How Much is My Guitar Worth?
Top 5 Things to Know About Vintage Guitar Appraisal.
A guitar’s value is influenced by several crucial factors, including but not limited to make and model, condition, provenance, modifications, and market demand.
Different types of value are used for different purposes in appraisal practice, such as replacement value for insurance purposes vs. fair market value for the purpose of a charitable donation. Using different types of value can result in different value conclusions for the same instrument.
Professional appraisers are trained to consider all types of value, approaches to value, and other appraisal standards before selecting those appropriate to the assignment. This is why, for an accurate assessment, seek an expert evaluation from an accredited appraiser who will deliver an unbiased and comprehensive report.
1. Identify the Make and Model
Today, although some are still made one at a time by hand, most guitars are made in factories. In most cases, the manufacturer will leave its mark on the guitar somewhere. Usually, you can find the name of the manufacturer on the instrument's headstock. One important caveat to mention here is that fake guitars do exist! And many of them will feature a logo on the headstock that looks nearly identical to the actual manufacturer - for more on this, see my forthcoming post “Top 5 Ways to Spot a Fake Guitar”
2. Condition
Guitars are meant to be played. Just like a car is meant to be driven. Would you buy a car with flat tires? You might think to yourself, “Well, I think it’s a good car, but the tires are flat, and those will have to be fixed before I can properly put it to use.” Similarly, with a guitar, if the instrument is damaged such that certain notes cannot be played, or it cannot be played at all, that can drastically affect its value. If you are selling such a guitar, you may have to accept a lower price than you would if the guitar was functioning properly. If the buyer wants to play the instrument, they will likely have to take it to a repair shop to have it fixed, which costs money. The cost of such repairs is sometimes a bargaining chip the potential buyer uses to negotiate the price of the instrument down to a place where the cost of the repairs plus the cost of the damaged guitar equals the price of the guitar if it was fully functional.
The condition of an instrument affects its desirability in the eyes of collectors and players alike. As mentioned above, damage affecting the functionality of a guitar, such as missing frets or a broken headstock, can affect value dramatically. Cosmetic damage to the finish or paint, for example, to a brand-new guitar, has a more significant effect on its value than does cosmetic damage to a rare and desirable 60-year-old guitar. Grading the condition of a guitar is generally relative to the age of the instrument.
3) Provenance
A guitar’s provenance is its history of ownership. This factor can have a massive effect on its value. For example, the world record for the most expensive vintage guitar ever sold was set by a 1959 Martin D-18E, the guitar owned by celebrity rock singer Kurt Cobain, who played it on stage at Nirvana’s immortal MTV Unplugged set. That guitar sold at auction in 2020 for $6,010,000. On the other hand, a 1959 Martin D-18E in very good condition but without any history of celebrity ownership may cost around $7,000 to $10,000. In the case of the record-setting 1959 Martin D-18E, having been owned by Kurt Cobain, essentially increased its value by around 60,000%. Of course, there are other significant contributing factors to the value of that particular guitar, namely that it was played on stage in an iconic MTV Unplugged concert and can be heard on the quintuple-platinum-selling recording of that concert. These important cultural and historically significant contributing factors set it apart from other guitars Kurt owned and that have not sold for nearly as much.
4) Modification
Is your vintage guitar all original? Or has it been modified? Has it been repainted? Are those the original pickups? Professional players make modifications to their guitars all the time for various reasons. Sometimes, it’s purely for looks, and sometimes, it’s part of a musician’s unending quest for the perfect guitar tone. In any case, such modifications can affect the value of a vintage guitar, sometimes driving it higher and sometimes lower. Alternatively, the provenance can simply outshine all the modifications to a guitar; for example, the famed Fender Stratocaster known as the “Black Strat” played on stage and in the studio on many famous recordings by celebrity guitarist of Pink Floyd, David Gilmour, was a heavily serviced and modified guitar, having the neck replaced no less than 6 times, among many other modifications. At the time, this guitar broke the world record for the most expensive guitar ever when it sold for $3,975,000 at auction at Christie’s in New York in 2019, sale # 16980, lot #127. On the contrary, without any celebrity association, a comparable Fender Stratocaster guitar sold at Heritage Auctions in Beverly Hills in 2016, sale # 7127, lot #85097, for $6,250.
5) Get an expert evaluation
Many factors can affect the value of a vintage instrument, and therefore, the best way to truly understand its worth is to put it in context. What is the precise definition of value to be used, and for what purpose? We don’t know what definition of value to use until we fully understand the question we are asking or in other words, what problem we are trying to solve. Usually, when people ask a question like “What’s it worth?” they don’t realize their question is incomplete. The complete question is more like, “What is it worth to whom in a specific where and when?” With a question like this, we are able to see the problem more clearly. Professional appraisers with accreditations from trusted organizations like the American Society of Appraisers, ASA, have demonstrated the experience, education, and competency to ask the right questions to arrive at the right answers, ensuring public trust in the profession.
I am an accredited senior appraiser with the specialty designation of guitars. If you need to know what your instruments are really worth to whom, please contact me here.