Guitar Center Vintage Room experts

[mattkw80]

Probably a combination of the two, but if its an F-hole acoustic, I'd imagine its an archtop/carved top, not a flattop acoustic? Those sound significantly different from a flattop, but with a very distinct character... playing a lot of folk, I'd love something like that, but in good condition old ones are a fortune

Does it look anything like this?

http://www.umanovguitars.com/store/details.asp?prodid=3189&cat=690&path=600,690

Yep!

It looks 95 % just like that.

Mine is really worn out in 3 spots, and maybe looks a tiny bit narrower than that pic. I will shoot and post a pic asap.

But, yeah - your link nailed it.

 

[cusebassman]

Yep!

It looks 95 % just like that.

Mine is really worn out in 3 spots, and maybe looks a tiny bit narrower than that pic. I will shoot and post a pic asap.

But, yeah - your link nailed it.

Ah good, happy to help. I've never actually played one of those big old Gibson carved tops, but if my Heritage archtop is any indicator, they have a very distinct tone unlike any flattop you'd play. I'd imagine flattops from that time period sound "similar" to modern flattops of the same body stylings (be it dreadnaught, jumbo, one of the 400 different Martin body stylings, etc). I say "similar" because I am trying to avoid a debate on whether a flattop aged 50 years will sound better or worse than a modern flattop of the same body styling... but the sounds will be similar, IMO, than comparing a flattop from 53' w/ a Gibson carved top from that same period.

 

[mattkw80]

If I could find the camera, I'd snap a photo right now.... but my wife likes to squirrel things away , and put them where I can't find them.

She calls it "putting things back where they belong / cleaning up after me" but she squirrels things to a new spot everytime.

ARGH !

Will snap a picture as soon as I find the camera, and try to record the guitar as well. As I mentioned, it sounds quite unique.

 

[tdukex]

Guitar Center Vintage Room experts

Oxymoron?

 

[cusebassman]

Guitar Center Vintage Room experts

Oxymoron?

Oh, the beautiful simplicity of a one-word comeback

Yeah... I suppose the point of this thread has become that the instrument was probably improperly authenticated. And I wouldn't trust anyone working in a Guitar Center, after they told me flat out that a Fender Tweed series is not in production (as of late 2005 when I was trying to find a Blues DeVille locally). They had lots of Hot Rod Deluxes, but no Blues DeVilles. Oh wait, there were one of each ON THE FLOOR. Of course I then the got "Oh, you meant THESE tweed amps" response. Sigh.

 

[donkeystyle]

my uncle had a similar guitar from about that year. the finish was cracked and the finish where you rest your arm had warn away. He died and his buddy who definitely knows how much that guitar was worth only appraised it at 8 hundred and something. That was in about 2000 and it didn't have a case.

They're not worth as much as les pauls, but my buddy has a similar guitar from sometime in the 50's that has perfect finish and original case and was appraised at a little over 4 grand a few years ago.

My grandpa gave me a 1953 Gibson F-Hole Acoustic.

It looks pretty bad, it completely playable.

We know it's a 1953, because he personally bought it new from the store, back in 1953.

It's a family heir loom and will never be sold, but any idea what value this could have?

 

[Alden_Sloe]

my uncle had a similar guitar from about that year. the finish was cracked and the finish where you rest your arm had warn away. He died and his buddy who definitely knows how much that guitar was worth only appraised it at 8 hundred and something. That was in about 2000 and it didn't have a case.

Yes but appraisals for an estate are typically as low as the IRS will allow, not what they would fetch if sold at auction. Going through that now and the legal advise is to appraise all items as if they were being sold at a garage sale. So stuff like fine china that is out of production and brings high $$$ as replacement pieces would be appraised at about a 1/4 of the going rate. The idea is, A) you often want to minimize the value of the estate taxes and B) to be fair, the value to the heirs really should be what the cash value would be based on a quick sale with minimal effort.

In defense of GC I was in one for the first time today. I gotta say they had a lot of stuff on the floor and match the online pricing. Any retailer that does that gets points in my book. I'm a total newbie so it doesn't take much of an expert to help me. Some of the sales folk weren't totally informed but they were cheerful, polite and quickly found someone that could help me. Definitely a huge improvement over what you would see in most big box retailers.

 

[donkeystyle]

I'm sure you're correct about that (sounds very believable/smart), but I'm pretty sure that in this case that didn't happen. They sold a bunch of guitars for more than they were worth (as a musician he had a pretty strong local following) and that one was not just appraised for 8 something, but was sold for 8 something.

Yes but appraisals for an estate are typically as low as the IRS will allow, not what they would fetch if sold at auction. Going through that now and the legal advise is to appraise all items as if they were being sold at a garage sale. So stuff like fine china that is out of production and brings high $$$ as replacement pieces would be appraised at about a 1/4 of the going rate. The idea is, A) you often want to minimize the value of the estate taxes and B) to be fair, the value to the heirs really should be what the cash value would be based on a quick sale with minimal effort.

In defense of GC I was in one for the first time today. I gotta say they had a lot of stuff on the floor and match the online pricing. Any retailer that does that gets points in my book. I'm a total newbie so it doesn't take much of an expert to help me. Some of the sales folk weren't totally informed but they were cheerful, polite and quickly found someone that could help me. Definitely a huge improvement over what you would see in most big box retailers.

 

[Alden_Sloe]

They sold a bunch of guitars for more than they were worth (as a musician he had a pretty strong local following) and that one was not just appraised for 8 something, but was sold for 8 something.

Well, if they sold for X number of dollars, isn't that what they're worth?

Appraisals of vintage stuff is always hard. By definition it's a limited, as opposed to mass market deal. Plus, every item is to some extent more or less unique. Even if they are identical mass produced items the condition, what comes with them (manuals, case, sales literature, etc.) all make a difference. In your case the fact that a friend who was well respected had reviewed the item most likely added to the value by authenticating and verifying condition.

It just goes to prove the point though that sale value of comparable equipment is the best metric for value. Even then it's a crap shoot. Find two items on eBay that are pretty much equivalent, typically only show up every two or three months and end with in a couple hours of each other. My experience has been that the second item will almost always sell for more; sometimes a lot more