I regret to inform you that on April 30, 2012, this site will cease to exist. Microsoft has decided to discontinue their produce Microsoft Office Live--Small Business, which is the platform used for this site. I do not have the time, energy or money needed to transfer to their replacement product.
STREET PRICES
All information from this page was constructed 2007-2012
This page contains viewable and downloadable files for resale, stats, and some photos of specific vintage brands of guitars today. All sale prices or information shown on these pages are from actual sales or information provided by owners or public web sites. Please feel free to download content by clicking on the individual brand content below, or to comment using the "Contact Us" link at left.
I DO NOT PROVIDE ESTIMATES OF VALUE FOR GUITARS. PLEASE READ WHY (CLICK HERE). PLEASE REFER TO THE VARIOUS SHEETS ON THE PAGES TO THE LEFT.
SOME INTERESTING TRIVIA
The research of assorted brands' selling prices has been an interesting experience. I set up about 20-30 searches in eBay, and in other online auction sites. I also search daily on ShopGoodwill (shopgoodwill.com) for a variety of models and brands. I started this effort in mid-2009, so as of May 2011 have been at it for 2 years. In the beginning of 2009, the economy had tanked. So had sales of vintage guitars. But for the most part, prices stayed stable. The number of listings decreased dramatically, but began picking up again in early 2010. By the end of 2010, listings were available on pretty much any brand or model you might be looking for.
Also, I observed what seemed to be a phenomena where a seller might put an outrageous price on a specific brand and model, and it would sell anyway. Then someone else who saw that sale did the same thing, and sold a guitar for a high price. It seemed to start a "feeding frenzy" wherein sellers began listing starting prices very high, or putting high reserves on guitars, and at the same time the buying public began paying these high prices. It's anyone's guess why this phenomena occurred. With the rate of inflation, it is not likely that people suddenly had more money (even though the economy was recovering). I think (my opinion) it was more like a phenomena where buyers thought that there "must be some reason" why others were paying such a high price for instruments, so not to be left hanging without one of these $200-300 instruments, they made a decision to pay $400-500 to insure they got it. Again, this is my own opinion, but seems somewhat plausible given the fact that it happened across the board--even with instruments whose real value should be $25-30--in terms of their construction, materials, and origin--and now selling for $150 and up.
Among the brands I've seen with the most dramatic upward price increase: Sigma, Conn, Carlos, and Yamaha. Some of the other brands I'm doing the research on have much more impressive construction and materials, as well as origins than say Carlos, yet it seems the "word hasn't gotten out" about them. Cases in point: Aria, Emperador, Fannin, Lotus, Lyle, and Ventura. All very nice guitars, but you can have one for a song as of May 2011. This could change, so I'll try to keep updating the price listings, but understand all of this work is totally voluntary on my part and is quite daunting in the amount of effort and time required to keep it up to date. So I could fall behind, but I'll give it my best shot as a public service.
VINTAGE BRANDS
Click on any of the below underlined brands to see a spreadsheet for that brand containing stats and street selling prices Mid-2009 to present. Feel free to comment on any of this information by contacting me via the "Contact Me" link at left in the border.
11/13/2011 -- NO SHEETS ARE POSTED. STAY TUNED.
Akai
Aria
Bently
Carlos
Conn
Emperador
Fannin
Ibanez
Jet
Kawai
Lotus
Luna
Lyle
Magnum
Meranti
Sears, Silvertone, Supertone
Sigma
Takamine
Ventura
Yamaha Classical
Yamaha Steel String