Appreciation?

[mixmkr]

What instruments (or musical equipment...ie vintage mics, etc) do you think are PROVEN to have maintained their values or even appreciated over the last 10 years or so? Not what you think...but that might be interesting to hear as well. But preferably PROVEN items.

Lower cost items such as $2k and under could be most interesting versus "$50k Stratocasters".

I tend to think lower cost items wouldn't be the best investment items, if at all and in general musical instruments are poor investment choices.

But say a $5k 1965 SG (if you can find one at that price in playable condition) might be an example of the things I'm thinking about. I might "GUESS" the SG could double in value over the next decade....OR... the "bottom" may fall out of used equipment and all start to depreciate, no matter the items.

What do you all think?

 

[RossF]

What instruments (or musical equipment...ie vintage mics, etc) do you think are PROVEN to have maintained their values or even appreciated over the last 10 years or so? Not what you think...but that might be interesting to hear as well. But preferably PROVEN items.

Lower cost items such as $2k and under could be most interesting versus "$50k Stratocasters".

I tend to think lower cost items wouldn't be the best investment items, if at all and in general musical instruments are poor investment choices.

But say a $5k 1965 SG (if you can find one at that price in playable condition) might be an example of the things I'm thinking about. I might "GUESS" the SG could double in value over the next decade....OR... the "bottom" may fall out of used equipment and all start to depreciate, no matter the items.

What do you all think?

I have a Rockman XPR that I haven't used for 35 years that is worth more than I paid for it. I also own a Kramer Stagemaster I bought in '88 that is worth more than I paid. My 70s Fender Twin is probably worth more than I paid for it as well as my Mesa Boogie cab. But out of all the stuff I bought (and there has been a lot), that is about it.

It is pretty tough to figure out what will appreciate (at least for me), so I don't try. I just buy what I want and mostly keep it or sometimes give it away. My brother owned a Hawk II tonal expander he bought out of a guitar magazine in the 70s for about $35.00 CAD which he threw away. It was basically a three band EQ with a treble boost. Check out the price now:

Vintage S.HAWK LTD. HAWK II Tonal Expander, Fuzz, Booster, EQ S Hawk Ltd. 2 RARE | Reverb

This truly is the holy grail of all boosters and here we have a rare 1970s S hawk ltd II treble booster pedal that was favored by the legendary Rory Gallagher. Beautiful and original condition. This is what every booster dreams to be. "Three switches: on/off, gain boost and treble boost, plus ...

reverb.com

 

[andy474x]

Well, thanks to COVID, many pieces of gear have appreciated, for example, a 5-10 year old used PRS 10 top that might have sold in the high $3K to low $4K range new, are now being sold, or at least trying to be sold used for almost $5K. Although I suppose the real question is are they appreciating when inflation is accounted for... I don't feel like doing the math! Nonetheless, it is surprising to see gear overcome its original new price so quickly, usually there's the 25% or so hit that a piece of gear automatically takes when it becomes used, and that seems to have diminished somewhat.

I have a bit of a dilemma when it comes to used gear appreciation, I have a '66 Super Reverb that I picked up about 6 months ago that sounds absolutely amazing thanks to the quad of original CTS alnicos, but the cabinet and grill cloth have definitely seen some action. I've considered a couple things, either getting a reproduction cabinet to put it in (and saving the original, of course), or just putting a new grill cloth on the original (the old grill cloth is the most beat up part of the amp). The latter would take away from the original condition of the amp, and theoretically hurt the value, but... no one wants big amps anymore, anyways. I paid $2500 for it, and honestly probably could've gotten one for less, I think the big amp factor is cancelling out the vintage factor. So the question is, if a grill cloth falls in the forest, but no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

I will say this, I was just playing it, and what an absolutely killer amp. They aren't as loud as people make them out to be, thanks to the low efficiency of those old speakers, and mine really loves a Klon-type out front. I got a lost in it for a while!

 

[László]

But say a $5k 1965 SG (if you can find one at that price in playable condition) might be an example of the things I'm thinking about. I might "GUESS" the SG could double in value over the next decade....OR... the "bottom" may fall out of used equipment and all start to depreciate, no matter the items.

As a guy who owns a 1965 SG, it hasn't gone up in value much, if at all, in quite a few years (it was my brother's, bought new). I wouldn't expect it to double, they made a zillion of 'em. It's anyone's guess what people will glom onto, but the best bet is something low production that was used by a major player on a classic recording.

A well-maintained Neumann U47 might fetch more at some point, or a Telefunken ELA M 251, but they're already very expensive. With all the excellent clones out there, I wonder if there's a limit to the value of these originals. Etc. KM 84s might be slightly underpriced because they're not vocal mics.

Original Neve 1073 modules taken from a 1970s console and restored correctly by a company like Vintage King might be an OK thing to invest in, but even that kind of fluctuates, and companies like BAE are making superb clones that aren't prone to crackles and noise.

Truth is, there are better investments than musical gear, unless you're into spending a ton of dough on something like a '59 Burst or a Stradivari, etc.

 

[Greywolf]

Rules of thumb for investing in such things : 1) only buy what you enjoy 2) Original, and Rare 3) provenance

 

[mixmkr]

Jupiter 8s went crazy for a bit there too

 

[mixmkr]

Ive been watching stuff like some of my lesser played instruments...70s Ric 4001, 60s Guild Starfires and oddly some lap steels, etc... slowly creep up, that keeps them in my closet versus 'for sale' sites.
I had an old Shin Ei unit along with some Moog rack gear, that I did let go for crazy money years back. Even my first issue Rat got $400 on Ebay. No "Klon" pricing though!

 

[Greywolf]

my original Les Paul Custom has gone up 10x , my original Taylor 612c at least triple , some dip , some rise .. all please and that's why they are here.

 

[JasonE]

For some reason Gibson guitars seem to retain value pretty well. If you hold them for 8 to 10 years you can usually get your money back out of them or make a little on them. I have a few that I plan on selling this year. From what I am seeing, I shouldn't lose any money on them and will be able to sell them on the lower end of what I have seen out there. That should make for some faster sales.

I just sold a Heritage and a Hamer and did pretty well on those. I probably could have sold them for more but I left the shop I sold them to meat on the bone and they were very appreciative of that. I sold them for a little less than I paid for them. I had the Hamer since 2008 and the Heritage since 2015. Both were bought new.

I have a few Suhr guitars and an Anderson that if I wanted to sell them, I could probably get more for them than I paid for them. It is crazy how much these two brands of guitars have gone up in price in the last 5 years.

 

[Tucson Thump]

If you are interested in finding out how inflation has affected your purchase there are numerous "value" websites where you can find out the value of the dollar when you purchased it new or used and what the equivalent price would be today. Inflation affects prices more than you think, and you'll end up having the IRS tax that inflation as capital gains rather than just the actual appreciation. For example, the price of a Les Paul Standard in 1959 was approximately $265, but since then the dollar has lost 91% of its value so it would cost you $2844 today and anything above that is appreciation. However let's say you bought a guitar for $2,000 five years ago and today it is worth $2500. Those 2019 dollars have inflated to $2433 in 2024, so your actual appreciation is $67, but your tax would be based on the $500 difference between then and now.

The value of the enjoyment you've received while owning the piece can never be taxed

 

[Steve's addiction]

I bought a new CE in 1989 for $649. I think its worth a little more than that now

 

[Bogner]

John McBride Could Drown You In Info Regarding This Rabbit Hole.

 

[mixmkr]

John McBride Could Drown You In Info Regarding This Rabbit Hole.

With one wall of one room..