Guitar buying frenzy is over

[Greywolf]

I think my PRS Frenzy of the last few months has subsided , 4 guitars and an amp all the stuff of dreams.

[DawgBone]

Very nice! All that's missing now is the PRS guitar cable!

Tell me about the guitar on the right, she's beautiful. It actually has two vol two tone controls which is mostly why I never look at PRS cause most of them don't and the ones that do are way past my price range. Is that an ebony board or a really dark brazilian board? Looks like it's deeper in the body. Thickness? Is that a fat-wide neck?

[Greywolf]

Left to right 2013 Walnut Limited edition 1 of 25 made, mahogany body/neck Brazillian rosewood fretboard green abalone inlays claro walnut top 57/08 TM pickups with a coil tap on the tone. They are 20% hotter than the 58/15LT's

2001 McCarty Soapbar 10 top with PRS/Duncan designed P90's ..the later ones weren't a high output

2021 Special semi hollow Artisan with flame maple neck and board 58/15 Low Turns and a narrowfield , coil taps 12 pickup combos

2021 McCarty 594 HBII Artisan with the blue fade finish 58/15 LT's with coil taps on the tone controls and Ebony board with green abalone inlays .

[tbeltrans]

GUITAR BUYING FRENZY IS OVER

It ain't over 'til the fat archtop sings...

Tony

[Doctor Jeff]

Ain't over for me...

[Doctor Jeff]

I think my PRS Frenzy of the last few months has subsided , 4 guitars and an amp all the stuff of dreams.

What a bunch of beauties! That's art right there.

Jealous...

[11SecretHerbsAndSpices]

I've noticed a huge slowdown in sales on my Reverb watchlist. And I usually don't add stuff that is extremely overpriced and expected to sit to it, generally stuff that is reasonably priced that I would consider if they sent me an offer.

And this is for a variety of higher-end guitars, some $4-5k archtops/hollows, some $2-4k PRS, some $2-3k superstrats/shred guitars too.

I don't really look at less expensive stuff, but there have been a bunch of blowouts on Squiers and sales on MIM Fenders. My Guitar Center/Sam Ash stores are also fairly well stocked compared to early 2021. Lots of pedals piling up in the used section.

I personally have slowed down a bit, but I think that's more because I got my first good job in 2018 and bought a bunch of stuff for a couple years I never could afford and figured out what I really liked.

That coincided with Covid and I bought the best version of that "stuff" and have a pretty set roster so not much GAS. Also don't have a ton of space and hate maintaining a ton of guitars.

Not sure if we'll see a crash, but open to grabbing a few things I don't "need" if they go low enough.

[Greywolf]

The others ....

[Cunamara]

Well, archtops seem to be a safer investment than cryptocurrency.

[plasticpigeon]

Things seem to be a bit mad price wise in the UK too. I'd quite like a 175 but I have seen 175s shoot up from around 2k to 4.5k and even more. There are people trying to sell early 60s ones for 12k!!! I remember seeing a 1950s L-5 for half that a few years back!! I think it was the boredom and extra time people had that sent everything skywards, and prices are now just a bit sticky. I'm sure prices will come down again, and if they don't I will enjoy what I've got. I wish property prices would fall too but I think there are real fundamental structural and supply problems there.

[Marty Grass]

I grew up in Kalamazoo and remain here. I can't help myself. I love guitars.

When Gibson was cranking out hundreds a day, guitars were everywhere. Employees bought the 2nds and BGNs for low prices and they were able to buy a couple of perfectly good ones at wholesale price, two per year. Many of the employees flipped them. I worked as a stock boy at a party store and could afford nice axes at great prices. At 15 I had a mint Epiphone Howard Roberts Custom made at the Gibson plant. In 9th grade I bought my trusty ES-345 that was unplayed. My friends had much of the same opportunities.

The truth is, one or two or maybe three guitars should be enough. But that's not the case.

[tbeltrans]

Well, archtops seem to be a safer investment than cryptocurrency.

I like that idea! However, I am not so sure about the future of our economy becasue things have seemed rather strange ever since COVID lock downs. There could come a time when archtop prices fall faster than Clinton's trousers. Just as with houses, if we don't intend to sell, it won't matter but otherwise, such an event could prove detrimental for those who do wish/need to sell.

Tony

[Stringswinger]

I turned 65 this year. I am sitting on 18 guitars and 4 amps at present. I would say that my buying frenzy is over. Considering my life expectancy (about 20 years at this point), I expect a selling frenzy to happen on my part long before another buying frenzy.

[Oscar67]

I think my PRS Frenzy of the last few months has subsided , 4 guitars and an amp all the stuff of dreams.

Congrats! Wonderful guitars. As a fellow PRS fan I can feel their lure as well. I’m caressing a DC3, an NF3, a DGT and an old SE Soapbar that easily holds its own in this company and is my most loved guitar. I’ve been courting the 594 HB and HB-II but they don’t really do it for me. Someone put a Custom Shop ES-335 ‘59 reissue in my hands and I bought it on the spot. I’m not much of a Gibson fan but it was a no-brainer.

[Christian Miller]

Things seem to be a bit mad price wise in the UK too. I'd quite like a 175 but I have seen 175s shoot up from around 2k to 4.5k and even more. There are people trying to sell early 60s ones for 12k!!! I remember seeing a 1950s L-5 for half that a few years back!! I think it was the boredom and extra time people had that sent everything skywards, and prices are now just a bit sticky. I'm sure prices will come down again, and if they don't I will enjoy what I've got. I wish property prices would fall too but I think there are real fundamental structural and supply problems there.

I’d be skeptical about a lot of those reverb prices. But yes it does appear that 175s have increased in price a lot. Makes sense when Gibson stopped making them.

[plasticpigeon]

The fact that they have increased in value so much suggests that there is a market and that Gibson might do well to start making them again, even if at a low volume. I realise that very action would reduce prices but there has to be a middle ground where a small supply increase could be sustainable.

[djg]

The fact that they have increased in value so much suggests that there is a market

they did not increase in value. price does not equal value.

[plasticpigeon]

they did not increase in value. price does not equal value.

Sure I agree, increased in price is correct. It is all too easy to slip into the language of propaganda if I let my guard down even if just for a moment.