dramatically such that after three years many condition and fully original are going up in strong, and I would like to see the Europeans
instruments had fallen to less than half their value only because there are only so many left and Japanese more involved, but I think the
price at the peak of the bubble in the beginning in that condition. Everything from top models exchange rate will have to change. We always
of 2007. The speculators had dropped out of Les Pauls, Stratocasters, Telecasters as look for the best examples that we can find.
and to this day many have not returned to well as lesser models but great examples can We try not to bottom-feed, I think that is what
this market. transcend market value. There are a lot of has distinguished us from many of the other
sleepers such as archtop jazz guitars, Gibson stores. We are very careful to describe our
Recently, the market is showing some signs of acoustics, smaller body Martins, Jaguars and instruments accurately and have never been in
revival, but many instruments still are bringing Jazzmasters, as well as certain model Gretsch a lawsuit. I think trust is very important when
very significantly less today than they were a guitars, and Rickenbackers that I believe are you are dealing with antiques. People have to
decade ago when the market was at its peak. still under valued. When you think about the know that they are dealing with experts, and
I used to claim that I did not have a crystal ball values of other collectables, such as baseball have to feel confident whenever they are buying
to help me see where things were going, but cards, coins, stamps, paintings etc guitars still anything that is significant.
I corrected that recently by purchasing a 10- seem to be pretty reasonable. Unlike other inch crystal ball, which I now have on the small collectables, this is functional art. Guitars are table in front of my desk. When I look through durable, they make sounds, and when you it, it is evident that the world is upside down compare it to these other collectables, they since crystal balls act like a lens, which flips have a use.
the image. In summary, prices at the moment
appear to have stabilized, but many very fine In terms of guitars that are slipping archtops rare vintage instruments are significantly harder have become quite reasonable, but these to sell today than they were 20 years ago. What guitars are the most difficult to build and would is evident, however, is that the true golden era be the most difficult to replace. I believe these instruments such as pre-World War II Martin guitars are terrific bargains in comparison to Les and Gibson acoustics made during the 1930s Pauls, Stratocasters, and the like. Also, guitars and 1950s electric guitars by makers such that are heavily modified and in poor condition as Gibson, Fender, and Gretsch are viewed are much more difficult to sell. In terms of the JAY BOONE -
by collectors as the most desirable and the exchange rate, the dollar is very strong against EMERALD CITY GUITARS
best investments. both the Yen and Euro, so “out of the country” SEATTLE, WA
sales have slightly dropped, but this is always
Today the market is under stress due to changing a temporary thing. I think the world is aware I see that the 57-58’ Les Paul Goldtops’
demographics with aging baby boomers, that one of the things that we did best is build with PAF’s are definitely a guitar on the rise.
millennials who do not share the boomers acoustic steel string guitars, and quality electric Commonly referred to as a poor man’s Burst,
interest in vintage instruments, competition guitars. I believe the demand is still there, but we have watched the value of these rise
from eBay, Reverb, Craig’s list, and Amazon, the exchange rate is definitely a factor. For significantly in the last two years.
a market flooded with highly discounted my store we have had possibly the best year new instruments due to overproduction by ever, which means Americans are recognizing Gibson Les Paul Jr’s and Specials from the
manufacturers, and fierce competition from the quality of these instruments and want to 1950’s and 1960 have taken a dip in the market
brick-and-mortar dealers as well as keep them in the since 2008.
online sales. All my crystal ball tells me country. A lot of
at the moment is the world has gone that has to do In terms of the state of the vintage guitar
topsy-turvy upside down. with our social market, we have had successive record years
media, at Emerald City Guitar and in the first seven
which
has exploded.
NORMAN HARRIS -
weeks of 2017 we have already done 1/3 of
our gross annual sales from 2016. I would
NORMAN’S RARE GUITARS
TARZANA, CA
What we are finding is that the best
Based on our have to say from our perspective that the
sales, I think the market is very strong if you can continue to find
market is very great inventory.
examples, guitars that are in the finest
Mar Apr 2017
CollectibleGuitar.com
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