What's the next collectable on the second hand marketthen?

[la bam]

In recent years the market has been very strange. Up and down like a yoyo. 

 

Then all of a sudden certain items, for no reason, have a massive boost in value. 

 

70s p basses have doubled if not tripled, despite varying reviews on quality. SVTs seem to have come right down from what they were and won't shift. 810s can be had for £100, yet a 210 with the same speakers in go for more... 

 

Old cheapo 60s basses are doing OK. 

 

Japanese squiers are now selling for more than USA basses, and mex ones are absolutely pot luck and probably the same value as normal squiers. 

 

Trace elliot has had a recent resurgence. Yet Peavey hasn't. GK 400 and 800 sell for cheap when the come available despite being rare. 

 

Ashdown basses don't seem to sell at all, yet Harley benton are flying out. Out of nowhere Westone prices are sky high. Even hondo is now fairly expensive. 

 

Pedal wise..... Boss oc2s are £200+. Zoom multi pedals can be had for £40. Yet sans amps stay steady. 

 

So..... Time traveller hats on...... What's gonna be the next thing on the used market to boost in value for no reason....? 

Edited March 15 by la bam

[Burns-bass]

It’s a good question. I think original Warwick basses are a good investment. They’re wonderfully well made, sound amazing and are relatively cheap. Spectors, too fit into this.

 

I think there’s a correction due in the vintage market for Fenders, but I’m probably going to be proved wrong. 

[Beedster]

16 minutes ago, Burns-bass said:

It’s a good question. I think original Warwick basses are a good investment. They’re wonderfully well made, sound amazing and are relatively cheap. Spectors, too fit into this.

 

I think there’s a correction due in the vintage market for Fenders, but I’m probably going to be proved wrong. 

 

Agreed Lawrie. It's going to be interesting to see the effects of Trump on people's emotions towards US goods, even legacy ones. 80's Japanese Fenders might ramp up in value even more than they have recently, which given they are of equal or better quality than many US Fenders - certainly 70's Fenders - would also represent a legitimate correction. I also suspect 70's MIJ instruments generally will start to creep up, I've played many that were likewise significantly better than Fenders of the same era at 10% of the price (calling @Bassassin......)

[Lozz196]

I’m hopeful it will be all of the stuff that I decide to sell once  I no longer have any need for it. Not that I’m mercenary of course……

[Jackroadkill]

Maybe 40th Anniversary Squiers.  They seem popular and are already holding their prices.  I don't suppose they'll ever be worth millions, but they could be reasonably collectable.

[itu]

Ibanez Roadstar/Roadster, I think most of the 80's quality basses no matter the price. And we are waiting for some new Nirvana that use say, G&L and we will see prices soaring.

 

At the moment most of the music shops sell those dull variations of P and J (just did a search from Prague, as I will have to fly there in May because of work). I haven't found a decent bass shop, but maybe will look into some fx. That is one area - OC-2 was mentioned - where prices may reach silly levels.

 

I wonder why we do not see the creativity of the 80's any more? Steinberger, Sei, Ken Smith, MG, Pedulla, Status, Overwater... now it is Cort J, or Sire J, or HB J. Boring.

 

https://defectsfxpedals.cz/

[SumOne]

5 minutes ago, itu said:

 

 

I wonder why we do not see the creativity of the 80's any more? Steinberger, Sei, Ken Smith, MG, Pedulla, Status, Overwater... now it is Cort J, or Sire J, or HB J. Boring.

 

 

I think Ibanez are stepping up creatively with stuff like this that might be future classics:

 

 

[Len_derby]

I wouldn’t hold on to basses too long in the hope they’ll become collectible.

In the next ten to twenty years there’s going to be a glut of instruments on sale as the boomer generation croaks or retires from playing. 

[itu]

18 minutes ago, SumOne said:

I think Ibanez are stepping up creatively...

Agree. I think Ibanez is one of the few brave companies to make so different trials.

[tegs07]

Pretty much anything made now that consists of decent quality materials be they wood, cotton, wool etc are starting to cost eye watering sums. This is one reason for the popularity of things like Vinted.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Indonesian made instruments made in the last 20 years gain in popularity a little as IMO the low inflation era is pretty much done. Even the cheap production countries like Indonesia, Mexico, China, Vietnam etc are getting more expensive to produce from as commodities and wages increase.

Either quality will decline or prices will increase. There are a lot of cheap second hand Indonesian made instruments out there that are very cheap but very good.

Edited March 15 by tegs07

[Beedster]

45 minutes ago, Len_derby said:

I wouldn’t hold on to basses too long in the hope they’ll become collectible.

In the next ten to twenty years there’s going to be a glut of instruments on sale as the boomer generation croaks or retires from playing. 

 

I completely agree 👍

[tegs07]

48 minutes ago, Len_derby said:

I wouldn’t hold on to basses too long in the hope they’ll become collectible.

In the next ten to twenty years there’s going to be a glut of instruments on sale as the boomer generation croaks or retires from playing. 

Recessions tend to produce excellent music. Less gentrified, low rent areas can provide affordable living and rehearsal space. Who knows. An economic downturn could create a new generation of gritty musicians rather than glossy pop stars.

[dudewheresmybass]

1 hour ago, tegs07 said:

Recessions tend to produce excellent music. Less gentrified, low rent areas can provide affordable living and rehearsal space. Who knows. An economic downturn could create a new generation of gritty musicians rather than glossy pop stars.

🤞

[Jackroadkill]

2 hours ago, tegs07 said:

Recessions tend to produce excellent music. Less gentrified, low rent areas can provide affordable living and rehearsal space. Who knows. An economic downturn could create a new generation of gritty musicians rather than glossy pop stars.

 

Agreed; nothing shifts the zeitgeist like the bottom falling out of an economy.

[SumOne]

1 hour ago, Len_derby said:

I wouldn’t hold on to basses too long in the hope they’ll become collectible.

In the next ten to twenty years there’s going to be a glut of instruments on sale as the boomer generation croaks or retires from playing. 

Perhaps, but it is hard to predict these things - there might be a resurgence of music with bands playing instruments once a new generation wants something different from the current generation. And there is already a certain youth movement for old physical things like vinyl. I think old basses might continue to be quite collectable - there is a finite number of them.

[BigRedX]

The big money won't be in anything that has already started to become desirable as you are already too late to have got the best buying prices. 

 

If you want to play the long game you'll need to find something that is currently unfashionable and cheap and hope that it gets taken up by someone who goes on the become a famous or at least well-respected musician.

[Burns-bass]

39 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

The big money won't be in anything that has already started to become desirable as you are already too late to have got the best buying prices. 

 

If you want to play the long game you'll need to find something that is currently unfashionable and cheap and hope that it gets taken up by someone who goes on the become a famous or at least well-respected musician.

I’m unfashionable and cheap.

 

 

[Mykesbass]

Sue Ryder P Bass anyone...

[spencer.b]

It does seem inevitable that the old fenders will drop off but I've thought that for years and they keep creeping up and up

I wonder if Sei and Shukers will go up a lot in years to come , they're mad cheap 2nd hand at the moment for what they are 

[tegs07]

So difficult to predict as vintage and collectible stuff is not really logical. A split screen VW camper is hardly the most practical or refined vehicle to own for example.

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

Daisy Rock ? Badtz maru ? Dean Pace ?  Those Ibanez basses with kaossilators in ? 

[leschirons]

It's quite simple really. You just need to apply the leschirons XY principle.

 

Anything I bought (X)  in the last 24 months for thousands is now worth £150

 

Anything I sold (Y) for £150 because I didn't like it or use it any more is now worth thousands.

[la bam]

9 hours ago, leschirons said:

It's quite simple really. You just need to apply the leschirons XY principle.

 

Anything I bought (X)  in the last 24 months for thousands is now worth £150

 

Anything I sold (Y) for £150 because I didn't like it or use it any more is now worth thousands.

 

That's what I've been working on too!

 

[Burns-bass]

Seriously though, I think there are just too many guitars on the market and that they won’t hold their value. Personally I think electronic equipment (synths, samplers, drum machines etc) are going to keep value as will some boutique pedals.

 

[Mediocre Polymath]

I suspect we'll soon be reaching a sort of saturation point with solid-body instruments. They've been in mass production now for more than 65 years, and unlike acoustic guitars and other things, they don't tend to naturally degrade past the point of unplayability --at least not on a time scale that has made itself known yet. Each year's production adds to the stockpile of instruments that are already out there on the market, and I don't think the number of people willing to spend money on a non-beginner instrument goes up by that amount every year. The reason prices have held steady or gone up, even for non-"vintage" stuff is that the average number of instruments owned by players keeps rising.

 

As a few people have mentioned, the generation now settling into retirement include a lot of people who collect guitars, and during the 1990s and 2000s big chains like Guitar Centre in the US actively encouraged that with marketing and finance deals. I know a few older folks in the US who own many more more instruments than me, despite never having learned to play. They bought them because they thought they were cool things (they are, in all fairness) and because they'd heard they'd increase in value.

 

The actuarial tables are starting to look threatening for a lot of those folks, and they're probably not going to ask to be buried with their 17 identical sunburst precision basses.