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Never understood why people buy a used guitar and are so worried about the value and what they can sell it for. Every guitar I've bought was because I wanted it, and wanted to play it. Especially Gibson's. People tell you not to replace the pickups. I've modded and swapped pickups on every guitar I own, made it *mine*
A couple of years ago I found an underpriced guitar at a used guitar store. I bought it. It was fine. But I sold it for $700 profit and I bought what I really wanted (for ab additional $1500).
Totally agree. It’s funny that players look at our tool’s different than a collector. Though I love seeing a truly vintage machines I prefer to see, hold and play one. I have a buddy who mods everything and he’s also a different sounding player because of it!
I'm a musician, and I personally have never understood the whole collection thing. I have never bought a guitar for it's resell value. If I can't use it more than a couple times a year it's not needed and deserves a home that someone can make use of it and get some enjoyment out of it. They were made to make music, not just sit and look pretty.
A factor pushing the downward wave: if online reviews are to be believed, new budget and mid-price guitars are SO much more playable out of the box than they used to be. That in itself softens the market for the “broken-in” axes.
I agree budget guitars have never been better. However, I think those belong to a very different market with a different buyer set. You don’t go from gas:ing for a vintage Fender to buying a Squier. That would be like shopping for a vintage Corvette but leaving with a Toyota Yaris.
I agree budget guitars have never been better. However, I think those belong to a very different market with a different buyer set. You don’t go from gas:ing for a vintage Fender to buying a Squier. That would be like shopping for a vintage Corvette but leaving with a Toyota Yaris.
I agree budget guitars have never been better. However, I think those belong to a very different market with a different buyer set. You don’t go from gas:ing for a vintage Fender to buying a Squier. That would be like shopping for a vintage Corvette but leaving with a Toyota Yaris.
Watching you guys, takes me back to my youth when I was the annoying kid who would hang around my local independent music store all day (with no money to buy anything) chatting with the guys who ran the store. I'm in the UK so the accents were different and it was the 1980s so the fashions were different (well.. not Baxters which is classic 80s lol) but they were great times and they made me fall even more in love with music and gear and realise that everyone who works in music, that isn't a massive bellend in the major league labels, does it for the love of music and the toys... I mean guitars... they get to play. Great video as always gents :)
I think it was a condition of "Artificial Scarcity", a mistaken perception that all of a sudden there would somehow be no supply of new or used gear. Sure, factories had some issues with their labour-force downtime and navigating Covid, but did anyone really think it would be anything more than a short-term slowdown in production and distribution? It really was nothing more than that. Perpetual, never-ending growth to infinity is a fantasy, really.
@andrewbecker3700 "It" was a glut in the market of guitars caused by the buying frenzy of the covid lockdowns followed by oversupply when things went back to (somewhat) normal. First, you had a lot of people thinking they would learn to play during lockdowns, many of whom gave up shortly after. Then, you had a supply/demand imbalance as parts were difficult to source after the lockdowns, that sent prices skyrocketing and had consumers buying up things they hadn't been able to get for a while. Then you had an economic crisis that made a lot of players and collectors decide to sell off the binge purchases. It all adds up to a perfect storm of used guitars becoming harder to sell, a buyers market.
@@Nblades78 mostly right, except in this case the scarcity was real, not artificial. Like most dealers during a significant part of the pandemic lockdown and for a while after, I had very little inventory to offer. Guitars would sell as soon as they came in. I sold a big collection of Norlin era Les Paul Customs within a couple of weeks and all for top dollar. It was crazy.
It’s about time. I remember when you could buy used at 50% of retail. In the uk it still seems people think their 5 year old Gibsons and Fenders are worth as much as they paid for them.
All local markets are different but I have noticed a lot of gear seems to have been sitting for a long while on the local classifieds. However, a lot of sellers still think it’s 2021 and they can ask $50 less than current retail price. And there’s a whole lot of, “I know what I’ve got!”
Not to mention most of those I knows need at minimum metal hardware deep cleans and potentially soldering everything back together. I've seen so many that are husks to be an the seller still firm on 1k
@@LuisJimenez-pb3geEspecially since sales have started to come back to retail. Like for example, Fender was blowing out Vinteras at 30% off a few months ago. I still see two or three year old ones on local classifieds asking $100 less than current new price.
The used market gets crushed most holiday seasons. Its sales season and used gifts don’t often go over well. Then companies sneak in price hikes in February/March and the used market revs back up. It’s like clockwork.
Pretty hard to sell a used guitar for the usual price of two thirds of the new sales price when new prices are being slashed everywhere. I'm trying to thin the herd a bit to fund a new one, but they aren't worth parting with in the current market.
I am an old fart too and I remember gas @ $0.29 and premium gas was $ 0.36 a gallon. It cost me about $8.00 to fill my 25 gallon tank on my high performance Pontiac.
The used guitar market on the electric side maybe crashing but in the acoustic side it is just the opposite. I don’t consider a 20 year old guitar “vintage “ and those on the used market are selling for more than when they were new
I've seen a lot of listings that include "no trades" or "pricing FIRM!" in the description, only to see it morph into FSOT or a lower price after it sits for a month. My collection has stabilized and i'm in no hurry to sell anything I list. Things may take longer to move, but if it's priced reasonably, it's just a matter of patience. I've also seen far more people willing to offer solid trade value, just because us guitarist almost always have a little GAS for something different, combined with the used market coming back to reality.
Here in UK, used guitars have been heading downstream for a couple of months in my opinion. eBay & Reverb are awash with over production & Covid impulse buys. I was lucky, saw it coming, offloaded all I didn’t want to keep at more than or equal to what I paid for. I’ve since bought a mint 1 yr old Strat pro 2 for £1000, & a mint Squier CV Tele for £200. I don’t buy to make a profit, I buy to play.
@@Funkybassuk I also worked out what pedals I was using, & sold off all I wasn’t, except one, an impulse buy of my own that caught me up in the hype. £160 new, unsold at £100. We all get caught out sometime. Believe me, you can get by with amp based reverb, TS808, BD-2, a cheap chorus & cheap delay. No more boutique for me 👍
@@denbodg9311I totally agree, I’ve had ALL the boutique gear over the years,real top stuff. Now I’m down to my Strat I’ve been playing for nearly 40yrs, delay,boost & would you believe a Roland blues cube Artist. I do only play blues/ rock based stuff.with us guitarists most stuff is just desirability 🙃
25 cent gas ? So the early to mid 1950s ? To put that into perspective a 1950s dollar is around $12.50 in todays money. So 25 cents a gallon would be about $3.12 a gallon today.
This was inevitable after the sales boon during covid. Alot of people bought to learn and found out it's incxredibly hard and lost interest. All these guitars are now hitting the market and at the same time manufacturers are clearing excess stock from the same period of time. The market will return to normal, but it's going to take a few years I think. Legacy brands like Fender, Gibson and PRS will bounce back the quickest I predict. Low end stuff may never get to where it was. But for people looking to upgrade or get that Strat or Les Paul they always wanted. You can find plenty of very good to mint choices at great prices atm.
I thank you for this. Now when my wife wants me to sell something before I buy another, I will show her this. Of course I will edit out the time references.
Cars used to be affordable for everyone, then they invented credit. Prices skyrocketed. Same thing with guitars. They had to be affordable until....Credit. now people have so much invested that they don't want to lose money when they sell.
No way. There are more good affordable options than ever before. In the 60s 70s and 80s cheap guitars were trash. we are in the golden age of instruments
If you are investing in guitars, you are nuts. Gibson and others have been pushing this BS for decades that guitars are great investments. They come out with limited editions, collectors editions and everything else to make you think you better buy one because one day they will be worth $100,000 You need to think of guitars just like you do furniture, you buy it to use it and never even think about its resale value.
Funny, I just got out from under a few pieces I acquired back in 2007 before the last financial crash. Luckily, I've been in the Geetar Biz for over 30yrs. Patience is the number one rule. Nuff Said 😎
I don't get the collector bit either. I buy based on 1) sound 2) feel 3) niche-fit OR 4) whacky beat-up almost-destroyed impulse buys that I can throw on a bench and try and redeem, either as a keeper or a give-away.
I'm 6 minutes in into this video, and I wonder why the pandemic hasn't been mentioned once. People had to stay home, had no other places to spend their money, so started/extended their hobby and bought guitars -> huge demand, that couldn't be met because of Far East lockdowns. Then the pandemic ended, people had places to go again and alternative ways of spending their (saved) money. No more guitars. Meanwhile manufacturers had started up heir delayed supply lines. Partly boom and bust cycle, elementary economics, partly pandemic.
Here in Japan the music stores are the culprits: weak yen drove up the prices to the point where guitars getting shipped here cost a fortune, and since they couldn’t import the shops here jacked up the prices of used guitars to the price they used to sell them when new, although in nowhere near good condition…..the market is BAD here
It all depends on what you are selling IMO. I have seen very solid prices on pieces that are not common. If you are trying to sell a guitar that is still being made new then I wouldn't expect much. If you are selling something you can't get often the market is still there.
I love my DuoSonic. short scale, lightest weight Fender on the market. the only other Fender I would prefer would be some sort of custom shop DuoSonic.
i wonder how many Fender Strats - all models made in different countries - have been made over the past 20 years. How many can the market absorb? I sure wouldn't want to "invest" in a high end Custom Shop over-relic'd Strat. Once all of us baby boomers die off, I wonder what will become of all of these guitars. Will the younger generations care?
@@johnsauer9067no we dont care for strats, at least not the traditional SSS 3 knob. offset guitars and headless guitars are back, guitars with just 1 pickup are becoming a trend, we also have more interest in boutique, import, and overseas brands. its a little sad bc im sure the strat is still the #1 produced style, but its mostly by import brands. fender is moving on to more experimental and "mix-and-match" takes on their classics.
Adjusted for 50+ years of inflation, the dollar you paid for a gallon of gas back in the day is equivalent to about $5 today. At that time I bought my first new car - for 5000, which was average (or a bit above) at the time. You can’t find a decent car for 25 grand now. Even when inflation is low, it adds up over time. So comparing gas prices or the price of anything to what it was a half century ago is pointless.unless you normalize for inflation.
They did say vintage markets are solid, it’s the Used market that becoming an issue. A one year old guitar is considered used, so is a ten year old guitar. A 1958 gold tip Les Paul is vintage. Learn the difference.
@@linkhatchet Except vintage guitars are still being sold for top dollar and the Chinese POS are not selling. Learn the difference between a vintage guitar and crappy Chinese POS.
@@linkhatchet so, with your understanding, should all used Fender Strats sell for the same, or does when they were made, for one, justify a different price point?
Bought a few guitar but very selectively. Strictly a hobbyist playing at home for the fun it. Before starting out I read a post on a guitar forum that made sense to me. Guy said expensive guitars are fine but if you ever have to sell good luck with that because they can be slow to sell and you will not get back what you paid for it new since it's now used. So after learning about guitars I started buying mint condition used "beginner" guitars but only pre CITES and before makers started cutting corners. These are not as easy to come by now in mint condition or for the prices paid just a few years ago. I love cheap guitars that aren't cheap if you know what I mean. Hope everyone reading this has a happy, safe and prosperous New Year. Cheers!
It's about time! Used prices around here have been nuts. Pawn shops are acting like they're selling something rare. I hope prices plummet and I can flesh out my collection.
All guitar prices are through the roof right now. A new les Paul was $1000 less only 10 years ago. That’s ridiculous. Everyone needs to stop buying until the prices come down to where they should be.
I buy everything from my local store. I have been trading there since the mid to late 1980s, I've been treated well, and my parents and their church are treated well. I have actually gone to my local shop and asked them to order something from Sweetwater for me. I am lucky.
Your not going to get a high end quality guitar whether its Epiphone or Gibson for a budget price on the used market Epiphone modern figured Sgs and the Epiphone custom koa Les Paul that have been recently discontinued will go sky high on the used market when they are completely sold out and rightfully so..
I'm a little older and when I got my drivers license gas was 29.9 cents per gallon. Fill up your Harley for $1.00. Your SS 396 Chevelle for about $7.00.
Also, I bought 2 Martins and a PRS during Covid and they’re like going for about 1000 more now brand new. Not sure but I bet I could get good money for them. I won’t sell my Martin guitars though they are just the king of guitars!
Agree... Just got a 2021 Squire Contemporary Telecaster RH for 260$ as good as new. Last month, Monorprice 15w amp for 140$. Deflation is coming hard; get your cash ready !!!!
What's happening with acoustic guitars? Low - mid - high-end? I've wondered how acoustic guitar prices can keep going up 10% every year - especially on the high-end.
Buddy of mine jumped on the PRS SE McCarty bandwagon immediately, spending $1k on one. A couple months later I picked up a "used" one, basically untouched, for $550. He was PISSED, and I giggled.
I'd consider Bloodsport and Dumb and Dumber to be two perfect movies. I can tune in and watch either of them from any point in the film. I never get bored of either. 🎉
The same sort of thing has happened in many markets… bicycles is another. You couldn’t lay your hands on one in 2020 and could ask whatever you wanted for the tatty one you had in your shed. The manufacturers responded like the boom was going to go on forever, with new prices surging and now the market has normalised (along with a rise in interest rates) so new bikes are unaffordable and the supply of second hand bikes is plentiful so it’s all a bit of a mess! History just repeats itself but the lure of getting rich quick catches people every time. Classic cars is another such market where people pay crazy money for any old wreck and then the bubble bursts.
In the early 70s I paid .28 cents a gallon for gas. Can you imagine how I look at $4⁰⁰ a gallon? Thanks for the info on used guitar prices. I'll just hold them and sell them when the price is right. I do not own one gibson guitar 😊
From the side of buying used guitars, I am seeing fantastic deals every day. Can’t buy them all, just like the shopping experience. I pay California prices for gas. We’ve always had the most expensive fuel. Loads of electrics on the road. Very few V8s. And … when I was a kid … a Martin D-28 at Westwood Music was $400.
Yeah the used guitar market is total trash right now and has been for months. The same 30 or so guitars keep getting listed and relisted over and over again on my marketplace because no one is buying them, and even though no one is buying them the sellers still aren't lowering the asking prices. Market is literally at a standstill.
I watched Back to the future for the first time. I thought it was terrible. On the other hand I just watched the Matrix for the 4th time and thought it was great.
and I'm waiting for the deals. Fender is selling right from their websites for lower prices than the big retail chains. some models. Especially Squire CV series. Undercutting their retail sellers. Your cohost is correct. I noticed it today as I just typed. I'll grab a brand new CV now but I'll wait a couple weeks. they may drop a bit more. I want a Mustang but a little reluctant to deal with that trem system. I want the trem on it though.
hey. I'm visiting NY for 2 days and I wonder if I can buy a good used guitar for about 500 USD to bring back home. where should I look for? i don't have much time to look around. thanks!
I'm older than you guys and I remember going to a gas station and asking for "a Dollar's worth" which was 4 or 5 gallons. Then when I was 21 it was an outrageous 33 CENTS a gallon. What a ripoff...
Thousands of people always wanted to play, they found themselves forced to be at home more than any other time, it’s time to learn! a new guitar and a head full of utube videos on how simply it is with all these new tools and free lessons. Motivated for a few months, many shut up laters from the family who’s passion is for you to go back to work. So now broke and realising I should have bought an Xbox, plug n play hobby, thousands are getting rid of them. So unplayed they are as new as half the guitars on the racks in stores. And now as a guitarist I can get the cheapest best instruments ever. I love this time 😅buyers market for once!!
Its simple. Every guitar cant be priced at the top of what the most expensive guitars are worth. Musicians sticking it to musicians to where no one can afford anything. Everything needs to be slashed by more than half. Wanted many guitars over the past three years and own none due to them being way overpriced. Has kept me from playing. Damn shame! All the best to you!
I like to trade guitars around. Some I keep forever and some I will play a while and sell. I have noticed prices dropping and it has taken a little longer to sell items. I have also found some good deals. When the government pumped put free money, people bought a lot of toys like guitars. Now that inflation has hit, and there is no free money, Voila!
I am always paying attention to this market I just dont see what you guys are saying. Its not reflected in the prices of what people are paying. From what I can see you guys couldnt be more wrong. Unless your talking used cheap guitars. They never had value in the first place so.
Trains are cool. Appreciate the train before it dissapears lol. In Canada we are happy with $1.25 gas, and that's per litre. I wish it was per gallon. You guys are 100% correct, some sellers overprice used guitars, some ask more than new prices. Prices will always fluctuate again. Sweetwater Gear exchange is a good idea. Great subject guys! Thanks! Wishing you a Happy New Year!
Hi guys ........ ah lovely Southern Pines and that train. Love it! Visited in 2019 and bought some strings, lovely shop. Anyway, I think the whole industry is reeling due to low to mid priced guitar production. These guitars are not just being played by beginners or newbies. Word has got out, a simple re wire and some jiggery pokery with a few tools, and you have a very usable machine. I have four ( Thoman ) all fantastic, great for traveling on planes and general horsing around. My Suhrs, Prs’ and other random expensive stuff is rarely used. Sad but true. I am not alone - by the hundreds, everyone is doing the same, so it has to resonate through the entire industry. Expensive guitars are a hard sell now, worldwide. ........however I still use my Boogies, I ain’t going to cheap ampsville for no one! Most folk are the same. A 300 buck guitar plugged into a 3000 buck amp. Daft beyond belief! Sounds killer though. Oh and just to seal the deal with all the snobs out there.......I took the names off the headstocks and got my own decals made to stop pre conceived opinions-ruining my tone 😂 No one has a clue, and raves about the sound and then has a head melt when I tell them the name AFTER the gig. So that’s where its at, times have changed. There will always be boutique and high end guitars and lets face it some are gorgeous, pure works of art, but perhaps now they will exist in a smaller area of the market. Over and out, Happy NewYear 😊
Clickbait title, boys. Wildly inflated used guitar prices returning to reality is not “crashing.” It’s a market adjustment and it’s long overdue. Sucks for the guys that bought when prices were through the roof, but that’s just how markets work.
Too many chinese fakes, killer brands like schecter and esp are selling brand new for half the price that are way better quality than most gibsons today... imo. At least the headstocks dont break and stay in tune... basically musicians vs collectors
You guys need to do an "Ugly guitars that no one wants - new or used" video. That's the only thing that NO ONE has done yet. I don't understand the prices of used guitars. But I'm thinking that those people selling them are trying to buy something new and want to offset the cost. Otherwise I bought a USED Squier last August. It's the only used guitar that I've bought in YEARS. I don't usually buy used guitars because you don't know who did what to it before you bought it without looking under the pickguard. Squier is one of those that no one cares about. So I bought a black one with a rosewood fretboard with a plain white pickguard. I put a new pickguard on it with all new electronics and pickups and locking machine heads. It rocks now! Otherwise I have just about all the guitars I can stand.
Pretty simple. Interest rates have been high for a couple years now. We’re at the point where more than half of Americans have refinanced from their 0.5% rate to the new 6-7%. Wages have not increased proportionally, thus, the public is selling off their personal property to help pay down their other debts (credit card, car loans, student loans) to prioritize their home and savings, thereby slowing inflation.
This was a huge impact for me, I wanted to get a Tom delonge sea foam green fender my dream guitar. But this inflation hurt me from getting a struggling to barely pay mortgage on new house an feed kids. Hope next year will be better
I bought a Fender Musicmaster bass guitar about 25 years or so ago for $120. They can sell for ten times that now. But I like mine, hope I never have to replace it.
Not every Guitar is a Bust, nor is every Guitar like a 57 Les Paul, buy Smart, only buy what you would want to play for a lifetime, the time as using anything but those Prime Year Les Pauls and others are going to drop in value the moment you leave the Shop, just like a used car. The Good is more people are flexible on Prices and willing to negotiate, plus the Mass of Non Players buying Guitars and Gear are about to get a reality check when trying to sell their gear for profit to find out if they break close to even they are winning. My Guitars are Not for Sale and Don't lose value as they are Built for Charities that Auction them or Raffle them for things Like Food Drives, Handicapped, Kids, Seniors or Veterans and usually bring many Lives the hand Up they needed in this all too cruel world of ours.
Editing is a thing.... am I right? You guys go off on so many meaningless tangents and crack each other up (or not) with bad jokes throughout the entire video. Just the facts, and it's a 3-minute video. Give it a shot.
I solved this problem. I just build my own guitars now. I do have 2 Fender Chris Shiflett Telecasters. I like them. Modded the electronics. Won't ever sell.
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There was very little substance in this video. Like 9 minutes of absolutely nothing. Boring
Never understood why people buy a used guitar and are so worried about the value and what they can sell it for. Every guitar I've bought was because I wanted it, and wanted to play it. Especially Gibson's. People tell you not to replace the pickups. I've modded and swapped pickups on every guitar I own, made it *mine*
100% my brother! Never bought a guitar as a case queen. I play the crap out of all of them!
@@arrondaniels358 Thats the way it should be!!! Made to be played!!!
A couple of years ago I found an underpriced guitar at a used guitar store. I bought it. It was fine. But I sold it for $700 profit and I bought what I really wanted (for ab additional $1500).
Never sold a guitar in 30 years of playing. If I truly don’t want or need one I give it to someone.
Totally agree. It’s funny that players look at our tool’s different than a collector. Though I love seeing a truly vintage machines I prefer to see, hold and play one. I have a buddy who mods everything and he’s also a different sounding player because of it!
I'm not selling my guitars any way. If the prices go down, I'll just buy more. Collect what you love.
Then when you lose your job due to AI, you can eat those guitars.
🎸😋
I'm a musician, and I personally have never understood the whole collection thing. I have never bought a guitar for it's resell value. If I can't use it more than a couple times a year it's not needed and deserves a home that someone can make use of it and get some enjoyment out of it. They were made to make music, not just sit and look pretty.
Don't worry, your approach is valid too.
That's right
A factor pushing the downward wave: if online reviews are to be believed, new budget and mid-price guitars are SO much more playable out of the box than they used to be. That in itself softens the market for the “broken-in” axes.
Same with behringer and the vintage synth market
That's right.
LedHed Pb 207.20 🎶 🎸 🎹
I agree budget guitars have never been better.
However, I think those belong to a very different market with a different buyer set.
You don’t go from gas:ing for a vintage Fender to buying a Squier.
That would be like shopping for a vintage Corvette but leaving with a Toyota Yaris.
I agree budget guitars have never been better.
However, I think those belong to a very different market with a different buyer set.
You don’t go from gas:ing for a vintage Fender to buying a Squier.
That would be like shopping for a vintage Corvette but leaving with a Toyota Yaris.
I agree budget guitars have never been better.
However, I think those belong to a very different market with a different buyer set.
You don’t go from gas:ing for a vintage Fender to buying a Squier.
That would be like shopping for a vintage Corvette but leaving with a Toyota Yaris.
Watching you guys, takes me back to my youth when I was the annoying kid who would hang around my local independent music store all day (with no money to buy anything) chatting with the guys who ran the store. I'm in the UK so the accents were different and it was the 1980s so the fashions were different (well.. not Baxters which is classic 80s lol) but they were great times and they made me fall even more in love with music and gear and realise that everyone who works in music, that isn't a massive bellend in the major league labels, does it for the love of music and the toys... I mean guitars... they get to play. Great video as always gents :)
Saw it coming. We've been talking about when it would hit since 2021, prices went too high too quick, it was unsustainable.
I think it was a condition of "Artificial Scarcity", a mistaken perception that all of a sudden there would somehow be no supply of new or used gear. Sure, factories had some issues with their labour-force downtime and navigating Covid, but did anyone really think it would be anything more than a short-term slowdown in production and distribution? It really was nothing more than that. Perpetual, never-ending growth to infinity is a fantasy, really.
What is "IT"? Talk about "IT". If a cool new guitar costs the same as a used one, why would most people buy used?
@andrewbecker3700 "It" was a glut in the market of guitars caused by the buying frenzy of the covid lockdowns followed by oversupply when things went back to (somewhat) normal. First, you had a lot of people thinking they would learn to play during lockdowns, many of whom gave up shortly after. Then, you had a supply/demand imbalance as parts were difficult to source after the lockdowns, that sent prices skyrocketing and had consumers buying up things they hadn't been able to get for a while. Then you had an economic crisis that made a lot of players and collectors decide to sell off the binge purchases. It all adds up to a perfect storm of used guitars becoming harder to sell, a buyers market.
@@Nblades78 mostly right, except in this case the scarcity was real, not artificial. Like most dealers during a significant part of the pandemic lockdown and for a while after, I had very little inventory to offer. Guitars would sell as soon as they came in. I sold a big collection of Norlin era Les Paul Customs within a couple of weeks and all for top dollar. It was crazy.
It’s about time. I remember when you could buy used at 50% of retail. In the uk it still seems people think their 5 year old Gibsons and Fenders are worth as much as they paid for them.
All local markets are different but I have noticed a lot of gear seems to have been sitting for a long while on the local classifieds. However, a lot of sellers still think it’s 2021 and they can ask $50 less than current retail price. And there’s a whole lot of, “I know what I’ve got!”
Great then keep what you got!
The worst
Same, or when you see FB market littered with Epiphone Les Pauls for $500-$600 only to do a quick search and find the same guitar NEW for $469
Not to mention most of those I knows need at minimum metal hardware deep cleans and potentially soldering everything back together. I've seen so many that are husks to be an the seller still firm on 1k
@@LuisJimenez-pb3geEspecially since sales have started to come back to retail. Like for example, Fender was blowing out Vinteras at 30% off a few months ago. I still see two or three year old ones on local classifieds asking $100 less than current new price.
The used market gets crushed most holiday seasons. Its sales season and used gifts don’t often go over well.
Then companies sneak in price hikes in February/March and the used market revs back up. It’s like clockwork.
Pretty hard to sell a used guitar for the usual price of two thirds of the new sales price when new prices are being slashed everywhere. I'm trying to thin the herd a bit to fund a new one, but they aren't worth parting with in the current market.
i'm about in that spot myself. guess i'll just be on wait watch.
Yep, same here.
Me too, so instead I have taken advantage and picked up a couple of Les Paul models I have long wanted at some really good prices!
My first job was pumping gas at a Hess station in Long Island. I was sixteen and it was $0.29 / gallon for regular. I am quite old.
Was a great time to be alive!!!! I remember my big block chevelle, dearly!!!!
It was $ 6.00 to fill my 66 Caddy.
I am an old fart too and I remember gas @ $0.29 and premium gas was $ 0.36 a gallon. It cost me about $8.00 to fill my 25 gallon tank on my high performance Pontiac.
The best music teachers I ever had never focused on gear
The used guitar market on the electric side maybe crashing but in the acoustic side it is just the opposite. I don’t consider a 20 year old guitar “vintage “ and those on the used market are selling for more than when they were new
Lost Boys still holds up. 80s had some great movies.
Good call! Ghostbusters as well.
“You’re eating worms Michael!”
I've seen a lot of listings that include "no trades" or "pricing FIRM!" in the description, only to see it morph into FSOT or a lower price after it sits for a month. My collection has stabilized and i'm in no hurry to sell anything I list. Things may take longer to move, but if it's priced reasonably, it's just a matter of patience. I've also seen far more people willing to offer solid trade value, just because us guitarist almost always have a little GAS for something different, combined with the used market coming back to reality.
I see lots of used stiff going for new prices.
Here in UK, used guitars have been heading downstream for a couple of months in my opinion. eBay & Reverb are awash with over production & Covid impulse buys. I was lucky, saw it coming, offloaded all I didn’t want to keep at more than or equal to what I paid for. I’ve since bought a mint 1 yr old Strat pro 2 for £1000, & a mint Squier CV Tele for £200. I don’t buy to make a profit, I buy to play.
I traded in some gear back in the summer when the shops still seemed to need some stock - but come the autumn, I could not interest them in anything.
@@Funkybassuk I also worked out what pedals I was using, & sold off all I wasn’t, except one, an impulse buy of my own that caught me up in the hype. £160 new, unsold at £100. We all get caught out sometime. Believe me, you can get by with amp based reverb, TS808, BD-2, a cheap chorus & cheap delay. No more boutique for me 👍
@@denbodg9311I totally agree, I’ve had ALL the boutique gear over the years,real top stuff. Now I’m down to my Strat I’ve been playing for nearly 40yrs, delay,boost & would you believe a Roland blues cube Artist. I do only play blues/ rock based stuff.with us guitarists most stuff is just desirability 🙃
Used guitar prices in the UK are shockingly high. Especially things like SGs and Studio LPs.
Love trains. Grew up hearing them day and night rolling through this old steel town.
When I was nine years old in Nashville, Tennessee I was mowing yards and gas was twenty-five cents per gallon. Let's go back to those prices!
25 cent gas ? So the early to mid 1950s ? To put that into perspective a 1950s dollar is around $12.50 in todays money. So 25 cents a gallon would be about $3.12 a gallon today.
Owning a used and vintage guitar shop sales have slowed dramatically this year. Do you remember when used gear was 50% of what they was new?
Haven't seen anything like that...
This was inevitable after the sales boon during covid. Alot of people bought to learn and found out it's incxredibly hard and lost interest. All these guitars are now hitting the market and at the same time manufacturers are clearing excess stock from the same period of time. The market will return to normal, but it's going to take a few years I think. Legacy brands like Fender, Gibson and PRS will bounce back the quickest I predict. Low end stuff may never get to where it was. But for people looking to upgrade or get that Strat or Les Paul they always wanted. You can find plenty of very good to mint choices at great prices atm.
I thank you for this. Now when my wife wants me to sell something before I buy another, I will show her this. Of course I will edit out the time references.
Cars used to be affordable for everyone, then they invented credit. Prices skyrocketed. Same thing with guitars. They had to be affordable until....Credit. now people have so much invested that they don't want to lose money when they sell.
And retailers partnering with lenders to give $5,000 store credit lines to anyone with a pulse.
No way. There are more good affordable options than ever before. In the 60s 70s and 80s cheap guitars were trash. we are in the golden age of instruments
Well said. Genuinely good analysis. You’re spot on. Used cars have never been more expensive
If you are investing in guitars, you are nuts. Gibson and others have been pushing this BS for decades that guitars are great investments. They come out with limited editions, collectors editions and everything else to make you think you better buy one because one day they will be worth $100,000 You need to think of guitars just like you do furniture, you buy it to use it and never even think about its resale value.
Funny, I just got out from under a few pieces I acquired back in 2007 before the last financial crash. Luckily, I've been in the Geetar Biz for over 30yrs. Patience is the number one rule. Nuff Said 😎
I don't get the collector bit either. I buy based on 1) sound 2) feel 3) niche-fit OR 4) whacky beat-up almost-destroyed impulse buys that I can throw on a bench and try and redeem, either as a keeper or a give-away.
In asset price action, sharp moves up are followed by sharp moves down and is a consideration for me in being patient in buying my first Gibson.
I'm 6 minutes in into this video, and I wonder why the pandemic hasn't been mentioned once. People had to stay home, had no other places to spend their money, so started/extended their hobby and bought guitars -> huge demand, that couldn't be met because of Far East lockdowns. Then the pandemic ended, people had places to go again and alternative ways of spending their (saved) money. No more guitars. Meanwhile manufacturers had started up heir delayed supply lines. Partly boom and bust cycle, elementary economics, partly pandemic.
It's happened with pretty much everything that boomed during lockdowns. Bikes, guitars, boats, RVs....
Toilet paper
Stimulus Checks are what made guitar sales boom during the Pandemic, I bought 5 myself.
Here in Japan the music stores are the culprits: weak yen drove up the prices to the point where guitars getting shipped here cost a fortune, and since they couldn’t import the shops here jacked up the prices of used guitars to the price they used to sell them when new, although in nowhere near good condition…..the market is BAD here
I totally understand Baxter. I, for example can hardly wait for Esteban to come on QVC,
Hey if used is down......I'm looking for a black Les Paul Custom with nickle hardware, dated 1978...... any leads???
If you see me running, try to keep up.
It all depends on what you are selling IMO. I have seen very solid prices on pieces that are not common. If you are trying to sell a guitar that is still being made new then I wouldn't expect much. If you are selling something you can't get often the market is still there.
I love my DuoSonic. short scale, lightest weight Fender on the market. the only other Fender I would prefer would be some sort of custom shop DuoSonic.
Had to sell a player strat for $500 recently. Hard to compete when fender was selling them new for $600 with a gig bag I think
i wonder how many Fender Strats - all models made in different countries - have been made over the past 20 years. How many can the market absorb? I sure wouldn't want to "invest" in a high end Custom Shop over-relic'd Strat. Once all of us baby boomers die off, I wonder what will become of all of these guitars. Will the younger generations care?
@@johnsauer9067no we dont care for strats, at least not the traditional SSS 3 knob. offset guitars and headless guitars are back, guitars with just 1 pickup are becoming a trend, we also have more interest in boutique, import, and overseas brands. its a little sad bc im sure the strat is still the #1 produced style, but its mostly by import brands. fender is moving on to more experimental and "mix-and-match" takes on their classics.
thanks for the update, guys. you are the first line for news and trends a lot of the time.
The amount of guitars being produced today, there will come a time when the prices will bottom out.
Adjusted for 50+ years of inflation, the dollar you paid for a gallon of gas back in the day is equivalent to about $5 today. At that time I bought my first new car - for 5000, which was average (or a bit above) at the time. You can’t find a decent car for 25 grand now. Even when inflation is low, it adds up over time. So comparing gas prices or the price of anything to what it was a half century ago is pointless.unless you normalize for inflation.
Odd. See the title, go to reverb, pull up prices on American original both tele and Strat. And definitely do not see any type of crash?
They did say vintage markets are solid, it’s the Used market that becoming an issue. A one year old guitar is considered used, so is a ten year old guitar. A 1958 gold tip Les Paul is vintage. Learn the difference.
@@Not-a-GSD? It’s still a used guitar so don’t know what your talking about
@@linkhatchet
Except vintage guitars are still being sold for top dollar and the Chinese POS are not selling. Learn the difference between a vintage guitar and crappy Chinese POS.
But it's still a used guitar?@@Not-a-GSD
@@linkhatchet so, with your understanding, should all used Fender Strats sell for the same, or does when they were made, for one, justify a different price point?
Bought a few guitar but very selectively. Strictly a hobbyist playing at home for the fun it. Before starting out I read a post on a guitar forum that made sense to me. Guy said expensive guitars are fine but if you ever have to sell good luck with that because they can be slow to sell and you will not get back what you paid for it new since it's now used. So after learning about guitars I started buying mint condition used "beginner" guitars but only pre CITES and before makers started cutting corners. These are not as easy to come by now in mint condition or for the prices paid just a few years ago. I love cheap guitars that aren't cheap if you know what I mean. Hope everyone reading this has a happy, safe and prosperous New Year. Cheers!
It's about time! Used prices around here have been nuts. Pawn shops are acting like they're selling something rare. I hope prices plummet and I can flesh out my collection.
EXACTLY! The used market is readjusting back to pre Covid prices. This should surprise nobody.
This video was barely about guitars. But I loved it! 'Back To The Future' is a perfect movie.
Perhaps inflation has affected your expectations for the channel.
Sheesh get to the point!
All guitar prices are through the roof right now. A new les Paul was $1000 less only 10 years ago. That’s ridiculous. Everyone needs to stop buying until the prices come down to where they should be.
One of the best vintage deals of the year for me came from Casio Guitars! Thanks guys.
I buy everything from my local store. I have been trading there since the mid to late 1980s, I've been treated well, and my parents and their church are treated well. I have actually gone to my local shop and asked them to order something from Sweetwater for me. I am lucky.
Your not going to get a high end quality guitar whether its Epiphone or Gibson for a budget price on the used market Epiphone modern figured Sgs and the Epiphone custom koa Les Paul that have been recently discontinued will go sky high on the used market when they are completely sold out and rightfully so..
I'm a little older and when I got my drivers license gas was 29.9 cents per gallon. Fill up your Harley for $1.00. Your SS 396 Chevelle for about $7.00.
I still miss the old set.
Yep. Same here.
All the Covid guitars are hitting Reverb at once.
Also, I bought 2 Martins and a PRS during Covid and they’re like going for about 1000 more now brand new. Not sure but I bet I could get good money for them. I won’t sell my Martin guitars though they are just the king of guitars!
"We've all been touched." That was hilarious. Good video.
Every time I see you guys, I think, "these dudes are like Ground Zero for the southern Indie rock scene".
Agree...
Just got a 2021 Squire Contemporary Telecaster RH for 260$ as good as new. Last month, Monorprice 15w amp for 140$.
Deflation is coming hard; get your cash ready !!!!
What's happening with acoustic guitars? Low - mid - high-end? I've wondered how acoustic guitar prices can keep going up 10% every year - especially on the high-end.
Buddy of mine jumped on the PRS SE McCarty bandwagon immediately, spending $1k on one. A couple months later I picked up a "used" one, basically untouched, for $550. He was PISSED, and I giggled.
😅
My father use to tell me about the "gas wars" in Wilkes-Barre, PA in the 50s. A gallon going for 17 cents.
I'd consider Bloodsport and Dumb and Dumber to be two perfect movies. I can tune in and watch either of them from any point in the film. I never get bored of either. 🎉
I feel the same way about Real Genius, Better Off Dead, One Crazy Summer, Strange Brew, the Blues Brothers and The Big Lebowski
A fellow man of culture! Good choices.
agreed. who else here was born in 1973
Have to say, you are so right about Back To The Future. It is a perfect film!
That's those two bottles behind you creating the confusion.
The same sort of thing has happened in many markets… bicycles is another. You couldn’t lay your hands on one in 2020 and could ask whatever you wanted for the tatty one you had in your shed. The manufacturers responded like the boom was going to go on forever, with new prices surging and now the market has normalised (along with a rise in interest rates) so new bikes are unaffordable and the supply of second hand bikes is plentiful so it’s all a bit of a mess! History just repeats itself but the lure of getting rich quick catches people every time. Classic cars is another such market where people pay crazy money for any old wreck and then the bubble bursts.
In the early 70s I paid .28 cents a gallon for gas. Can you imagine how I look at $4⁰⁰ a gallon?
Thanks for the info on used guitar prices. I'll just hold them and sell them when the price is right. I do not own one gibson guitar 😊
From the side of buying used guitars, I am seeing fantastic deals every day. Can’t buy them all, just like the shopping experience. I pay California prices for gas. We’ve always had the most expensive fuel. Loads of electrics on the road. Very few V8s. And … when I was a kid … a Martin D-28 at Westwood Music was $400.
Old man is Old. Super relevant political conversation you guys.
I guess they want a clueless reality TV dictator?
Cool video and very accurate. I am impressed with the old Fender amp in the background. 👍🏻
Baxter, I feel your pain about having a spouse filling every available space in the apartment with new clothes. 😂
My wardrobe is full of guitars, cables and speakers 😂
Great, time to buy some used guitars that some bored Dad bought during covid and can't play
Yeah the used guitar market is total trash right now and has been for months. The same 30 or so guitars keep getting listed and relisted over and over again on my marketplace because no one is buying them, and even though no one is buying them the sellers still aren't lowering the asking prices. Market is literally at a standstill.
It should after that Ibanez I had to clean last night. Two hours of work and that lacquer finish still needs work.
I watched Back to the future for the first time. I thought it was terrible. On the other hand I just watched the Matrix for the 4th time and thought it was great.
and I'm waiting for the deals. Fender is selling right from their websites for lower prices than the big retail chains. some models. Especially Squire CV series. Undercutting their retail sellers. Your cohost is correct. I noticed it today as I just typed. I'll grab a brand new CV now but I'll wait a couple weeks. they may drop a bit more. I want a Mustang but a little reluctant to deal with that trem system. I want the trem on it though.
I buy used cheap guitars to modify them and experiment on them
And keep them or give them away for free as gifts
Julia Louis Dreyfuss reminds me of Kevin Arnold of The Wonder Years!
Except that she’s a billionaire. Her family owns the Dreyfus mutual fund empire.
I do not agree with this, I sell guitars every month.
hey. I'm visiting NY for 2 days and I wonder if I can buy a good used guitar for about 500 USD to bring back home. where should I look for? i don't have much time to look around. thanks!
I'm older than you guys and I remember going to a gas station and asking for "a Dollar's worth" which was 4 or 5 gallons. Then when I was 21 it was an outrageous 33 CENTS a gallon. What a ripoff...
It was 29 cents like forever when I was a kid...
Thousands of people always wanted to play, they found themselves forced to be at home more than any other time, it’s time to learn! a new guitar and a head full of utube videos on how simply it is with all these new tools and free lessons. Motivated for a few months, many shut up laters from the family who’s passion is for you to go back to work. So now broke and realising I should have bought an Xbox, plug n play hobby, thousands are getting rid of them. So unplayed they are as new as half the guitars on the racks in stores. And now as a guitarist I can get the cheapest best instruments ever. I love this time 😅buyers market for once!!
Its simple. Every guitar cant be priced at the top of what the most expensive guitars are worth. Musicians sticking it to musicians to where no one can afford anything. Everything needs to be slashed by more than half. Wanted many guitars over the past three years and own none due to them being way overpriced. Has kept me from playing. Damn shame! All the best to you!
Been watching y'all for years and didn't realize that your shop is less than an hour from me...
I feel this. I've had an Epiphone Dot on marketplace for weeks now and nothing...
Unless it's super clean and under $400 with a case it's a tough sell.
@@rocknrollmonkey8668 yep mint condition and at 300 bucks lol
I like to trade guitars around. Some I keep forever and some I will play a while and sell. I have noticed prices dropping and it has taken a little longer to sell items. I have also found some good deals.
When the government pumped put free money, people bought a lot of toys like guitars. Now that inflation has hit, and there is no free money, Voila!
Would love to see an episode about your new studio and future plans with it.
I am always paying attention to this market I just dont see what you guys are saying. Its not reflected in the prices of what people are paying. From what I can see you guys couldnt be more wrong. Unless your talking used cheap guitars. They never had value in the first place so.
Trains are cool. Appreciate the train before it dissapears lol. In Canada we are happy with $1.25 gas, and that's per litre. I wish it was per gallon. You guys are 100% correct, some sellers overprice used guitars, some ask more than new prices. Prices will always fluctuate again. Sweetwater Gear exchange is a good idea. Great subject guys! Thanks! Wishing you a Happy New Year!
Hi guys ........ ah lovely Southern Pines and that train. Love it! Visited in 2019 and bought some strings, lovely shop.
Anyway, I think the whole industry is reeling due to low to mid priced guitar production. These guitars are not just being played by beginners or newbies. Word has got out, a simple re wire and some jiggery pokery with a few tools, and you have a very usable machine. I have four ( Thoman ) all fantastic, great for traveling on planes and general horsing around. My Suhrs, Prs’ and other random expensive stuff is rarely used. Sad but true. I am not alone - by the hundreds, everyone is doing the same, so it has to resonate through the entire industry. Expensive guitars are a hard sell now, worldwide.
........however I still use my Boogies, I ain’t going to cheap ampsville for no one! Most folk are the same. A 300 buck guitar plugged into a 3000 buck amp. Daft beyond belief! Sounds killer though. Oh and just to seal the deal with all the snobs out there.......I took the names off the headstocks and got my own decals made to stop pre conceived opinions-ruining my tone 😂
No one has a clue, and raves about the sound and then has a head melt when I tell them the name AFTER the gig.
So that’s where its at, times have changed. There will always be boutique and high end guitars and lets face it some are gorgeous, pure works of art, but perhaps now they will exist in a smaller area of the market.
Over and out, Happy NewYear 😊
“Hey kid, what’s with the life preserver?” 😂
Clickbait title, boys. Wildly inflated used guitar prices returning to reality is not “crashing.” It’s a market adjustment and it’s long overdue. Sucks for the guys that bought when prices were through the roof, but that’s just how markets work.
Happy Holidays everyone
You say that every year, dude !
Too many chinese fakes, killer brands like schecter and esp are selling brand new for half the price that are way better quality than most gibsons today... imo. At least the headstocks dont break and stay in tune... basically musicians vs collectors
You guys need to do an "Ugly guitars that no one wants - new or used" video. That's the only thing that NO ONE has done yet. I don't understand the prices of used guitars. But I'm thinking that those people selling them are trying to buy something new and want to offset the cost. Otherwise I bought a USED Squier last August. It's the only used guitar that I've bought in YEARS. I don't usually buy used guitars because you don't know who did what to it before you bought it without looking under the pickguard. Squier is one of those that no one cares about. So I bought a black one with a rosewood fretboard with a plain white pickguard. I put a new pickguard on it with all new electronics and pickups and locking machine heads. It rocks now! Otherwise I have just about all the guitars I can stand.
If your 401K is down on the year then you are the problem, not the market. Across the board the market is way up on the year.
I have always bought player grade guitars, mostly used. My Martins were both new, but neither of them are going anywhere any time soon...
Pretty simple. Interest rates have been high for a couple years now. We’re at the point where more than half of Americans have refinanced from their 0.5% rate to the new 6-7%. Wages have not increased proportionally, thus, the public is selling off their personal property to help pay down their other debts (credit card, car loans, student loans) to prioritize their home and savings, thereby slowing inflation.
I bought guitars to play. And eventuality pass down to children and grandchildren. Thanks guys.
This was a huge impact for me, I wanted to get a Tom delonge sea foam green fender my dream guitar. But this inflation hurt me from getting a struggling to barely pay mortgage on new house an feed kids. Hope next year will be better
I bought a Fender Musicmaster bass guitar about 25 years or so ago for $120. They can sell for ten times that now. But I like mine, hope I never have to replace it.
Not every Guitar is a Bust, nor is every Guitar like a 57 Les Paul, buy Smart, only buy what you would want to play for a lifetime, the time as using anything but those Prime Year Les Pauls and others are going to drop in value the moment you leave the Shop, just like a used car. The Good is more people are flexible on Prices and willing to negotiate, plus the Mass of Non Players buying Guitars and Gear are about to get a reality check when trying to sell their gear for profit to find out if they break close to even they are winning. My Guitars are Not for Sale and Don't lose value as they are Built for Charities that Auction them or Raffle them for things Like Food Drives, Handicapped, Kids, Seniors or Veterans and usually bring many Lives the hand Up they needed in this all too cruel world of ours.
Editing is a thing.... am I right? You guys go off on so many meaningless tangents and crack each other up (or not) with bad jokes throughout the entire video. Just the facts, and it's a 3-minute video. Give it a shot.
I solved this problem. I just build my own guitars now. I do have 2 Fender Chris Shiflett Telecasters. I like them. Modded the electronics. Won't ever sell.