Great deal on a Super 400…..

[mattyjames]

Just a moment...

Seriously though, is there something special that warrants the price?

[Hammertone]

No. The owner is, perhaps, a bit … unaware of the street value of this particular version of the S-400CESN. Or, being a bit provocative. It just doesn't matter. Reverb is full of such silliness.

[wintermoon]

Nah, he just accidentally added a 0 to the price.
Either that or he's on a lifetime fishing trip.
But it's only been 5 yrs, the salmon will come back to the spawning grounds eventually.

[deacon Mark]

Well you should check out the D'angelico Guitar on Reverb the fellow wants for a Korean made guitar. D'Angelico NYSS-3 Semihollow Archtop Jazz Guitar - Extremely Rare | Reverb

I personally would not want if for even $422.00 bit the decimal is moved over 2 places.

Moral of this story is that Reverb is the guitar Market just look and take it all in. It is like scam email to the elderly or uninformed.

[Mick-7]

The listing has been up there for 5 years now.... some sellers seem to think that if they call a guitar "mint," it will be as attractive to buyers as catnip (a.k.a. catmint) is to cats.

Here's the runner up to it price-wise, it's 1/10th the price ("$14,498 price drop") and has been on Reverb for over 3 years:

Gibson Super-400CES Florentin 1965 - Reverb.com

[wintermoon]

btw, I see I had a conversation w the seller a few years ago.
He said he'd take 245K, and I'm not kidding.

[Mick-7]

Well you should check out the D'angelico Guitar on Reverb the fellow wants for a Korean made guitar. D'Angelico NYSS-3 Semihollow Archtop Jazz Guitar - Extremely Rare | Reverb

I personally would not want if for even $422.00 but the decimal is moved over 2 places.

Moral of this story is that Reverb is the guitar Market just look and take it all in. It is like scam email to the elderly or uninformed.

That's almost funny but.... no.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

Aw, c’mon guys - it’s the “rarest guitar ever made”. You know you want it!

[deacon Mark]

Reverb is getting like politics. If you fabricate a lie and double down on it enough people will believe you right?

[Stringswinger]

Free advertising leads to some absurdity.

It all harkens back to the tragedy of the commons (if you know, you know).

[nyc chaz]

The rarest guitar requires the rarest guitar pick Just a moment...

[gitman]

One of our favorite pet-peeves, right ?

[Archie]

Nah, he just accidentally added a 0 to the price.
Either that or he's on a lifetime fishing trip.
But it's only been 5 yrs, the salmon will come back to the spawning grounds eventually.

Like Gary with the 400/l5 for $90K?

[MarkA]

Not entirely a new story, or joke, I think it was Jack Carter on Ed Sullivan:
Guy on a corner selling pencils. I ask him how much.
One million dollars.
A million dollars? That’s crazy!
Yeah but if I could sell just one.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

It all harkens back to the tragedy of the commons (if you know, you know).

But the tragedy of the commons is the eventual loss of the resource in question through overconsumption by greedy, selfish users. High prices are just a barrier to use. The resource in question here (the supply of fine archtop guitars) is still available. It’s just not as easily accessed as it used to be.

I built and raced cars for decades. There’s a lot of camaraderie in the pits. So I became friendly with some very wealthy competitors, many of whom are simple, low key people despite their wealth. One bought a famous car collection that contained a Bugatti Royale, which was the largest Bug ever built. There were and still are 6, and they’re worth many millions.

He invited my wife and me to visit when the cars had been moved to his facility, but he sold the Royale within weeks of buying it and it was already gone when we arrived to play with the cars. I was amazed, since it’s one of the rarest and most valuable cars in the world. So I asked him why he sold it.

He prefaced his answer with “You may not understand this, but…”. He told me that he’d never liked them and simply didn’t want it. He explained that they’re so rare and valuable that care and security are a given. Barring a major natural disaster, they’ll be around forever. They may be expensive, “…..but I have enough money so that if I ever decide I want one, I can just buy it”.

Being priced out of a market isn’t a tragedy of the commons. It’s just a tragedy of being common. Thankfully, I love my common guitars and my common life. But I sure would love to have Tony Mottola’s 7 string Super 400…….

[Stringswinger]

But the tragedy of the commons is the eventual loss of the resource in question through overconsumption by greedy, selfish users. High prices are just a barrier to use. The resource in question here (the supply of fine archtop guitars) is still available. It’s just not as easily accessed as it used to be.

My comparison to the "commons" was mostly about overuse of a free resource, which we see with Reverb, eBay and Craigslist. You mention "greedy, selfish users". All of those platforms are full of them. In fact, some of their ads have clearly been linked in this thread.

But one could make the argument that the hoarding of fine archtops by well to do collectors (hey, I resemble that remark!) does remove many fine guitars from being used by musicians playing in public, making the resource less available, though admittedly, not totally lost.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

But one could make the argument that the hoarding of fine archtops by well to do collectors (hey, I resemble that remark!) does remove many fine guitars from being used by musicians playing in public, making the resource less available, though admittedly, not totally lost.

Sadly, I think my weathy friend has it right: if you have enough money, everything is for sale. The main consequence of that is the ever-growing barrier between us normal people and "them that has" (thank you, Brother Ray!). But he's also right that truly rare and valuable things are generally kept well and safely. So the rarer and/or more desiable something is, the less likely it is to be destroyed or allowed to fall into terminal disrepair.

What drives prices beyond reason is what is known in the used car industry as "the greater fool theory". There's always someone out there who thinks he (or she) knows more than the rest of us. It reminds me of one of my favorite poems:

Great fleas have little fleas upon their backs to bite 'em,

And little fleas have lesser fleas, and so ad infinitum.

And the great fleas themselves in turn have greater fleas to go on;

While these again have greater still, and greater still, and so on.

[wintermoon]

Like Gary with the 400/l5 for $90K?

sold in 2 weeks.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

sold in 2 weeks.

It's just the "greater fool theory" in action

[jim777]

Well you should check out the D'angelico Guitar on Reverb the fellow wants for a Korean made guitar. D'Angelico NYSS-3 Semihollow Archtop Jazz Guitar - Extremely Rare | Reverb

I personally would not want if for even $422.00 bit the decimal is moved over 2 places.

Moral of this story is that Reverb is the guitar Market just look and take it all in. It is like scam email to the elderly or uninformed.

That one is actually a Vestax made Japanese guitar built by the same folks who made the NYL line. There is another on Reverb for a much more reasonable $2100, which is actually a steal for those guitars.

[Sam Sherry]

Free advertising leads to some absurdity.

When I see those I think, "Honey, I listed it for sale but nobody is buying . . ."

[Stringswinger]

When I see those I think, "Honey, I listed it for sale but nobody is buying . . ."

Perhaps some of those ads are marriage savers? Who knew?

[joman50]

Well, Seller said it was very unique. Hence $51,000+, but he's open to offers.

[joman50]

You can say that again! lol