Secondhand market of the future?

[Satamax]

Hi guys.

Well, i was wondering what you guys think about this, the guitar and amp market is always rising values. An old strat can fetch 40000dols, a bassman 10000 and a tweed twin 20000. I wonder how much of the new stuff produced today will be worth in twenty to fifty years time. And what will be worth something. Something decent sounding and slightly expensive like a booggie might fetch some good money. But for example, what about mass produced actual strats? American ones might still fetch some money, but i'd think nowhere near what they sell for new.

Bye.

Max.

[LeftyStrat]

I think it all comes down to basic economics; supply and demand.

So the popularity in twenty years time has to exceed the numbers available for the price to go up. If Marshall had made millions of amps in the late sixties a plexi's value might not be as high today.

Of course, the popularity thing is hard to predict. A few years ago you may have been able to walk into a pawn shop and buy a Silvertone 1485 amp for $50 bucks. Then Jack White comes along using one and suddenly they're worth ten times that (at least).

So it's not always quality that insures future popularity. A customer of mine is always bringing in Garnet stencil amps for service that he scores for cheap from pawn shops. These amps sound great, not really distortion monsters, but clean and slightly dirty tones are really good. The reverb and tremolo circuits are sweet and distinctive. Last one he picked up he paid something like $30 for it (I keep forgetting to get his list of pawn shops he frequents).

I have an Acoustic Control Corporation 165 tube amp with the walnut and maple cabinet that I paid $200 for. The parts alone are worth more than that; EVM12L speaker, iron, heck, I probably could get the empty cab for that price. Not that it is all that great of an amp sound-wise, but it makes a perfect platform for something like a dumble clone.

Of course, as soon as you tear apart one of these older amps, some new guitarist will come along that uses one and suddenly the value will skyrocket. Sigh.