Vintage Electric Guitars as a Hedge Against Inflation
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.
Especially in demand are vintage Gibson hollow-body, Fender’s vintage sunburst Stratocaster and vintage Fender guitar amplifiers. Nostalgia for early rock is only one reason for the high valuation of vintage guitars and accompanying guitar equipment. The main reason demand is so high for vintage guitars is the sound they produce is as unique as the instrument itself.
Each guitar was just a little bit different when these vintage guitars were made decades ago and the technology to produce them was in its early stages. Many of the electric pick-ups were hand-wound, or if they were machine-made, just a little different from the next. If the pick-ups had a few less strands of wire, the sound would be just a little different. Sound boxes as part of the bodies were not made exactly uniform either, making the guitars sound just a little different from same product lines making each guitar just a little unique. Finally, the electronics degraded over time causing each instrument to be a little different from the next.
Don’t forget that vintage guitar amplifiers have similar characteristics as vintage electric guitars. Because of their age and time of manufacture, their tube technology and method of fabrication allows for variation in their sound too, making them as unique as their instrument counterparts. Today’s electronics favor clean and uniform sound and any variation to come from synthesizers or other modification techniques. Vintage amplifiers were “dirty” and different from unit to unit and not uniform at all, a prized feature of vintage electric guitars and Epiphone or Fender vintage guitar 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.
Tags: Antiques