Mad at Dave Pomeroy Rant

[Hoover]

This reminds me of what happened to Danelectro guitars in the 1970s. For inexplicable reasons, the two guitarists in my band at the time became enamored of Danelectro guitars. Probably because they were cheap as all get-out: Between the two of these guys I don't think they'd ever spent more than $40 for a Danelectro guitar, and they had at least 4 or 5 of them. I remember accompanying one of them to a pawn shop where he bought a Danelectro for $25.

Then suddenly in 1977 Jimmy Page appears on the cover of Guitar Player Magazine brandishing a Danelectro, and BANG! literally overnight the price for these masonite POS axes goes up tenfold: From that moment on the going rate for a Danelectro was ~$225.

 

[TRichardsbass]

Hey Hoover, don't dis my Danos! Living down here and owning tons, they still play incredibly well, and have sound much better 50 years later then a lot of the high end crap coming out now.

Now, having vented, I just had this discussion, sort of, with a great guy who has been in the vintage guitar industry for over 35 years. If anything is to blame, we can take it back to the baseball card market. How many of us used to put them in the spokes of our bikes? Then, after the prices of cards started to become more widespread and public, the cost of cards went up. Everyone now knew the "value" of a rookie Pete Rose, so the ability to find one at a garage sale pretty much disappeared, because everyone was now scrutinizing their baseball card collections.

Same for antiques and guitars. Between "Antiques Roadshow" and "Pawn Stars" the value of things has become very well publicized and public knowledge. I purchased my first four basses I ever played at pawn shops. I got my now infamously destroyed 1964 P Bass in 1978 for $150 at a pawn shop. Now, when I go into any pawn shop and look at an instrument the guys all have the guitar blue books, vintage guitar magazine and books and a host of other pricing guides. So the Kramer striker guitar I could have gotten in 1999 for about $80 is now in the hundreds.

I won't blame Dave, I'll blame the new mindset that everything is a "collectible" and even though it may truly be worth a buck there is some book, guide or "expert" who will tell you its worth a million.

I haven't given up hope though. As we all know a TBer recently found a Kubicki Ex-Factor on Craigslist in near mint for $800.

 

[nukes_da_bass]

Ebay is to blame for everything.

I read an article in most likely The Wall St Journal a few years ago that blamed Ebay for being the great global price leveler.

To some degree this is true! Smart people can kind of guess at reserve prices and look at final bids JUST before there is a winner to the auction- and of course "buy it now" takes all the mystery out of everything.
Like many of you, I used to drive around back country roads looking for antique shops and music stores hoping for that NOS 1975 Fender Jazz etc. etc. etc.
The only refuge now seems to be garage sales, people who have no idea what their son's G&L L5000 is selling for in Ebay land.
Heck, I could live rent free for almost two years on todays values of the following guitars I used to own and sold foolishly or due to poverty at the time;
1959 Gibson ES 225T cherryburst good condition
1972 Rickenbacker factory fretless 4002
Guild parlor guitar from hoboken factory
1975 blonde on blonde natural Fender Jazz with black block inlay
G&L L5000 (didnt like the sound anyways).
Hindsight is 20/20.