Vintage Guitar; What do I need to know?

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jimballs

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I am in grad school at the moment and one of my instructors knew I play guitar in a band. Last night she asked me after class how she could go about learning the value of a specific guitar. (I guess it was her fathers and she found it in the attic while she was doing some spring cleaning.) Well, I started asking her the usual questions, make, model, year manufactured, serial number, etc. so currently she is working on getting me the info.

All I know it is an Epiphone most likely purchase in the mid 1950's to mid 1960's. She wanted to say '57.

My question is what other information should I get from her? And once I get that information where do you guys think I can go to find out what I need to find out or who can I call. She doesn't want to sell it, but she wants to know what she has.

Thanks in advance for your reponse. I do not post often, but I am on here reading everything mostly everyday.
 
There are a number of print versions of buyers guides to purchase, and you can always simply do a web search and pull up guitar shops who might have that exact model for sale, but their list prices will generally be WAY inflated. The true modern barometer of what a guitar is worth is on Ebay.... make sure you search the "completed listings" to see what they really went for, as the starting bids and buy it now prices are inflated as well.
 
Thanks, Ebay is a good idea. I didn't think about the completed listings. Once I get some more information about the guitar I will check into that.
 
Get the info

and post a pic of it here. You'll end up with more info than you wanted. :)
 
With vintage guitars, condition counts for a lot. It can make a huge difference in the value of the instrument. Gruhn's Guide is a useful resource for determining model and year.

E-Bay completed auctions is very useful, although it does depend on how many sales there have been. If it is a relatively rare model, you wonlt have a big sample. Even with e-bay, values can fluctuate markedly based on whether the item was actually bid on, whether it was a BIN (and poorly priced), and what theinterest was at the time. I've bought things on e-bay where the final price varied by more than 100% for the exact same item. So be cautious.

Advertised prices on the net and in Vintage Guitar tend to run high. The Blue Book is suspect as well. If you know a good, straight up vintage instrument dealer, you could run it past them. If you are looking to sell the instrument, keep in mind that there is retail and there is wholesale pricing. If you want to sell it through a dealer, the dealer will, of course, want to mark it up to make a profit. Generally, if there is no rush, consignment can net you more $$$ than an outright sale to a dealer.

Let us know what you have :D
 
As soon as I get some pics from her I will post them. Thanks for all the recomendations!
 
Tell her its not worth anything and that you'll take it to the dump for her :D Then show us the pics of your sweet score!


Mike
 
+1 for the vintage dealer suggestion... They usually give *close* estimates to what the value *should be*, if they're good that is... Just a little FYI though, I got a '67 epiphone acoustic a while back from a family member. It had a little warping on the neck where it meets the body, everything else was clean and in good condition. It appraised for a little over $700.00 from 3 different sources. Obviously, YMMV, but don't expect high numbers. ;)
 
There are certainly some Epiphone equivalents of Gibson models during that period. The 1960s Epiphone Cortez is esentially the same as the 1960s Gibson B-25 and goes for about the same money today -- $1200-1500 or so if it is in good condition. Depending on what you have, it could be a very nice guitar.
 
Mmmm - old Epiphones.

foo like . . .

Actually I have a '63 Crestwood Custom, and would love a Coronet to match.

We want pictures . . .
 
Gruhn guitars [http://www.gruhn.com/] provides an on line appraisal of guitars for a fee (I think $50). I would wait and see how others appraise it before paying a fee.
You also may want to ask if you want to insure it and what the proper insurance value might be. Often the insurance value is higher than the value on eBay because the insurance value may pay the retail value based on the policy and the notion that you should not have to scout out the best available deal.
Note: I am neither affiliated with Gruhn guitars nor any insurance company. Gruhn has priced its guitars fairly in the past.'
Rip
 
Many reputable dealers will price it for free if you bring it in for them to look at it. If you want a written appraisal, expect to pay for that. I expect that people on this board could give you a pretty good estimate once we know the year, model and condition.
 
Almost any guitar shop will have a copy of "The Guitar Blue Book," which has a listing of most guitars and their value by condition. Chances you can get a shop owner to look it up for you are pretty good. You wont get the exact value but you will get within 10% which should be cloce enough for your purpose. Someone on this forum may have one and can look it up if you have the... brand, model, serial #, year if possible, and don't forget condition. Underestimate the condition, vintage shops will see scratches and dings that you didn't notice.
 
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