OK I have talked a lot about my last GAS attack which was the most severe I ever had but I am going to mention how it ended. Like I have stated with the economy a mess this is a total buyers market like we might not see again. I spent many nights all over the web for the best bargains IMHO I could find I picked up a tele and strat deluxe NOS that just blew me away so that took care of the Fender jones and since I only play 3 guitars Strats,Teles, and Wolfgangs the only one that was hard finding mint was the Wolfgangs. I bought a stoptail on ebay 8 years ago for $610 a beautiful mint tobacco burst. Well while teaching my 11 year old he favored that guitar, so in January he wanted to see other colors I went on ebay and to my shock the prices were through the roof and I thought since Eddie left Peavey everyone is snatching these up. So I set a price guidline in my head and picked up 4 more mint Wolfgangs till the wife put an end to it. But good fortune and the fat lady did not sing yet. About two weeks later a childhood friend who almost got killed on the job and had 9 operations to have himself put back together settled his case for 6.4 Million dollars. Yes you read that right. So he was taking all the guys up to Atlantic City every weekend in a limo doing the whole AC routine I gave up gambling in 2000 FOR GOOD. So he comes in the bar hugging me and he pulls out a knot of 100s and goes to give me cash. I am a funny guy with certain ways and tell him I dont want no cash I am glad to see you got your money though. So he said I have to give you something(now while he was waiting on his case he was broke and I helped him out ,thats how we are in Bklyn) So I said Well you know I am a guitar nut so he says what ever you want you got it.Well I was thinking Gilmour custom at the time and I told him so Bam he puts five grand in my hand and says go get it. So know I have five grand and I am thinking Gilmour custom or stretch it out so I stretched it out. I wind up getting a mint pink 92 slightly faded EBMM EVH in pink for $2,580 that they only made 200 of in that color from a poor guy who had a stroke and had to sell off his gear for medical reasons he listed that and a mint blue that they made 1500 of everyone went blue I have the pink then the next day I get a mint Peavey Ivory Wolf with floyd for $1,180. The month before it went for $1,500 but I caught this when there were 4 Ivory guitars posted. Then a few days later just as I go on ebay a guy list a custom shop Wolfgang from when Peavey opened the custom shop and they had a contest the Eddies Dozens where they gave away one custom shop guitar in a contest for a year and he was a winner and he said I just bought a house and I hate to part with this one of a kind custom but I need the money my loss is your gain ,and it came with the paper from the contest showing the guitar that was to be won that month as it was the next to last month and the build sheet from the custom shop, and to top it off the guitar was never played forget the store well it never came out of a store as it was a one off right out of the custom shop for get this price -$1,180 buy it now. The funny thing is I was going through the Harmony Central forum and I came upon a post he put up there asking how much he should sell the guitar for because he had no idea. One guy was like whoa at least $1,500 another guy said that could be worth whatever someone who wants it bad is willing to pay so I dont know why he picked $1,180 but I told him I hope your house is coming along great and your old ax is well taken care of. My friend Mike who owns Maggios Music sees me come in with 3 cases and is like oh no .lol Well after he sets them all up he starts playing them and Mike is a whiz and ace player and he will set your ax up play it 10 seconds and go here but the MusicMAN and the Custom shop I had to like pry from him and he said you scored bigtime so I think I did great. If this happened to you what would you have done with the 5K GUITAR WISE.

I would have bought one of his new ones, if I'm that big a fan, or the Charvel replica. I like the original B/W. But I guess you are more a 5150 guy so congrats.

I still think it's too much for a guitar but that's just me and would rather part one together.

Good part is in your guitars will probably increase in value so you can always sell them for more money. Considering the economy it might not be a bad way to invest your money these days. You should buy insurance on them in case they get damaged or stolen.

Good luck, enjoy and stay out of the guitar stores

I think I would have been like you and got whatever I wanted for the money. I would have had a hard time taking the money too, but if they insisted I would have taken it as well.

Me personally, I would have opted for the Dave Murray stratocaster, but that is because I like the way it comes. Enoy your new aquisitions. It's cool that your friend thought about you.


RK

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RK

2007 Fender Highway 1
2012 American Deluxe
2015 MIM Dave Murray HHH
2010 Fender Blacktop
1987 Fender Avalon Acoustic
2012 Marshall DSL 15 watt head

That's one helluva tale

In answer to your question: I might have taken another crack at the Teambuilt Custom Clapton I had made 5 years ago. It came up short . This time do it Masterbuilt with Todd, and figure out exactly what went wrong.

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"Another day in paradise!"

Holy $@!& could three guys have hit it more on the head then you guys did. I am a straight Fender player first and foremost always have always will be. My #1 ax the last 7 years has been a Beck Strat and the 13 before that my 62 reissue tele. When I needed a humbucking guitar the obvious was to get a Paul but I got a Wolfgang instead and simply loved it. My playing style is nothing like Eddies though I throw shred techniques into my playing like string skipping ,tapping and three not per string scale runs I come 80% from the Hendrix,Clapton,Santana,Page school of playing. The thing is I had bought a Tele and Strat deluxe in april. I own an artist Clapton so I could not go that route as I am totally happy with that ax. But the Murray was totally on my mind as was the Gilmour custom or having a straight up custom shop made. The thing is I have too many Fenders so i veered towards the EBMM EVH and the Wolf since I really enjoy playing them and and there my 11 year olds favorites and he is the player out of my two sons.Also I see them one day as maybe being highly collectible for my sons in 10 or 20 years. Good call guys.

Looking ahead, no one can predict what will be collectable other than hoping that some of what we value will continue to hold its own. Are we talking Stradivarius here??...likely not. That's entirely dfferent type of engineering. Most I can hope for, in my family, is that a young cousin of mine will continue to pursue his music and give me someone to pass on my gear to.

You never know. I've spoken, in another thread, of the son of a long-time guitar mate, a kid with fantastic chops who put it all behind him, practices law, with apparently no further interest in the music.

On the Murray. The guitar interests me. I'm still looking for a vendor who's got one. I've said elsewhere that most vendors carry mostly MIM's for the masses with a paucity of Fender's more elegant gear. It's a bummer, I walk into a store looking for a turn on, and its mostly been there done that. The walls appear rather hum-drum.

It's tough, when you have even a small clutch of quality instruments in your possession, to find something unique. I love the quality of PRS guitars, both domestic and Asian, owned two beautiful examples, but they don't play well in my hands. There just something about their necks that doesn't quite 'fit'.

I find that I've been moving upward, narrowing my scope and individuality of guitars which offer a broad pallette....so I'm left with an '89 Pewter Clapton (which has the neck of my dreams); an '08 Gilmour NOS which was a phenomenal accomplishment by the Custom Shop, an'08 FSR Deluxe VG (which is kind of a 'toy', but a beautiful guitar) and an unsual '02 LP of the Gibson Custom Shop Heritage Classic vintage which got the first Burstbuckers, and has a fast '60's neck, and a quilted maple tobacco burst top that I have never seen elsewhere. So you can see, when I walk into a store, 'what's new?', is a big question.

If I wanted to invest in a quality piece with a definite broad representation I would likely go with a Fullerton. In that guitar, you have the vibe and echoes of my old '58 as well as Holly's, Eric's '56 'Brownie', '57 'Blackie', Buddy Guy, Gene Vincent, man we could just sit here and rattle off the names of our heroes.

Alain collects for the diversity of high end guitars which play well, and are esthetically pleasing. He is fortunate to be able to operate from a position of affordability and space, which most of us have limitations on.

On the new EVH, I played it, and am familiar with the guitars which preceded it. The neck was always comfortable in my hand. I am not a fan of those trem systems, though.

I was 'wedded' to the Stratocaster many years ago. Those guys, Leo, George, Freddy, Bill....they really did their homework. Much of the competition are clones, many well crafted, but the original still works, after all these year.

Doc

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"Another day in paradise!"

ZZDOC give me a callback on this email address I have something that might interest you you let me know.--------redroseferrari@aol.com

OK - I've got one for Doc and others... being fairly new to the guitar scene after a lifetime of other pursuits, I have a question about the collector guitar market.

I've followed the collector market for a lot of things over the years, but I really don't see a long term profitability in most. Sure - a lot of markets will get hot, people will put vast sums of money into things - then the shysters and money guys roll in, take the profits and the market for whatever item eventually falls apart.

How is the collector guitar market any different? I realize anything early will hold value, simply due to its scarcity. But in today’s world, if you have the cash (or a friendly banker) all you gotta do is whip out the checkbook, head to the custom shop for the maker you like and several months later you have a "collectors item".

But in reality, how much will it really hold its value, and how much of it is something we tell ourselves, our wives or our girlfriends to justify what is really just becoming an expensive hobby?

Now I have nothing against expensive hobbies, because I have a few of my own. I can see my little collection of gear growing monthly, so I understand the game, but what is the reality?

I'm guessing that for every "limited edition" guitar made in the past 20 years, 9 out of 10, (or even less) aren't able to come to market at a price, inflation adjusted, at more than what they cost new, or most times even close.

Thoughts?

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Old age and treachery will win every time over youth and enthusiasm.

"You can never have too many Tele's." A quote from my Sweetwater Sales Engineer

I'll contact our 'world's foremost authoritiy" on this. Perhaps he can enlighten all of us.

Doc.

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"Another day in paradise!"

http://www.guitarcollectors.org/

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

Well Rick I dont believe in fact I know there will never be another vintage market like the original one. I am talking pre CBS Fender guitars 50s Gibsons and classic Gretchs. But do you need a guitar to jump up 500 thousand or 50 thousand for that fact to have a nice collection that will yield a Profit -NO.The guitar is probably played by more people around the globe today then ever before. So the good thing is people will always have an interest in them. There are a ton of young guys out there playing in there teens and twenties who are one day going to be very wealthy and who will want the axes of there youth. It is not going to hit close to the level of this market but certain guitars will have value. I have a nice size collection of guitars and once I turned thirty everything I bought was upper end and everything I bought was Fender as that is all I played. Since I was 13 I wanted a Les Paul I am 47 and still have never owned a Gibson. I wish I did buy at least two Pauls back in the Day but I am very happy with what I have. I also dont buy a guitar I have no interest in playing as I am not a collector per se but I like to know my guitars are worth a good dollar. I have ideas of what axes might have value outside of my Fenders and to be honest I have invested money into a good bunch of them not looking to make a killing but I would be happy on anything that is worth more than a grand for what I paid. So in that regard my axes were a much better investment than gold and in 5 or 10 or 20 years who knows. Plus Fender and Gibson are still the main companies that hold there resale the best. I have only looked at guitars this way the last two years since my injury.From a boy to 45 all I cared about was having an ax that played and sounded great but since I got put on the shelf my love of the guitar just had me going to differant sites and putting me a bit on the collectors side of things as I still get to get that rush of opening a case and marveling at the beauty of an ax. But the only thing that made me really get my foot in the door and it is a shame to say was the crash of the economy and having some money on the side and doing a lot of reading by guys who are experts in this field. Some of the things I read were dead on and amazingly accurate but like anything else it takes money to make money . And if anyone would want to know a bit of what I have learned I would gladly help them out but I am not going to make a post of itl. lol As I feel there is still about two years till the market straightens out. But nothing is a gurantee or written in stone but what could be greater than to make some money with what you love the best. The thing is whatever my axes wind up being worth I wont see a dime because I will not sell them because I WANT TO PLAY THE $@!& out of them. So my kids will have a lot of nice gear to sell one day. Or make that my oldest son because my 11 year old is a player and he is going to be a damm good one. He amazes me with his dexterity and the way he thinks musicaly which makes me one happy camper.

Miami Mike what is that a brand new site it is set up nice but there is nothing of substance yet. Hey DOC what did you think. Just do me a favor if you pass dont let the cat out of the bag unless it is a REAL good friend because then I think I will grab it even if I have to hear the wife for a day or two. She rarely says a word but as I stated the timing makes it tight.

Hi Doc
That's too much...
It's quite late here, just give me time , if that was aimed at me, to reply at length tomorrow.
Just to give MHO
Alain

Hi Alain,

Yes, I'd like to hear your thoughts, since it was one of your guitars (Fender Bass VI) you posted a picture of yesterday that got me thinking of this.

There is a 2008 Fender Custom Shop Bass VI Limited Edition N.O.S. listed on eBay right now for $2,649 or best offer. I realize I may be comparing apples to oranges, but I'm guessing this particular guitar was more than $2,649 from the Custom Shop. Maybe not...

But I know I can go down to the local Porsche, BMW or Mercedes dealer and order whatever "limited edition with a special engine, drivetrain, color interior and exterior for 2010 only model", plunk down my life savings and watch it depreciate 10-15 percent as soon as I drive it off the lot. Now I'll take it home, put it in my climate controlled garage and treat it better than any woman I've ever known, and it will still slowly depreciate year after year, where it will eventually reach a bottom and then maybe, maybe, rise in value a bit. But odds are, I will never recoup my initial investment adjusted for inflation.

I'm thinking I can do the same thing with a Custom Shop whatever "special color limited artist edition" from any maker and see pretty well the same results.

Now, I know there are exceptions. But again, I'm guessing the odds are 1 in 10 or less, that any of these ever return a real profit. Porsches, guitars or whatever.

And I'm not anti-collector by any means. I spent 23 years in a very macho, male oriented career field where guys collected everything from beer cans to guitars to guns to barbed wire to old Corvettes and muscle cars, and I was always impressed with the passion and knowledge that went into each collection. But is seemed like ultimately there was always way more money in the collection than could ever be recovered from them.

So, is there really a value in collecting brand new, albeit limited, exclusive gear, and ever hope to see a real profit, or is it as I suspect, just another way to grow a really cool collection of toys?

Thanks for your thoughts.

Respectfully,

Rick

_________________
Old age and treachery will win every time over youth and enthusiasm.

"You can never have too many Tele's." A quote from my Sweetwater Sales Engineer

RickyD I have an answer for you about something. If you want email me at the same address I gave Doc a few post up.