During the recently concluded Dallas Guitar Show I had the pleasure of interviewing leading vintage guitar experts for my new audio book CD entitled, Live! At The Guitar Show. I asked these dealers about important issues affecting the vintage guitar market and questions about subjects that have confounded me about pristine and modified examples of collectable guitars. The topics discussed included; Les Paul "Bursts", Pre-War Flat-tops, Pre-CBS Stratocasters, Vintage versus Reissue Guitars, What's Hot and What's Undervalued, Baby Boomer Collections, The Internet and more. The great guitarist and vintage guitar collector, Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick, recorded an introduction to this guitar enthusiast's audio guidebook for American Vintage Guitars.

Here is a sampling of the issues discussed and insights provided by these well-known experts...

Topic - The robust vintage guitar market, prices and alternative investments such as stocks;
Norm Harris: It seems like the market is bulletproof. As a collector I'm always looking for some unusual clean things and I am known for clean straight stuff. I like to find really good clean examples that haven't been tampered with and that is getting more and more difficult to find and I think those guitars are really going up because there are so few of them around. I have been in this business for almost 40 years and truthfully, and this is not a lie, I have never seen this stuff go down. There have been some flat spots at different points, but it's not like the stock market where things have dropped 70% and 80%.
David Davidson: People are starting to realize there are a finite amount of these instruments. What's available now in pristine original condition? Not much. When you are dealing with the stock market and paper assets, a lot of people don't have trust in (these things during) a recession and I think you talk about something tangible.
Larry Wexer: The stock market has gone crazy in a bad way. I don't know that the whole (guitar) market has gone crazy. I think for the really extra-fine condition, very rare pieces, the really ultimate desirable pieces have gone up considerably. But, your average pieces or things in more 'player' condition have not really appreciated all that much. If anything, the gap has widened between those categories.
Mike Jones: I pay more right now (for vintage guitars) than I sold guitars for two months ago and that's how fast this is going up. You pull the trigger at whatever the current value is and I'm very comfortable with that.
Gary Dick: People are starting to feel that because the stock market has not been really performing well and interest rates are extremely low, guitars have typically performed, good ones, at a 10% or better return on investment. So we are starting to see some very serious investors taking money out of 401K (accounts) and other investment avenues and putting them in vintage guitars.
Timm Kummer: When you are talking about blue chip, really the top five to ten percent of vintage guitars, I can never see them getting soft. I just don't see it. I see a Sunburst (Les Paul) being $500,000 in a few years.

Topic - How will baby boomer era collectors affect this market in the future;
Larry Wexer: I think there is an aspect to the baby boomer thing where as much as people love Beatles guitars, there will come a time when these people that are buying and are still loving guitar playing, were not alive when the Beatles were together and I think that has already happened. It is very hard to feel that those people are going to have the same passion for
Beatles instruments that the earlier generation did.
Dave Rogers: I've been saying for years that as the baby boomers drop off...our customer base is shrinking and as they are getting older they are selling-off some of their stuff. I don't know who is buying. It still seems baby boomer-ish. I really don't see that next generation all that interested and that is always a concern.

Topic - How fake Les Paul Burst, Korina Flying V and Explorer, maple neck Stratocaster, and other replica instruments affect the market;
Timm Kummer: I don't know anyone including guys who are long-time collectors who buy blind. They ask a bunch of different experts. If you have any suspicions, you are probably better off passing. I have seen some masterful forgeries. I mean stuff that is just silly and it's genius.
David Davidson: I'm not against anybody making a replica of a guitar. But when they are making a replica of a guitar with the intent to deceive someone out of money. I have a real problem with that.
Fred Oster: With flat-top guitars it would be very difficult to fool somebody. People years ago would make phony D-45 (guitars). Anybody that has been in the business a while can spot those things. I have a feeling with some of these Les Paul copies you can know what you are doing and still buy a phony guitar.

Topic - How the craftsmanship and materials of 1970's guitars compare to earlier models;
Timm Kummer: It's just inferior.
Fred Oster: I would much prefer to buy a new one (flat-top), then something from the 1970's.
Dave Rogers: Around 1970, before that I consider that vintage, 1970's stuff is to me Oused'. The 1970's guitars were the terrible things that they made that made the ones from the 1950's and 1960's desirable to start with.

Topic - How the Internet has affected the vintage guitar market;
Norm Harris: The Internet unfortunately is like the wild west. There is very little accountability on the Internet and I've known a lot of people that have been burned.
Fred Oster: It's been huge. We do a lot more mail order than we ever did. It's the biggest single item, but also one of the biggest single problems because of things like (on-line auctions). I think that is a major problem for all of us. Too many items are out in the market that are screwed up.
Larry Wexer: As it has grown, it has helped me disseminate my information out there. But I'm also competing with my own customers sometimes in terms of supply and their own ability to market their own instruments sometimes.

Topic - Regarding refinished and modified vintage guitars;
Timm Kummer: Unless the guitar is so rare that you are not going to find a perfect example, you just stay away from that kind of stuff (headstock crack). It doesn¹t have the kind of growth a perfect one will.
Tom Van Hoose: The finest pieces tend to keep going up, up, up, and the pieces that are modified or are not so good tend to fall behind.

Topic - The latest reissue instruments and how they compare to authentic vintage models;
Fred Oster: My feeling overall is that those (Martin reissue flat-top guitars), once they get used a bit, once they get played for years, will compete very well with the old guitars. I think we will all be very surprised.
Gary Dick: I do like a lot of the things that Fender is making, especially custom colors. If someone wants to buy a foam-green Stratocaster with gold parts, the chance of them finding a real one is very, very slim. Even if they find it, the price might be beyond the measure of a guy working hard for his money. So these provide a great alternative.
Tom Van Hoose: The reissue Citation as an acoustic guitar to my ears are far better than the originals. The (Gibson) Custom Shop is getting better every year in terms of quality, fit and finish. The reissues now, Gibson and Fender and Martin, are so good, that unless you can play the guitar very well, you can't necessarily hear the difference.

Larry Meiners is a frequent contributor to Musicians Hotline Magazine. Larry is the author of the Gibson Flying "V" and Gibson Shipment Totals books and just released his audio book CD for collectors, Live! At The Guitar Show. Larry's books are available at Blue Book Publications (1-800-877-4867), Elderly Instruments (1-888-473-5810), JK Lutherie (1-800-344-8880) and other fine music and book retailers.

The Participating Dealers, Players and Collectors:
David Davidson - Sam Ash Music, NY
Gary Dick - Gary's Classic Guitars, OH
Mike Jones - Michael Jones Vintage Guitars, CO
Timm Kummer - Kummer's Vintage Instruments, FL
Norm Harris - Norman's Rare Guitars, California
Rick Nielsen - Cheap Trick
Fred Oster - Vintage Instruments, Pennsylvania
Dave Rogers - Dave's Guitar Shop, WI
Tom Van Hoose - Van Hoose Vintage Instruments, TX
Larry Wexer - Laurence Wexer, Ltd, NY

Live! At The Guitar Show (ISBN 0-9708273-5-0)
Email: larry@flyingvintage.com