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Thunderbird Club

So they have wall art.
It occurs to me they can sell it for less and write off the loss. Better than sitting on it forever. Maybe.
ADDENDUM: And that part about it "being up on Reverb". Reverb wouldn't know if they sold it to someone who "walked in their door".;),;), nudge, nudge.:smug:
Maybe more important, there is carrying cost to inventory. If they hold it for several years and sell it for what they paid, they are still losing on it. Perhaps they are taking a depreciation charge on it each year and won't sell until its depreciated value matches what similar items are selling for?

The Reverb thing is a red herring. There are plenty of instruments that are listed on multiple sites.
 
I completely understand the premium given to a celebrity owned instrument. Les Paul's Les Paul is worth considerably more than the one my son owns and for good reason.
Indeed,
Although since Johnny Winter wasn't exactly known for his bass playing, I would think that glittery price tag may be a hard sell even if you could prove it was part of his estate/collection..
 
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I do not understand and can't value the "mojo" of "celebrity" ownership. To my mind, any premium over expected selling price is a result of the greater fool theory - that is, it is worth more because it can be sold for more than the purchase price. But at some point, the item reaches the greatest fool.


Ladies and gentlemen, this bass has found its greatest fool.
did you buy it?
 
I do not understand and can't value the "mojo" of "celebrity" ownership. To my mind, any premium over expected selling price is a result of the greater fool theory - that is, it is worth more because it can be sold for more than the purchase price. But at some point, the item reaches the greatest fool.


Ladies and gentlemen, this bass has found its greatest fool.

did you buy it?

:roflmao::roflmao::roflmao:
 
Thunderbird Bird Thursday again..Cheers!

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On the hill?

So they have wall art.
It occurs to me they can sell it for less and write off the loss. Better than sitting on it forever. Maybe.
ADDENDUM: And that part about it "being up on Reverb". Reverb wouldn't know if they sold it to someone who "walked in their door".;),;), nudge, nudge.:smug:

Maybe more important, there is carrying cost to inventory. If they hold it for several years and sell it for what they paid, they are still losing on it. Perhaps they are taking a depreciation charge on it each year and won't sell until its depreciated value matches what similar items are selling for?

The Reverb thing is a red herring. There are plenty of instruments that are listed on multiple sites.

Absolutely, it was a pretty ridiculous conversation to be honest. So if I walk into your store, you're going to have me go through Reverb to pay for the bloody thing? Fat chance there. It just went in circles and at the end it pretty much came down to "Look, here's the deal, I know what you have there, even if whoever in your store that bought it doesn't, but that's your mistake. Here is the cash price I am willing to walk in the door and pay you. I can give you $3500, and walk out the door." And it was a straight no. "We have to sell it through reverb as it's already been listed there, so there's a penalty if we take it down." Do you think I was born yesterday? I mean, I had to keep asking if they had the pickup cover, and they kept saying "Yeah, there's a cover on the pickup" until I asked them to damn well google what the pickup cover was. A braintrust, they are not.
 
I completely understand the premium given to a celebrity owned instrument. Les Paul's Les Paul is worth considerably more than the one my son owns and for good reason.
With the right provenance I agree.

I understand that it is something that people do - ascribe value to the provenance of an instrument - but it isn't something I can do. I have no math to describe the value added by ownership by "celebrities". Unless it were autographed.

As there is a viable market for autographed items (various sports memorabilia etc.) I can put a number to value-added by an autograph. But, prior ownership has many problems; most significant is the problem of proof. Were I to buy the items from the celebrity themselves, I would know; but how to prove to others? It gets difficult and there is plenty of potential for fraud.

The exception might be factory limited edition signed by the artist instruments. As there are several, there is a viable market, and (assuming the manufacturer keeps good records) a good audit trail of ownership.

But don't go by me; I'm not "normal".
Provenance is everything on celebrity owned gear if you intend to ever break even or profit from your purchase. A signed guitar without provenance is worth nothing more than one without the signature. But with that provenance it becomes very valuable to a collector. The same, and even more so goes for instruments played on stage by celebrities (as long as there's a video recording of it and verifiable accompanying documentation signed by the celebrity) and even more value is attached if the instrument was used to record a hit song (again with verifiable and signed documentation).

So back to my original comment on the J. Winter Tbird - I dont recall seeing any mention of verifiable provenance in the ad, which probably means the seller has a really neat back story and that's about it, not hardly enough to ask more than the going price for a similar non celebrity bird and a perfect example of your greater fool comment.

On the other hand, my Rainsong carbon fiber Acoustic Electric Bass has proper provenance. A letter signed by the Celebrity I bought it from (and witnessed by a notary) stating that at the time of sale he owned it and that he was gifted it from the original owner John Entwistle, for whom it was custom made. In addition I also have a signed letter from Rainsong stating that the bass was in fact the only custom AEB they made before discontinuing the build. They also noted the serial number was first registered to John Entwistle and then about a year later to the Celebrity I purchased it from. Finally I have photographs of John playing the bass outside of the Los Angeles House of Blues and website notes from his guitarist mentioning that both he and John played Rainsong instruments.

That's about as bullet proof as your going to get, shy of a letter from John's estate confirming that he was the original owner before gifting it to his friend. If I were ever planning on selling it I might try to get that letter from his estate, but I don't think it would really add any additional value to the proven chain of ownership of the bass, it would just confirm things that have already been confirmed.

Without all the provenance listed above I'd be sitting on a very nice and unique AEB with a great back story worth about one third it's current appraised value.

+1
Can't decide between the blue or the burgundy though...
I'm in the same boat. Would like a new NR Gibby but I'm waiting to see pics of the colors in real life owner photos first. The Blue or Green or Red or Almond all look great to me. I already have enough Black and Burst birds.
 
Absolutely, it was a pretty ridiculous conversation to be honest. So if I walk into your store, you're going to have me go through Reverb to pay for the bloody thing? Fat chance there. It just went in circles and at the end it pretty much came down to "Look, here's the deal, I know what you have there, even if whoever in your store that bought it doesn't, but that's your mistake. Here is the cash price I am willing to walk in the door and pay you. I can give you $3500, and walk out the door." And it was a straight no. "We have to sell it through reverb as it's already been listed there, so there's a penalty if we take it down." Do you think I was born yesterday? I mean, I had to keep asking if they had the pickup cover, and they kept saying "Yeah, there's a cover on the pickup" until I asked them to damn well google what the pickup cover was. A braintrust, they are not.
Unless Reverb has changed its policy, there's no penalty. I had a bass listed on Reverb and TB. It sold through TB. I took down the Reverb listing. No charge. I've noticed they've raised their % cut/fee, so I prolly won't go through them anymore.
 
And I can't decide between the black and the almond. Prolly gonna go with 'neither'.

I'm in the same boat. Would like a new NR Gibby but I'm waiting to see pics of the colors in real life owner photos first. The Blue or Green or Red or Almond all look great to me. I already have enough Black and Burst birds.

Is there word of the Epi Smoked Almond option for the Gibson? I hadn't heard that, any pictures available, or more info?

Unless Reverb has changed its policy, there's no penalty. I had a bass listed on Reverb and TB. It sold through TB. I took down the Reverb listing. No charge. I've noticed they've raised their % cut/fee, so I prolly won't go through them anymore.

No, they haven't changed anything, it's total BS. I did the same thing with my Marshall a few weeks back. They said something about it being specific to them being a verified store on Reverb, but it's the first I've heard of it, never seen it in any of their policies, and makes absolutely zero sense.
 
Is there word of the Epi Smoked Almond option for the Gibson? I hadn't heard that, any pictures available, or more info?.
Now that you mention it, I think you're correct. Almond may have been one of the new Eppi Embassy colors not a Gibby TBird offering. But it sure would look sweet on a bird!
 
I understand that it is something that people do - ascribe value to the provenance of an instrument - but it isn't something I can do. I have no math to describe the value added by ownership by "celebrities". Unless it were autographed.

As there is a viable market for autographed items (various sports memorabilia etc.) I can put a number to value-added by an autograph. But, prior ownership has many problems; most significant is the problem of proof. Were I to buy the items from the celebrity themselves, I would know; but how to prove to others? It gets difficult and there is plenty of potential for fraud.

The exception might be factory limited edition signed by the artist instruments. As there are several, there is a viable market, and (assuming the manufacturer keeps good records) a good audit trail of ownership.

But don't go by me; I'm not "normal".
Celebrity ownership doesn’t mean much to me except for a bit of cool factor. I bought my Foundation from the longtime bassist for Buck Owens from ‘69 to the present; they still do a few shows at The Crystal Palace even though Buck left us many years back. The bassist is a very nice, humble guy who sold it for the going price for a Foundation. I did not ask him to provide a letter of authenticity even though I’m sure he would have and probably still would if I asked. But I won’t.