Vintage Electric Guitars as a Hedge Against Inflation

Posted on November 6, 2008
Filed Under Collecting | Leave a Comment

by Chick Tommason Bert Marshall Hoppy Jackson

Have you ever thought about using vintage electric guitars as a way to beat inflation and present devaluation of the bond market to invest in your future? Putting your money in an original flying v or an original Paul McCartney left handed guitar should retain or increase value in your vintage electric guitar beyond what can be found in financial markets today.

The high demand for Fender’s vintage sunburst Stratocaster, vintage Fender guitar amplifiers and vintage Gibson hollow-body electric guitars keep their prices up and rising. The unique sound produced by vintage guitars, not only nostalgia for early rock and roll history keeps their value high among collectors.

Experienced musicians know guitars made decades ago are unique and have a sound all to their own. Vintage electric guitars were made when the technology to do so was in its early stages. Electronic pick-ups were either hand wound or partially machine wound leaving each to be a little different from the next. A few less turns, a few less or more strands of wire made each pick-up different on every vintage electric guitar. Early electric guitars were partially or fully hand-made with wood stock that was not exactly the same from guitar to guitar making sound boxes reverberate a little differently from the next. That meant that pick-ups and sound boxes were unique to each vintage electric guitar making them sound different among similar product lines. Through time, some of the varnish surrounding the wound copper wire in the pick-ups degrade causing a little natural distortion in the electronic pick-up further differentiating the uniqueness of each and every vintage electric guitar and extremely sought after by master musicians trying to find “the vintage electric guitar” that sounds perfect to them.

Original Fender guitar amplifiers were made with tubes and not with current “solid-state” circuitry. Tubed amps, like Fender and Epiphone vintage amplifiers had unique sounds which cannot be made with the cleaner Marshall or Yamaha solid-state amplifiers on the market today. Those with good ears can tell a guitarist playing vintage guitars and on vintage amplifiers.

When buying a vintage guitar or vintage amplifier, look for low Fender serial numbers on the back of the body. Review serial number ranges from web-sites of Fender, Epiphone, Gibson, Jackson, and Yamaha to find when the vintage guitar you are considering was made. Knowing as much about your investment will assure its continued increase in value.

About the Author:
Invest in something that is worthwhile and fun an Epiphone guitar investment will not only holds it value but appreciate. Maybe a much better investment that you can find now.

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