of part of one man's collection: more than twenty examples of one model of Gibson archtop. It struck me as obsessive to hoard all those guitars, when one would have been enough, and unfair on all the musicians who would not have the opportunity to play them.Of course, hoarding can be a form of market manipulation, since it creates scarcity.


    (End quote) With respect, my friend, such player/collectors perform a valuable function in preserving and mantaining these irreplaceable instruments for future players and scholars to enjoy.There are lots of playable instruments at many price points. I began with junk and worked my way up playing music. Life isn't fair, but it does provide opportunities!
    Being born in the mid-70's Archtop guitar's heyday had long finished. Especially the Acoustic archtop.
    I have no Nostalgia for archtops of a particular make or model. I have no desire to collect any of them. Yes they are beautiful and pretty and some sound spectacular. But no museum is making an effort to protect them all beyond a few select examples. Who will? Being so sensitive to environmental controls, having Grandma store Grandpa's old L5 in the attic would probably make most on this forum cringe at the lifespan shortening care these old instruments will endure.

    But I bet there will be many out there who have the means and willpower to obtain and preserve these Guitars. A high price dissuades their general circulation and consequential mistreatment/theft/damage/destruction. That said we can only hope these collectors also have good security systems, environmental control and fire protection for these highly concentrated collections of value. Given the outlay to generate these collections I would suspect (hope) so.

    A sad fact of life though is that these collections will eventually need new custodians. When that happens I guess there will either be a "price bubble collapse", new custodians of collections or Museums with lots of 100yr old + Guitars to store. Anyone's guess really. If Hollowbodies are still relevant enough in 30 years time, their value might actually hold. In 30 years time the Guitar and its relevance as an instrument will probably not resemble anything like what we see as new today.

    In 40 years time I'll come upstairs and tell you how it panned out!

    EMike.

  14. #38

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by tbeltrans
    Definitely. Real men wear gloves when they play guitar.

    Tony
    I meant the bass players. It was a response that failed because of timing.

  15. #39

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by citizenk74
    With respect, my friend, such player/collectors perform a valuable function in preserving and mantaining these irreplaceable instruments for future players and scholars to enjoy.There are lots of playable instruments at many price points. I began with junk and worked my way up playing music. Life isn't fair, but it does provide opportunities!

    Yes, that is true – if the instruments are stored in optimum conditions. But I think there is a great distance between player/collectors and hoarders. The former are motivated, at least in part, by the pleasure of playing various guitars. They might also be pursuing closure/completion/perfection,* as might the hoarders – but some of the latter just want to make money, by manipulating the market. If they succeed, those nice guitars become unaffordable. Even if they fail, they have held on to nice guitars that we might have owned. I think they will fail, because the world is changing rapidly and unpleasantly: younger generations do not want nice guitars, and in any case do not have the money to buy them. I believe anyone who thinks his guitars will maintain their value is likely to be disappointed. The opportunities we enjoyed are vanishing.



    *Danet, Brenda and Tamar Katriel. 1989. “No Two Alike: Play and Aesthetics in Collecting.” Play & Culture. 2:3, pp. 253–77)

  16. #40

    User Info Menu

    If you want an expensive guitar, work hard, earn money, and buy one.

    We're talking $5000 - $7500. It's not that much.

  17. #41

    User Info Menu

    Just don't forget to eat.

  18. #42

    User Info Menu

    Alternatively use that time to practice on the guitar you have and develop the ability to sound good on any guitar and get lots of gigs. Some time later, a guitar builder may give you an expensive guitar at discount.

    (this does happen, although sadly not for me)

  19. #43

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by Spook410
    If you want an expensive guitar, work hard, earn money, and buy one.

    We're talking $5000 - $7500. It's not that much.
    Where I live and the current cost of living, us$5000 will buy my family of 4 weekly groceries for 30 weeks.

    That is a lot of money. And we’re not starving at that rate. Just some perspective.

    m

  20. #44

    User Info Menu

    My 93yo parents are uneducated self-made millionaires through frugal living and savings and cautious investing. Dad didn't even finish HS. When I was a kid we were at the poverty level. Both are now immobile. I am watching their money disappear quickly going to their senior home. I won't be buying any multi-thousand $ guitars. Gotta save it to afford to live in relative comfort.

  21. #45

    User Info Menu

    This is the unfortunate design of the US. One way or another they will have it all. So sad to see this happen over and over and over.
    Quote Originally Posted by Woody Sound
    My 93yo parents are uneducated self-made millionaires through frugal living and savings and cautious investing. Dad didn't even finish HS. When I was a kid we were at the poverty level. Both are now immobile. I am watching their money disappear quickly going to their senior home. I won't be buying any multi-thousand $ guitars. Gotta save it to afford to live in relative comfort.

  22. #46

    User Info Menu

    It always saddens me to see a musician forced to sell his instrument to pay hospital bills.

  23. #47

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by Woody Sound
    I am watching their money disappear quickly going to their senior home.
    That's sad, and I think it'd be the same here in France. Fortunately my mom is in an institution in the Netherlands where she will not be put on the street when her accounts are emptied.

  24. #48

    User Info Menu

    I didn't mean to change the course of this topic, just wanted to mention that at this point in my life (>60), ultra expensive guitars for me would be frivolous and not in my best interest. My $2k 20lb ultralight kevlar/carbon fiber canoe was enough.

  25. #49

    User Info Menu

    I'm a free market capitalist and I realize that all people are not created equal in their abilities to make money. However, among all the instruments, guitars are one of the best instrument values today where a player can buy a very good new/used instrument under $1000.00 US(Jazz or Classical) and play it at the professional level with no drawbacks. So, if someone with the economic means wants to collect vintage guitars, why should that be perceived as negative? Do we, next, tell people how large their homes should be . . . what type of car they can drive and where they should buy their clothes. People should mind their own business and not worry about their neighbors . . . it's just another sign of Big Brother creeping into our lives. Oh, and as far as the price increases . . . wait a few more months when our big spending government's actions begin to really squeeze our fragile economy. You might find that vintage beauty at a discounted price.
    Marinero

  26. #50

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by Woody Sound
    My $2k 20lb ultralight kevlar/carbon fiber canoe was enough.
    But isn’t it a bit difficult to get to the gig?