| I had a 65 Jaguar which I sold a few weeks ago. It is a nice guitar.
It is hard to say if it would be a good invesment. To me it was,
but I did not pay or got, when I sold it, as much money as you are
looking at.
If you are looking to buy as an invesment, I would say you are paying
top dinero for it. It is worth $450? How much do you want it? You
will not know if it is a good or bad invesment until the day some
one puts money in front of you for it.
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| Don't assume that a guitar in a collection doesn't get played. True,
some collectors are merely hoarding guitars, but many I know are
serious players.
It's impossible to predict what a '64 Jag will be worth in 20 years,
but $450 is a reasonable price now for a mint one. I've seen a number
of Japanese copies with Fender stickers, so be sure it really is
a Fender. A CBS one would be worth somewhat less, and a custom color
one somewhat more. Most dealers would ask about $550 for a Pre-CBS
Jag.
You're right--prices on American-made guitars are climbing. The
most collectible right now are Pre-CBS Strats, original Les Pauls,
'50's Gretsches, Pre-war Martins, D'Angelicos, Strombergs, early
D'Aquistos, pre-'70 Gibson Archtops, '59-'61 Gibson semi's, Gibson
Reverse Firebirds, Explorers & V's.
There are people collecting things like Danelectros too, so I'd
hate to limit it to the above list.
Danny W
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| This is such a difficult subject. Since I was an accidental collector
for quite a while, I watched prices go through the roof on many
items. Others never moved much. But I focused on acoustic instruments
(Martins, Gibsons, Vegas) and stayed away from electrics. Oh, I
owned a Les Paul and a Tele while I played in a rock band, but they
were pretty much average pieces. I have since sold most of my
collection for a number of reasons: 1) Not enough money to REALLY
collect (like, have one of every Martin "28" models); 2) not enough
room (I had 16 instruments, in cases, in one room of my house);
and 3) I found that when I wanted to play I usually picked up one
of my favorite 2 guitars, while the others just sat most of the
time. I have two friends who are "serious collectors". To me,
that means they have >30 instruments in their collections at any
one time. One of them now has >60. In some ways it great. I can
go there and look at and play all kinds of things one doesn't see
regularly. On the other hand, they mostly just sit in their cases,
increasing in value.
Back to your Jaguar. Unless you are like one of these guys, who
frankly get a bigger kick out of FINDING their next acquisition,
I'd buy only those instruments that you will play and enjoy, and
don't get too caught up in the "investment" side of the equation.
The Jag might be worth something >$450 in 2010. But unless you
plan to play it a lot, it won't mean that much to you. I made some
nice money on pre-war Martins, but I actually played them and, with
only two exceptions, I did not buy them with "investment" in mind.
Paul
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| The only people who really make money from the vintage guitar market
are the dealers. I've almost never met a real collector who does
it for the sake of investment (tho it's always nice when you do
make some money selling a guitar). Most of the collectors I know
love quality instruments and have a theme or purpose to their
collections.
I personally don't consider someone who owns a half
dozen utility instruments a collector. For example, anyone doing
studio work needs a dozen different instruments. Gruhn's analogy
is a plumber with a dozen wrenches. I also don't consider someone
with two dozen similar Strats a collector, just a hoarder (the "der"
is silent).
I don't think there is any particular number of guitars that makes
a collector. Tom Van Hoose has about 20 Super 400's, with each variant
and model change represented with a beautiful specimen. This qualifies
as a collection, IMO. On the other hand, Ted Nugent's stash of 18
Byrdlands was just a player who liked a specific guitar trying to
insure a supply of them.
A big exception to this is the growing number of Japanese collectors
who have been grabbing hundreds of fine instruments just to own
them. Unlike most US collectors, these guys have *lots* of money
and probably won't put these guitars back in circulation.
Danny W
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