Wednesday
This is what I call gratitude.
On the subject of rare musical instruments, and as a sign of how desperate some investors are to make money away from the standard stock and bond markets, you can even invest in violins. I can see the jokes coming: "So, what do you invest in?" "Violins". "Hmm, I've been on the fiddle myself".
Groan.
There are about seventeen hundred Gibson Les Paul Standard guitars in a particular finish (Cherry Sunburst) in the years from 1958 to 1960, which have been driving the "vintage" market crazy for nearly ten years, now. A cat named Dirk Ziff (heir to the Ziff publishing fortune) has about a hundred of them put away, and that collection has to run to at least ten million dollars. About a year and a half ago, "The Peter Green Burst" -- a 1959 named for its former owner and charter member of Fleetwood Mac -- went to market for a reputed $1.2m. If true, this easily validates the speculation of a market-player who asserted that we would "all live to see the first million-dollar Les Paul", about four years ago. A couple of years ago, a 'Burst turned up under someone's bed (literally) in Minnesota, and it set off a six-figure bidding frenzy and transcontinental flights. Here's one thing about the 'Bursts: not all of them have been found yet.
About three years ago or a bit more, a regular reader of my "Axebites" column asked in e-mail about the prospects for the 1952 Les Pauls. They're "special": some people say that they're unplayable (because of how they're built), although they're really not. They're just different. This person had a line on one for about nine thousand dollars, if I recall right. Sharply emphasizing that I don't do investment advice, I laid out the history of the action in this market, and concluded that I could not see how that deal could lose money. I hope he bought that thing, because the 1952's are now running near $25k.
As little as five years ago, I could have gotten into a '58 or '59 Les Paul Special or Junior. Not any more.
Whether or not they could ever get in the game, most people could imagine the name "Stradivarius". Almost nobody would have figured "Gibson".
I think it's all very dangerous, but the fact is that there has been fat, fat money in those things for at least ten years, now. Wall Street looked like kids in a backyard sandbox, by comparison.
Posted by Billy Beck at May 7, 2008 11:30 AM
Billy, thanks for the comments. I took a look at your site and see you are a bit of an expert on this.
An ex-gf of mine was/is a professional violinist and pointed out that some of the prices for the oldies are now off the charts for all but the richest musician.
Posted by Johnathan Pearce at May 7, 2008 11:59 AM
"...a bit of an expert on this."
An ardent amateur enthusiast. I was raised on Gibsons from an early age: to me, to know them is to love them.
"An ex-gf of mine was/is a professional violinist and pointed out that some of the prices for the oldies are now off the charts for all but the richest musician."
But for my father, I would be in the same boat. In 1966, he paid $395 for a 1962 ES-355. (Photograph here.) He always told me that I could have it after he was gone. He died in June 2003. 1962 was the third year of the type, and this individual is unusual in some of its factory-original features. It also has a pair of pickups that are in high demand.
That guitar is running over $15k, now. If not for the fact that it's been in my family for over forty years, I couldn't touch it.
Posted by Billy Beck at May 7, 2008 12:24 PM
Just goes to show that Americans are more honest the us Brits.
Did that bloke who left his 100K violin in the luggage rack of a train recently, ever get it back?
Posted by RAB at May 7, 2008 01:05 PM
Billy:
Thanks for pointing out some of the modern treasures. When I was in a high-school rock band, I turned down a 50-someting Telecaster because it was too damned ugly for the $75 price. At the time, a Mustang, considered second-rate, was around $50. I now have a'64 Mustang, and shopping around for a Duo-Sonic under $1,000. Strats and Tele's, needless to say, are out of reach except for zillionaires and rock stars.
Posted by Sam_S at May 7, 2008 06:10 PM
By the way, nice story about the cabbies. This is not odd at all; just the way things ought to be.
Posted by Sam_S at May 7, 2008 06:11 PM
And anyways, you should be allowed to spend money (or invest it, or otherwise use it) any damned way you want.
To some degree, at least. I would say putting your money into explosives is not necessarily the best idea in the world...
Posted by Gregory at May 8, 2008 03:46 AM
I would say putting your money into explosives is not necessarily the best idea in the world...
Yes, best not to fool with that. I hear it's a volatile market.
Posted by Doug at May 10, 2008 06:55 AM
Yes, best not to fool with that. I hear it's a volatile market.
The boom-bust cycles are not for the fainthearted.
Posted by Sunfish at May 10, 2008 08:12 AM
