Is $180,000 for a Les Paul fair???

  • Thread starter Thread starter turnitdown
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They just don't make 'em anymore.

So someone who wants a '59 Burst who has the money is going to buy it.

Would I buy it - no - I don't have the money.

But imagine your nouveau riche *rock star* who's accountant is telling him -
"Django, you need a really huge tax write-off this year - the CD is multi-platinum, you've *earned* $16 million - go buy some guitars so we can write them off against it.

Or someone who wants to be 'cool'

Guitars (and everything else) are worth what people will pay for them.

It's a '59 dude.
 
Bassman Brad said:
. . . And I personally do believe that this is exactly what the current market for collectible musical instruments has become - a market bubble. Often, when these bubbles burst, the value of the items involved decrease by 90% or more.
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I don't know Brad - I have a friend who bought his '59 in the late '80's
He paid $5,000 - which I thought was a ridiculous price back then.

Seems like he was smarter than me.

I was at Gruhn's in Nashville in 1979 and they had an original Explorer from '58 (I think) It was $4,000 and on it's way to France.
Who knows how much it would fetch now . . .
 
Hold on! I'll sell you my les paul for a fraction of that cost! $50 000! At this price what do u have to loose?!??!
 
foo said:
They just don't make 'em anymore.

So someone who wants a '59 Burst who has the money is going to buy it.

Would I buy it - no - I don't have the money.

But imagine your nouveau riche *rock star* who's accountant is telling him -
"Django, you need a really huge tax write-off this year - the CD is multi-platinum, you've *earned* $16 million - go buy some guitars so we can write them off against it.

Or someone who wants to be 'cool'

Guitars (and everything else) are worth what people will pay for them.

It's a '59 dude.
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Yeah, but the point is who buys it and why. You say "It's a '59 dude" and that tells me that if you won the lottery or something you might buy it for what it is, you would love it and appreciate it, play it, like you say they don't make 'em anymore.

It's the speculators who focus on the potential profit and don't appreciate the guitar that I like to see burnt. I just make the analogies with the classic car market because I know somebody who could afford to buy ex Grand Prix Maseratis and Ferraris. But he used to actually take them out and race them, but the world went stupid when the "money only" boys got involved and the whole value thing just lost touch with reality.
 
That *WAS* an awesome read....
'How about real offers of $350,000 for a 1959 Les Paul and it was turned down several times.
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See???? $180,000 is a *STEAL*!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I still kick myself in the ass over a Les Paul (1977?) that I sold in 1985 or so for I think it was $400......

Oh, and the JCM800 50 Watt I traded in (1989) for the Lee Jackson MetalTronix head... that I later got $250 for on another trade... who would have ever thought????? :( :( :( :( :(

At least I still have SOME remnants (guitars, amps) from the 80's that are keepers.... but nothing that will ever be worth big bucks....
 
Where's the DECAL??? For that number I want the DECAL.
 
The pictures of this guitar appear to show a model in poor condition that has been used quite a lot and really been through the trenches.

Most guitars I read about that sell for high $ (usually at auctions run by name firms) are guitars owned by specific well-known people. Clapton and Hendrix guitars have been known to sell for lots of $.

However no mention is made of any former owner/user. Ebay is a great place to buy used gear, but not a location usually associated with selling high priced investiment pieces (of any kind).

I suspect this may well be a valid 59 LP Burst. However the attempt to sell on EBay, with a starting bid of $180,000 looks more like an attempt to find a buyer with too much money and not a lot of thought...

Ed
 
That's incredible, how much guitars can be worth. More then classic cars. My dad has had several classic, my favorite was a 1967 Dodge GTS convertible, red with white interior and a white top. It was completely rebuilt and he dominated car shows with that thing. He sold it once it started to need work again for $16,500, now it's worth 4 times that amount and just 8 or so years. If you thought that way about that guitar, it could be worth half a million dollars in a short decade.
 
A friend of mine who runs in those circles says this:

apl's friend said:
I actually played one of these (the owners live in *****). I know for a fact that Guitar Center offered them 200K and they turned it down. Holding out for quartermil he said.
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Ed Dixon said:
The pictures of this guitar appear to show a model in poor condition that has been used quite a lot and really been through the trenches.

Most guitars I read about that sell for high $ (usually at auctions run by name firms) are guitars owned by specific well-known people. Clapton and Hendrix guitars have been known to sell for lots of $.

However no mention is made of any former owner/user. Ebay is a great place to buy used gear, but not a location usually associated with selling high priced investiment pieces (of any kind).

I suspect this may well be a valid 59 LP Burst. However the attempt to sell on EBay, with a starting bid of $180,000 looks more like an attempt to find a buyer with too much money and not a lot of thought...

Ed
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If this guitar were in better condition, the starting bid would be much higher than $180,000.00. With '59 Les Pauls, it doesn't matter who played them. As someone said earlier, they don't make them anymore. The woods these things were made with are gone, there are only a certain (low) number of these even still around, the PAF pickups, the wood has aged, the pickups have aged, etc....all of this factors into the price of these things. Doesn't mean it makes it worth it to you necessarily, but they are rare and they do command that kinda money.
 
turnitdown said:
That *WAS* an awesome read....


See???? $180,000 is a *STEAL*!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I still kick myself in the ass over a Les Paul (1977?) that I sold in 1985 or so for I think it was $400......

Oh, and the JCM800 50 Watt I traded in (1989) for the Lee Jackson MetalTronix head... that I later got $250 for on another trade... who would have ever thought????? :( :( :( :( :(

At least I still have SOME remnants (guitars, amps) from the 80's that are keepers.... but nothing that will ever be worth big bucks....
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, though, that '77 Les Paul will never be worth as much as a '59. It was made during the "Norlin Years" (Gibson's equivalent of Fender's CBS years). Specs had changed, they had maple necks, 2-piece "pancake" bodies, 3-piece tops, etc. I have a '76 Deluxe that is routed for humbuckers that I got for $550.00 in 1997. It's worth more than that now, but it'll never be worth $180K...or even $10K probably. But I like the way it plays and sounds, so...there you have it.
 
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Solved...

Well, this sums it up.... from the listing...
LES PAUL STANDARD !!!!! 1959 NO-90881

ALL ORIGINAL TUNERS+BIXBY ARE IN THE CASE

NO CRACKS NO OTHER MODIFICTIONS
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You'll notice he said "No Modifictions".... he, he said "fiction"....
He just forgot to mention that the parts aren't original on THIS guitar!!!!
 
turnitdown said:
So.... I'm looking at this guys eBay feedback, and seeing what other stuff he bought/sold...
How about a LesPaul trus rod cove for $80... (He bought it) Gee, I wonder why he would buy a 50's LP truss cover??? Could it be for the "all original" 1958 LP he's selling???
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=38086&item=7329750725

Also, "101 Great Nights of Sex"
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=378&item=4567866992

An Alchoholics Anonymous Book...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=29223&item=6544422935

1959 Gibson/Kluson Tuners (See my comment above)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=38085&item=7329969567

Bought a 52 Goldtop...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=38086&item=7327110083

And some other stuff...... The "parts" for the 1959 LP would have me worried a bit... Did he say it was all "original"??? I'll have to check....
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Those are bought and sold by someone other than the guitar seller in question. gitarrenwolf is selling the guitar, but guitarist59 bought all the parts you linked to. I looked at gitarrenwolf's feedback and the oldest link you could have dug up still had him listed at gitarrenwolf.

Where you getting this info?
 
He did post:
LES PAUL STANDARD !!!!! 1959 NO-90881

ALL ORIGINAL TUNERS+BIXBY ARE IN THE CASE

NO CRACKS NO OTHER MODIFICTIONS
Click to expand...
But the guitar pics show a stop tailpiece, and no finish fading where there was a Bigsby Trem tailpiece (the rest of the top is faded).... Wouldn't the drilling and replacement of the tailpiece type be considered a "Modification"? :confused:
 
Is anyone buying Les Pauls on EBay?

I'm not a EBay enthusiast, particularly, but after reading this thread I searched there for "Gibson Les Paul." I found 17 pages of LPs, some of them pretty nice, all for what I consider inflated prices, but the thing that struck me most was how many had just a short time left for bidding and there were ***NO***bids. Is it just me or is that a sign that there's not that big a market? Or, maybe, that people are buying and selling LPs privately, rather than on EBay? I didn't look at all 17 pages of results, naturally, but I think 3 is a pretty good sample.
 
I think it's usual practice for eBay bidders to wait until the last minute to bid.
 
Garry Sharp said:
I think it's usual practice for eBay bidders to wait until the last minute to bid.
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Yep.


lpdelux, on the left hand side check the box for 'completed listings only' and then search.

I think you will be suprised how many sold. ;)
 
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