What price point does a guitar purchase change from pure playability to having to think about resale

RaymondLin

@skipped that's why I don't have any "cheap" guitars, not just for the quality they possessed but to put GAS at bay.

Skipped

Re Echopark guitars and Gabriel Currie.....
There is a feature in the summer edition of Guitar Connoisseur magazine.
And.....for some reason,  they allow you to read the whole magazine online. For Free.
It starts on page 100.

http://guitarconnoisseurmagazine.com/wordpress1/view-our-current-issue/

FelineGuitars

Sometimes seeking out a very special guitar, having a good one customised or having one made to suit you completely can help get rid of GAS. (although can't help with addictive personality traits)

Keep buying cheapish guitars and selling/trading in  and constantly losing a bit of money can add up over time - not unlike doing lottery scratch-cards.

Finding a guitar that blows your mind should be a goal in my opinion. 

gordiji

1500 for me too. As long as 2nd hand is acceptable you'll get pretty much what you want in a guitar for that.

FelineGuitars

On a side note...

Strikes me that constantly thinking about resale ahead of time is rather akin to drawing up a pre-nup agreement every time you meet a new girl - It may reek of practicality but it seems somewhat lacking in passion, and I'm sure would put the kibosh on a successful relationship.

The only time you should factor in resale convos are to satisfy nearest & dearest or family members with concerns.
Guitars are not really investment worthy items - unless someone offers you a genuine vintage one for next to nothing.

For investment obsessions you'd be better off on a different kind of forum discussing banking products,buying and flipping houses and investing in bitcoins.

Wonder if I'm the only one on here who wishes there were more conversations on here about passions and desires for guitars and less about resale values?

NeilMcG

I don't think I'd go over £600 now, anything I want can be sourced for under that s/h.

BigMonka

I can't help thinking of guitar prices in terms of how many monthly mortgage payments they are, but then as just a hobbiest it makes sense to me to put more of my finances towards the family  (

Sassafras

If you're always thinking of resale value, you're unlikely to find a guitar you'll be really happy with. 
There's a misconception that the grass is always greener...

I think some people don't take the time to bond with whatever gear they've got.

earwighoney

nickb_boy said:

The other day however I started looking again at an Echopark Downtowner.  They're never going to win any beauty contests but there is something about them that just does something for me.  The only issue is the pricetag attached.  Sure they are one of the current companies where hand built actually means it and built from old growth select materials with a ridiculous waiting list, but the chances of these being an investment are probably slim.  They have some big name users such as Joe Perry and Josh Homme but a used echopark owned by me will never attract a higher price tag!

18 month waiting list a ridiculous one?  Pfft. I'm 2 years into the wait for an acoustic guitar, with another 2 years to go!   In the acoustic guitar side of things, Kim Walker's is over 17 years at this moment in time, a few others have even longer ones! 

The Echopark is seriously tasty though.  IMO, for 'boutique' type guitars when some guitars get associated with 'celebrity' players their prices can go up significantly.  I have a nylon string and in the 12 months I bought it, a huge number of 'celebrity' players took to playing them and the guy who made the guitar put his guitars prices up and my guitar is now worth a lot more than what I paid for it.  Not that I have any inclination to sell it, agreeing with Feline above that particular guitar resolved me of any GAS for nylon strings anyway.

I think there's a golden age for boutique type 'alternative' guitar makers and even if the Echopark is out of reach, I think there are other makers who might not provide all the quality/aesthetics of the Echopark but maybe most of it for a lot less. 

When it comes to how much I would spend and the maximum amount I would spend it is down to value really, which is down to the situation and particular example of guitar for my needs.  

Neil

FelineGuitars said:

On a side note...

Strikes me that constantly thinking about resale ahead of time is rather akin to drawing up a pre-nup agreement every time you meet a new girl - It may reek of practicality but it seems somewhat lacking in passion, and I'm sure would put the kibosh on a successful relationship.

The only time you should factor in resale convos are to satisfy nearest & dearest or family members with concerns.
Guitars are not really investment worthy items - unless someone offers you a genuine vintage one for next to nothing.

For investment obsessions you'd be better off on a different kind of forum discussing banking products,buying and flipping houses and investing in bitcoins.

Wonder if I'm the only one on here who wishes there were more conversations on here about passions and desires for guitars and less about resale values?

An interesting POV but I personally think there is another and possibly more important facet to constantly buying/trading guitars not already mentioned which of course will involve residual values.

In most hobbies there is often a search for that elusive grail but I believe in reality  a lot of the constant swapping and changing is to spice up something that has maybe got a bit dull of late?

Something to restore the passion?

People whose collections are often in a state of flux could probably be more passionate than somebody who just sticks to the same old stuff.

FelineGuitars

Neil said:

FelineGuitars said:

On a side note...

Strikes me that constantly thinking about resale ahead of time is rather akin to drawing up a pre-nup agreement every time you meet a new girl - It may reek of practicality but it seems somewhat lacking in passion, and I'm sure would put the kibosh on a successful relationship.

The only time you should factor in resale convos are to satisfy nearest & dearest or family members with concerns.
Guitars are not really investment worthy items - unless someone offers you a genuine vintage one for next to nothing.

For investment obsessions you'd be better off on a different kind of forum discussing banking products,buying and flipping houses and investing in bitcoins.

Wonder if I'm the only one on here who wishes there were more conversations on here about passions and desires for guitars and less about resale values?

An interesting POV but I personally think there is another and possibly more important facet to constantly buying/trading guitars not already mentioned which of course will involve residual values.

In most hobbies there is often a search for that elusive grail but I believe in reality  a lot of the constant swapping and changing is to spice up something that has maybe got a bit dull of late?

Something to restore the passion?

People whose collections are often in a state of flux could probably be more passionate than somebody who just sticks to the same old stuff.

Not sure if you're saying we need the classifieds section on here or to join a swingers site?

Teetonetal

If I'm worrying about depreciation, then I probably can't afford it. Saying that I firmly now believe that spending more than about 700 on a new guitar is utterly pointless.

pintspiller

There's no real need to think of resale value if you stick to buying used gear. If you want something specific that can mean a waiting-game, but, provided you can move stuff on, is a good bit more guilt-free than a 40% loss on selling a new guitar.

Mind you, my last two guitars, Peavey Rockingham and Squier JM Jazz Bass, were both new. I did not consider resale value or attempt to buy used at the time.

HarrySeven

I prefer to swap/trade stuff and I can't remember the last time I purchased a "new" guitar, so I don't really think about it...

richardhomer

pintspiller said:

There's no real need to think of resale value if you stick to buying used gear. If you want something specific that can mean a waiting-game, but, provided you can move stuff on, is a good bit more guilt-free than a 40% loss on selling a new guitar.

Absolutely agree with this.

The CS Strat I've just bought was £1000 cheaper than a new one. In the highly unlikely event that I wanted to sell it, I'd fully expect to get my money back.

I part-ex'd an AVRI - which I bought new - I got barely half what I paid for it.

fretfinder

I never buy a guitar for more than I think I could sell it for. History shows I'm fickle and most of them end up on the block eventually. Although having said that, as I get older (and wiser?) and narrow down the collection to exactly what I want, I'm selling less and less and only then to fund something 'better'.

menamestom

I don't see selling guitars as such a negative thing.  Sometimes you may just want a different sound for a while, or get something to itch a scratch that you've never had before.  But most people don't have enough space or funds to keep everything they have tried along the way.  Also, certain bands / projects require certain guitars.   Projects, by their definition are finite so it stands to reason resale value would be a consideration.   Guitars are tools and sometimes you need a different tool for the job.    

mellowsun

I ended up getting an Echopark Downtowner on a trade in deal for my Lowden (tendonitis meant I could no longer play it). Originally I was set on a Collings 290 but I was underwhelmed by it. 

The Echopark was simply the best guitar I'd ever played. It wasn't about the possible resale. Sometimes an instrument just fits and the boundary between player and the instrument disappears, the music just happens. To me that's worth more than a new motorised metal box.

TCat

don't know the answer..............but I do know this. I have owned custom shop strats down to sub £300 squire strats....USA standards---USA deluxes.....USA Vintage....some tokais and a fernandes strat....that with a little bit of fettling, was a perfectly workmanlike guitar. If the custom shop cost ten times as much as the squire......did it sound ten times better?.......did it play ten times better?......did the audiences think it was ten times better?...........of course not !!   This is about the law of diminishing returns. The CS strat was probably about 2% better overall and cost nearly 10 times as much as the squire, but nobody really heard the difference-----or gave a sodding damn........so whats the point????    Having said all that, I have finally settled for the fender eric Johnson as my lifetime keeper...it just happens to be the perfect guitar for me.

professorben

Pretty much every guitar I've had since getting my first 'proper' guitar has been viewed as a keeper. 
Oddly with the one exception of my LP Studio, which was a stop gap, after I had to replace an acoustic to honour a few gigs, so sold my first PRS and bought the Studio and an acoustic. 
Ended up keeping the Studio longer than any other guitar I've had, 12 years.