Ancient Mariner Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 When I was 17 I had a Columbus Les Paul copy. Someone had popped a Dimarzio Superdistortion into the neck position (IIRC). It wasn't impressive by any standards, and it provided excellent trade material for my first serious guitar. But nostalgia is what it used to be, and I came across a Columbus LP on ebay this week. It had reached £50ish, which was OK, so I watched it. This morning it had exceeded £500, which I reckon is about 5X the reasonable value. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Electric-Guitar-/251807214287?ssPageName=ADME:B:WNA:GB:1653 Nuts, frankly. What price old, imaginary mojo-loaded guitars? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JapanAxe Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 (edited) I agree, those plywood LP copies were utter cack. EDIT: I blame the magic word [b]Japan[/b]! Edited February 1, 2015 by JapanAxe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer of the Bass Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 Baffling! It's got to be shill bidding or some other dodgy practice, as the chances of more than one person being willing to bid this much seem slim. You can find some of the lower end Gibson models new for not much more. It's not even a glued-in neck, check out the gap between the neck and binding on the bass side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moos3h Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 I call shill bidding. Those things sell day-in, day-out for around £100-150 max. Either that, or when the buyer sobers up, they are in for a shock! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ancient Mariner Posted February 1, 2015 Author Share Posted February 1, 2015 The Columbus was a cut above Kay, Hondo, Satellite etc, in that it was a solid body (mine was anyway - can't remember whether bolt or set neck) and this one appears to have Dimarzios (also fitted as standard to some MIJ copies). Never the less, the magic word 'Japan' has been apparently effective here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uberkate Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 (edited) I have a 70's Saxon LP copy from the Matsumoku plant. It plays great, looks great, and sounds great (think there's Dimarzios in there) but it certainly does feel a little unstable with that bolt-on neck. Still, I'm glad it's in my collection; something fun to mess around with since I've always been more of a Fender player. Edited August 26, 2015 by Uberkate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EliasMooseblaster Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 [quote name='Moos3h' timestamp='1422788201' post='2676688'] I call shill bidding. Those things sell day-in, day-out for around £100-150 max. [b]Either that, or when the buyer sobers up, they are in for a shock![/b] [/quote] I do know a young gentleman who spent a not-inconsiderable sum of money on Bruce Springsteen tickets while Brahms & Lizst. To make matters worse, he'd booked them for a gig on the opposite side of the Atlantic. So I could believe that some of these bids were made by a person whose levels of nostalgia were similar to those of AM, but whose blood-alcohol was considerably higher! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Hmmm ... a very high price, yes, but perhaps not quite as outrageous as some seem to think. I bought a Hondo II Les Paul about 6/7 years ago, paid £180 for it. Now everyone knows that Hondos were the ultimate in crap guitars, except that some weren't. Pretty much every competent guitarist who's played this thing (i.e. not me) has liked it, and it sounds more like a Gibson that you might believe. If I was to be persuaded to sell it today I certainly wouldn't take less than £250 for it, since it would cost at least that to get an adequate replacement (IMHO). £250 is a lot less than £510, I know, but we're not talking orders of magnitude here. Just sayin' ... Oh yes, and this is my first ever post on a guitar forum! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ancient Mariner Posted February 3, 2015 Author Share Posted February 3, 2015 Welcome spidey. A few years back I bought a Washburn A15V from the Performer series, £65 on the 'bay, and sold it about 3 years later for about £240 (inc shipping to Norway). That was worth about £240-£250, and I'd put quality somewhere around the same as one of the better MIM strats. I also have an A20V (bought well used in the early 90s) and that's just a plain great guitar and IMO a good one is worth the £400-£500 they sell for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 (edited) MIJ stuff isn't selling anything like as well these days as it was 5 or 6 years ago - and even back then you'd be lucky to get more than about £120 for the best condition, best photographed & best-advertised Columbus LP copy in the world. There's something decidedly fishy about this & I'd bet my own actual money (well, a very small quantity of it) that no-one's gonna pony up £500+ for this thing. First of all though Columbus LPs came in several different quality levels, and this is the top one, identifiable by the big split-diamond on the pointy end & pearloid LP Standard-type inlays. These (in stock nick) had proper humbuckers, solid timber bodies, & gold hardware with sealed tuners. Under that you got the much more common black LP Custom copy - square silver (not pearl) inlays, fake humbuckers, ply hollowtop body, chrome bits. Easily ID'd by the small split diamond on the head, these guitars turn up badged Columbus, Avon, Saxon, JHS, Sumbro, CMI, and also with Japanese brands like Maya. And sorry Uberkate - if your Saxon fits this description, it ain't a Matsumoku. Bottom of the Columbus heap was pretty much the same spec as the above, with a tobacco burst ply top & brown-painted MDF body. Anyway - if anyone fancies a top-end Columbus & wants to have a go at punting it on for £500, knock yourselves out! [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1970s-Columbus-Les-Paul-Copy-Made-in-Japan-/311281942649"]http://www.ebay.co.u...n-/311281942649[/url] [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Columbus-Les-Paul-Guitar-/321653346806"]http://www.ebay.co.u...r-/321653346806[/url] Jon. Edited February 6, 2015 by Bassassin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger2611 Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 I would be amazed if that trade gets completed, even with the super distortion pickups, hugely overpriced sale.....I still have my one (my first guitar) which I wouldn't part with for love nor money, but still £510 for a Columbus if the trade goes through the seller can count it as a small lottery win! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 [quote name='Roger2611' timestamp='1423340864' post='2683765'] I would be amazed if that trade gets completed, even with the super distortion pickups, hugely overpriced sale.....I still have my one (my first guitar) which I wouldn't part with for love nor money, but still £510 for a Columbus if the trade goes through the seller can count it as a small lottery win! [/quote] I doubt the pickups are DiMarzios. This model came with open coil pups as standard, and there were plenty of MIJ-made pickups with cream bobbins & hex pole pieces, just like these. Quite likely this is what it left the factory with. J. J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassbiscuits Posted August 17, 2015 Share Posted August 17, 2015 I had a shockingly bad Satellite short scale bass as my first instrument in 1986 (my brother had the equally appalling guitar version). I sold it the moment i'd finished paying it off. it cost me £60, and another £60 for my first practise amp (something called a Badger Piccolo. No, me neither). Anyway, about 15 years later i came across one in a secondhand shop, and a quick check revealed it was my exact one! (The various nicks in the paintwork etc from where i'd fallen over in the garden playing it). The guy in the shop insisted it was brand new and was asking £120 for it! What a clown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teleman Posted August 17, 2015 Share Posted August 17, 2015 That's just ludicrous. Who would pay that much money for that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ancient Mariner Posted August 19, 2015 Author Share Posted August 19, 2015 Someone with excessive nostalgia and a bleeding wallet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annoying Twit Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 (edited) The guitar was relisted after the £510 'sale' and then the second listing (£30 start price) was ended 'because the item is no longer available'. The seller doesn't have any completed listings on eBay. IMHO it's clearly not a valid sale. It could be that someone was deliberately ruining the seller's auction. Or that the seller was shill bidding for some reason. I've seen claims that someone who has various items will create fake auction results on eBay in order to try and boost the price for what they're selling. As so many people look at past sale prices when judging value, if they find a few auctions with guitars of this brand/sort selling for high prices, that is supposed to make them more likely to bid high for future items. I'm not sure how much that actually happens. Edited September 7, 2015 by Annoying Twit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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