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So How Much Were Selmers Originally Worth?
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I wouldn't rush out to buy a Gitane thinking it'll be worth something one day. History says they won't, because they don't have any intrinsic value - they are not great guitars. I have one and I play it. But, it's a cheap guitar and it sounds cheap. It'll always be a cheap guitar.
Can character - mojo - be built into a guitar? I don't think so. You can't produce a guitar intending for it to be a collector's item down the road. It doesn't work like that - that's like buying that Franklin Mint junk. I never understood exactly what people thought they were buying when they bought a modern LP which was sold as a '58 when it was made in 2002. Or why someone would pay a LOT of money for an artificially aged Strat - are there really people with money who believe there is magic in this kind of fraud?
The guitar market is an odd place - nowadays, even many luthier-built guitars do not maintain their value very well. Certain builders, like Olson, their guitars go up quickly. But you can often find others - nice guitars, too - at 60% the cost of a new one. It's the same for Taylor and new Martins. Guitarists won't pay a lot of money for a modern guitar if they can get a true vintage one for the same price. And since nearly all the quality genuine "vintage" guitars are now in the hands of people who love them and will take care of them for the long-term (and will control the market), most modern guitars (including Selmer-style), even of the highest quality, are doomed to modest gains in dollar value.
Except for Gibson and their "investment grade guitars", of course. They are simply doomed. Gibson has jumped the shark for the last time, I think.
A clever observation about the guitar companies being among the first to recognize the value of their own earlier designs, Neil. Modernism is more expensive than ever!
Cheers
Scot