What's the next collectable on the second hand marketthen?

[ead]

Don't forget inflation folks.  £300 in 1966 (about the price of a Fender bass I think) is worth about £5,800 today.

[Sean]

USA Spectors.

They will be worthless in the future. It's probably time to offload them for a few hundred quid now before they bottom out.

If you need some help shifting yours, I know a chap that can help.

[Stub Mandrel]

On 19/03/2025 at 08:34, ped said:

Maybe not so much these days!

 

Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.

[neepheid]

Obviously it's 3 pickup Greco LP shaped basses, innit?

 

[NancyJohnson]

Haven't most of us owned something that we sold cheap only see the prices go nutso?

 

My old Travis Bean (sigh), that frankly terrible '79 Precision, all those Gibson Thunderbirds.  Mass produced bass amps have little or no appreciating resale value unless they're old valve things like Matamps.  I doubt any of the current production line Fenders/Gibson/MusicMan/Ibanez etc basses will be loss-making or worth anything long term.

 

My belief is the money is in investing in short runs and decently built kit.  I own a couple of Hamer basses, I bought one very cheap and am being hassled by two Americans who are in this odd bidding war, currently at $4k.  My Mike Lull basses (one likely going up for sale shortly) were both built by Mike before he died, are certainly carrying ticket prices equivalent or higher than what I paid.  Again, I'm getting enquiries on a Lull build from the US offering c.£6k.

 

I suppose you have to realise one swallow does not a summer make; just because there's someone out there that'll pay over the odds for something doesn't necessarily make it a collector's market.

 

 

[bass_dinger]

On 15/03/2025 at 16:59, Burns-bass said:

I’m unfashionable and cheap.

 

 

And there's only one of you, so you're rare too!

 

If you can fit into a Hiscox case, I can store you in my airing cupboard for the next 30 years.

[Doctor J]

On 21/03/2025 at 09:38, NancyJohnson said:

Haven't most of us owned something that we sold cheap only see the prices go nutso?

 

My old Travis Bean (sigh), that frankly terrible '79 Precision, all those Gibson Thunderbirds.  Mass produced bass amps have little or no appreciating resale value unless they're old valve things like Matamps.  I doubt any of the current production line Fenders/Gibson/MusicMan/Ibanez etc basses will be loss-making or worth anything long term.

 

My belief is the money is in investing in short runs and decently built kit.  I own a couple of Hamer basses, I bought one very cheap and am being hassled by two Americans who are in this odd bidding war, currently at $4k.  My Mike Lull basses (one likely going up for sale shortly) were both built by Mike before he died, are certainly carrying ticket prices equivalent or higher than what I paid.  Again, I'm getting enquiries on a Lull build from the US offering c.£6k.

 

I suppose you have to realise one swallow does not a summer make; just because there's someone out there that'll pay over the odds for something doesn't necessarily make it a collector's market.

 

 

 

I've seen several former instruments of mine relisted at over double what I sold them for - at prices they struggled to sell at - and then struggle to sell again at the new higher price. I've had a Stingray, a Peavey Sarzo, an Ibanez Roadster, an L-1000 and, most recently, a Warwick Streamer LX, all show up at over double their previous sale price, usually a year or two after they left my hands. Are these collectibles? I don't think so, I just think Reverb has given a global platform to set ridiculous asking prices which then seems to affect the general prices of these things. Generally, though, desirability seems to really go on brand name, rather than instrument quality. There doesn't seem to be a correlation between how well built an instrument is and the size of the market interested in it. With more obscure brands, you might find an obsessive or two who are prepared to pay up but, if you want things to move, I think you're safer with the big-name unit shifters.

[chris667]

Why bother with secondhand? The truth is cheap instruments are really good now. It's not as if young people can afford vintage stuff anyway.

[Doctor J]

Certain brands are expensive, yes, but vintage stuff is not, by default, expensive. Anyone with the nous to avoid the obvious can bathe in vintage gear all they like for not too much outlay.