Vintage Gear - When to sell, when not to sell

[Algonquin]

I was chatting with a fellow Fretter today about the value of some vintage gear that has really appreciated. It would be tempting to sell some off and use the funds to purchase something new, but I really don't need anything at the moment.

What do you Folks do with gear that seems to be appreciating? Do you sit on it in the hopes it will continue rising in value, or do you take advantage of when prices are up?

[Spudman***]

I'm just waiting until everything I have is vintage then I'll sell.

This is a good question. It's a bit like the stock market. How do you know for sure?

I think my answer is that I'll sell if I desperately need the money or desperately want something else. I sold an Ibanez Musician well before it was time to sell. It's double the price now that I got for it then. I didn't need to sell it and now I feel like a dunce for doing so. I think it's best to hang on to stuff if you can afford to do it. Mostly good gear doesn't go down in value as time goes on.

So I have to consider how badly do I want a Parker Fly Deluxe? Do I sell stuff now or wait 2-3 years? Hmmm.

[aeolian]

What do you Folks do with gear that seems to be appreciating? Do you sit on it in the hopes it will continue rising in value, or do you take advantage of when prices are up?

Since I don't consider my instruments as investment I don't look at it this way at all. An example is my 1975 Strat, I bought it around 1975 from a guy who had it 3 weeks. 1975 Strats are generally considered some of the worst Fenders ever, but the guitar is still likely worth $3-4,000 or more now, so it seems it would be a good time to dump it and move on. But the fact is I like how the guitar plays and how it sounds. So, as long as I still like this guitar I'll hold on to it.

A reverse example is my Gibson Les Paul Custom. I bought it in 1979, and in spite of keeping it for about 25 years, I decided a few years ago that I have the ultimate dual humbucker guitar in my Yamaha SG1500 already (which I bought in 1976) so I sold it. I got about 3x in dollars what I paid for it, but that was not the motive for selling it, I just prefer to play the Yamaha.

[marnold***]

If I am ever in danger of having a "vintage" instrument or ampf, I'll let you know

[Algonquin]

I can see folks searching through my gear list and thinking... 'What the heck does this guy think he has that is of any value???

[Tone2TheBone]

I told you once and I'll tell you twice, my Jubilee is not for sale.....



now go order a pontoon for the lake.

[markb]

I can see folks searching through my gear list and thinking... 'What the heck does this guy think he has that is of any value???

Your JV strat would fetch a reasonable price today. I see inflated auction prices for Japanese made Boss pedals too. It's really down to "what the market will bear". FWIW I sold a silverface Vibrolux Reverb just over a year ago for nearly three times what I paid for it in 1990. I think I got a good deal as I really hadn't used it much lately. "Too loud", they said.

[Algonquin]

Good replies Folks. No I don't consider purchasing an instrument as an investment, and it wouldn't be a factor for me to sell a piece just because of a few bucks.

But if you have a piece that isn't being used, I don't see the harm in moving it. The couple of pieces I did see that are fetching a good price are TS-9's from the early 80's (which I have), and early versions of the Moog Prodigy (which I also have). The TS-9 I saw was listed well above $300, and the Prodigy's are going between $700 to $1,000 bones :

Who'da thunk it.

[tunghaichuan***]

I wish I still had some of the vintage stuff I let slip through my fingers:

Jim Kelley FACS amp

Ibanez TS-808

Tweed 5B3 Deluxe

Blackface Fender Tremolux & Champ

Silverface Deluxe Reverb & Champ

80s Roland JC-120

Ibanez Artist guitar

Univox Superfuzz

All that stuff would be worth a small fortune today.

tung

[duhvoodooman***]

....Tweed 5B3 Deluxe

Blackface Fender Tremolux & Champ

OUCH! Those caught my attention. I don't know what a "Jim Kelley FACS amp" is, but I'll bet it's GOOD, 'cuz you mentioned it first....

[just strum]

I would guess that my American Fender Strat would be the only one of interest and could or would someday be classified as vintage (I don't see the Dot or Wildkat fitting that category).

I don't know if I would ever sell it, and I really don't know its current value.



As noted, I regret selling the ARC300, nothing vintage about it, but I think it would have been a good guitar to hang on to.

[tunghaichuan***]

OUCH! Those caught my attention. I don't know what a "Jim Kelley FACS amp" is, but I'll bet it's GOOD, 'cuz you mentioned it first....

The FACS amp was one of the first boutique amps, made by Jim Kelley back in the early 80s. FACS stands for "footswitch-activated channel switching." It used a quad of Sylvania 6V6GTA tubes with 470 volts on the plates and put out 60 watts on full power mode and 30 watts on half power. Mine was top of the line: it had a hardwood cab and cane grill. My amp had two identical channels, one was the clean channel, the other had an input for a power attenuator, so you could get cranked amp tones at low volumes. The OD channel sounded like the biggest baddest combo of a cranked Super Reverb/Tweed Bassman you ever heard. The reverb was the best I've ever heard.

I got my amp for $50 because someone blew the OT. The fuses kept blowing so the former owner wrapped it in tin foil : rather than taking it to a tech to repair. I put about $300 into it having the OT rewound and put back in the amp. I ended up selling it for $800 because I needed rent money at the time. Mine is probably worth at least $2K by now. Ouch. Luckily the schematics are available, I plan on scratch-building one someday.

What really hurts about the BF Tremolux is that I had the matching 2x10" speaker cab. I think I got rid of it because it didn't have reverb. Again: :

The other piece of gear that hurts to think about is the original TS-808. I think I paid about $30 for it back in 1988. I sold it for $100 and thought I was getting a good deal. Now it is worth 4-5x that much.

tung

[duhvoodooman***]

The other piece of gear that hurts to think about is the original TS-808. I think I paid about $30 for it back in 1988. I sold it for $100 and thought I was getting a good deal. Now it is worth 4-5x that much.

I hear you (and I've seen what original issue TS-808's go for on eBay), but that one wouldn't bother me, 'cuz I can (and do!) make a better Screamer than that!

Too bad about that Kelley amp though--sounds rippin'!!

[tot_Ou_tard]

Yeah, but when did you sell those? If you got $800 in the 80's vs 2K now & you throw in that you paid your rent. It seems like you came out on top.