London Guitar Shops

jeztone2

Hipster Guitars: I'd say Semi Acoustic the more obscure the better chap! Especially if you have a big beard, check shirt & sleeves of tats

Brize

Blacksheep said:

musicegbdf said:

Cookiemonster;662289" said:

I liked this shop, I just stumbled on it a few months ago http://www.vintageguitarboutique.com/effects 

See my post above. Yes good stuff fair pricing. Warning, don't go downstairs the prices will make your eyes water

Almost £9k for a 56 LP Junior, no matter how good the condition, is delusional.

@Blacksheep: It's not a Les Paul Junior, it's a Les Paul TV Model, which are considerably rarer and more desirable. I imagine they'll probably take around £8k on that guitar, which would be a fair price given the condition.

Babones

Chalky said:

Unless Denmark St shops have changed owners in the last 4 months then I cannot believe they are "equal to, or sometimes cheaper than net prices there". I have made deals on what I've bought there. But cheap? Nah.

Honest. I'm talking Regent Sounds specifically, not Macaris, Hanks etc. I 've seen for example this year, a new PJ, for under £400, whereas online the going rate is £419. I've also been in there when a customer was buying a Fender and the customer & staff were 'looking online' to price match/do a deal. It may not be across all stock, but i think certainly on popular models.
Personally, i prefer to test out equipment before i buy it, rather than wait and see what turns up with the courier. That said, i'm not into shiny new guitars and prefer keeping an eye on 2nd hand ones. I find that the 2nd hand/vintage market in shops is more questionable.

Blacksheep

Brize said:

Blacksheep said:

musicegbdf said:

Cookiemonster;662289" said:

I liked this shop, I just stumbled on it a few months ago http://www.vintageguitarboutique.com/effects 

See my post above. Yes good stuff fair pricing. Warning, don't go downstairs the prices will make your eyes water

Almost £9k for a 56 LP Junior, no matter how good the condition, is delusional.

@Blacksheep: It's not a Les Paul Junior, it's a Les Paul TV Model, which are considerably rarer and more desirable. I imagine they'll probably take around £8k on that guitar, which would be a fair price given the condition.

You are of course right on the name and rarity factor. But with respect I think you are overestimating the attraction of the investment-grade 54-59 Juniors, TVs and Specials to collectors, who are the only people willing to pay top dollar. A lot of these guys took a bath on Juniors and TVs they bought at inflated prices pre-slump. They have subsequently seen their investment halve in some cases. I know of two pristine 1955 TV Specials, which are extremely rare, up for sale at about a grand less than that 56 TV. And if you filter the website's search engine by newest arrivals you find it's on the third page, which suggests it has been there a while. If that 56 TV goes for £8k or above in the near future I'll eat my iPad.

Blacksheep

Brize said:

Blacksheep said:

musicegbdf said:

Cookiemonster;662289" said:

I liked this shop, I just stumbled on it a few months ago http://www.vintageguitarboutique.com/effects 

See my post above. Yes good stuff fair pricing. Warning, don't go downstairs the prices will make your eyes water

Almost £9k for a 56 LP Junior, no matter how good the condition, is delusional.

@Blacksheep: It's not a Les Paul Junior, it's a Les Paul TV Model, which are considerably rarer and more desirable. I imagine they'll probably take around £8k on that guitar, which would be a fair price given the condition.

You are of course right on the name and rarity factor. But with respect I think you are overestimating the attraction of the investment-grade 54-59 Juniors, TVs and Specials to collectors, who are the only people willing to pay top dollar. A lot of these guys took a bath on Juniors and TVs they bought at inflated prices pre-slump. They have subsequently seen their investment halve in some cases. I know of two pristine 1955 TV Specials, which are extremely rare, up for sale at about a grand less than that 56 TV. And if you filter the website's search engine by newest arrivals you find it's on the third page, which suggests it has been there a while. If that 56 TV goes for £8k or above in the near future I'll eat my iPad.

Brize

@Blacksheep: Vintage TV Specials are not 'extremely rare' - I've played three of them in the last year alone. Keep in mind that, for the original run of the single-cut Les Paul Special ('55 to '58) TV Yellow was the only colour. It was only in mid-1958 that cherry was introduced, on the double-cut models.

All else being equal, the TV 'Junior' will fetch around the same money as a single-cut Special. The one that Vintage Guitar Boutique have for sale is in exceptional condition and vintage guitars in near-mint condition will always attract a premium.

Anecdotally, I've played quite a few vintage Specials and they've all left me cold. The Juniors, on the other hand, have mostly played and sounded much better.

Chalky

Fair enough @Babones, you've seen it with your own eyes so I believe you. I guess my attention has been more on the £1,000+ secondhand guitars in Wunjo, Macaris, etc., rather than new Fender products.

Blacksheep

@Brize Vintage Specials in general are not rare. But the 55s are. Gibson only made 373, a few in natural. By comparison they made 511 1956 TV models

But I agree with you on the vintage Specials v Juniors as players. I have a 57 Special, a 58 and 60 Junior and a 59 TV. The last three are the superior guitars. And the 59 TV in particular is a killer.

As for the price of that 56 in Vintage Guitar Boutique, I suppose time will tell. I believe in the current climate you'd struggle to sell a 1954 TV model for over £8k . . . and they only made four of those.

Brize

@Blacksheep Vintage Gibson solid bodies in really good nick are so hard to come by that it's difficult to put a price on them. I take your point about '55 Specials in particular, but there are loads of vintage Specials and Juniors out there. Very few of them are in that condition, though.

Blacksheep

@Brize True, although if you are looking for a player that's not such a bad thing. 

 I keep seeing 60s SG Juniors and Specials for less than the price of new Standard at GAK.

At those prices, I can't understand why anyone would opt for a new Gibson  

Brize

@Blacksheep Yeah, I prefer vintage guitars with a bit of wear as well. I'd never buy a reissue Les Paul/SG Junior/Special or an ES-330 while the vintage models are still affordable.

fretfinder

Brize said:

@Blacksheep Yeah, I prefer vintage guitars with a bit of wear as well. I'd never buy a reissue Les Paul/SG Junior/Special or an ES-330 while the vintage models are still affordable.

'Affordable'?! It's all relative I suppose...

crunchman

Blacksheep said:

@Brize True, although if you are looking for a player that's not such a bad thing. 

 I keep seeing 60s SG Juniors and Specials for less than the price of new Standard at GAK.

At those prices, I can't understand why anyone would opt for a new Gibson  

On those models it would make sense to buy an old one as they are not worth faking.  With the prices 50's juniors are fetching now there are too many fakes out there - see the recent thread about the Ebay fake.  I'd only be willing to buy from a reputable dealer who can authenticate it but you pay a premium for that.

There are other issues with some 60's Gibsons as well - like really narrow necks.  I recently played a 69 335 which is a year of birth guitar for me and the neck was just too narrow.  I went home and played my 339 and to me it's a better guitar in just about every way.

Brize

@crunchman 63 and 64 are the years to go for. In 61 and 62 the neck profiles (front to back) were quite thin and then in 65 the nut width narrowed to 1 and 9/16s (as opposed to 1 and 11/16s) and stayed that way for some time (I can't remember when they went back).

Gibson guitars from 63 and 64 have the 'correct' nut width and the neck profiles get fatter again - more like a 59 profile.

Brize

fretfinder said:

Brize said:

@Blacksheep Yeah, I prefer vintage guitars with a bit of wear as well. I'd never buy a reissue Les Paul/SG Junior/Special or an ES-330 while the vintage models are still affordable.

'Affordable'?! It's all relative I suppose...

True. What I mean to say is that, why pay £2,500 for a reissue ES-330 when you can buy an original for £3,500?

AlexHunter

FelineGuitars said:

And you already know the way to my place and how dangerous it is to your wallet when temptation strikes.

I think the entire Fretboard is well aware of what happens when I visit your shop! I think it might create a few pangs of jealousy if I keep coming back.........though have you still got that acoustic for sale?