Guitar effects pedals are one of my greatest obsessions. I love them all: vintage, boutique, and everything in-between. I have in fact made an entire career of it, having worked several years for “Analog Man” Mike Piera, who mentored me and bestowed the nickname Analog Tom. With Mike’s invaluable technical assistance, I went on to write
Analog Man’s Guide To Vintage Effects, and the rest is history. It’s been nearly four years since the book was published, and my knowledge and awareness of all things stomp-related has expanded enough to consider writing a revised, expanded edition of the book. I now have collector friends and knowledgeable experts all over the world who have given me new insights and info, tons of pictures, and tidbits of pedal minutia that I didn’t have access to when I did my original research.
Photo: Tom Hughes |
So, you may be wondering, what pedals from the original list have proven to be truly rare?
|
Since a new version of the book isn’t currently in the works, I thought this would be a good opportunity to update and expand upon a few aspects of this subject, specifically the current market for rare and collectible effects. While there have always been certain highly sought-after vintage effects pedals, over the last few years the market has skyrocketed. And despite the recent dip in vintage guitars, vintage effects continue to climb. I’ve gotten my share of disdainful correspondence from disgruntled longtime collectors who were not happy with the attention Analog Man’s Guide brought to the subject, holding me at least partly responsible for driving up the price of many pieces still missing from their collections. Believe it or not, I’ve even had my own words come back to haunt me when trying to negotiate the purchase of certain desirable pedals.
In
Analog Man’s Guide, I wrote a chapter called “Hen’s Teeth” where I listed the rarest and most collectible of all vintage effects. Since the time the book was published, I’ve received a great deal of information from many more collectors and experts around the world, in addition to my continued research, that would lead me to change some of the original content of that chapter. There are several pieces I found to be not quite as rare as I originally thought— among them are Tycobrahe pedals (the ParaPedal, PedalFlanger, and Octavia), the Ampeg Scrambler, the Gray Vox Wah, and Tri-Stereo Chorus. Don’t get me wrong, all of these are rare and definitely desirable to many collectors, but they’re not exceedingly scarce. It’s also been brought to my attention that there are at least a few items that were apparently so rare that their existence managed to escape my awareness— the Condor GMS Guitar Synth, for example (thanks Marty!). It seems the stompbox universe is more vast and deep than any of us imagined.
So, you may be wondering, what pedals from the original list have proven to be truly rare? At this moment my list would include the original Interfax Harmonic Percolator, the Pluto Dual Filter, Baldwin-Burns Buzzaround, Castle Phaser, A/DA Harmony Synthesizer, and the Astrotone Fuzz. But the one that topped the list in
Analog Man’s Guide is still my number one pick today—the EMS Synthi Hi- Fli (see sidebar).
eBay and the Pricing Conundrum
One of the most frequently asked questions we’ve had since the book was released is: when are you guys going to do a price guide for effects? On the surface, this seems like an appealing idea, but in my view it’s a futile endeavor. First of all, I’ve never been a fan of that concept to begin with. I know it’s very popular with guitars and other instruments, and there’s no doubt they do serve some useful purposes, but it seems to be a very subjective thing, based on the opinions of a handful of individuals who ostensibly have some expertise in the field. And if the experts in question also happen to be retailers of these same instruments, it begs the question of whether an additional agenda may ultimately influence whatever the market value is determined to be. I may be off base on this point, but I have heard this opinion expressed by more than a few people in the industry.
 |
An original EMS Synthi Hi-Fli is one of the rarest effects out there.
Photo: Tom Hughes |
|
The other problem I have with the idea of a stompbox specific price guide has to do with accuracy (or lack thereof). I’ve been keeping an extensive database of the final sale price of hundreds of different vintage and collectible effects that have been sold on eBay over the past seven years, and I can say with confidence that I’m probably in a better position than anyone to put together a comprehensive and informative vintage effects price guide. But I’m not going to do it. The reason is because, in my opinion, the vintage and collectible effects market isn’t stable enough to do so with any kind of accuracy. The guide would basically be outdated as soon as it was printed, which seems pretty pointless to me. The way I see it, the stompbox scene is the Wild, Wild West of the vintage and collectible music gear market. Any attempt to lay down the law or impose some semblance of order will be met with resistance.