The Steel Guitar Forum

A lot of topics have come up here. First, of course this was an Electro Spanish, rather than a lap steel, but the strap button is no clue, John. Most pre-war Rickenbachers have them (my Silver Hawaiian and Model 59 both do). As for whether this model in this condition is worth almost $3000 - in a word, no, not as far as I'm concerned. This one didn't look in particularly good shape, which means bakelite frets are probably badly worn, and neck could well be slightly warped. Even in excellent condition, 3Gs is ridiculous. I recently had a shot at buying one of these for probably no more than $800 Canadian, or about $550 U.S. (the owner got cold feet, but I'm still hopeful I'll have another chance).Five-fifty is as low as three thousand is high, but the point is, there are still thousands of great instruments hiding in basements. A little patience and some serious digging can get you a much better deal on just about anything than you'll likely find on eBay.

I thought the world went mad when I saw a fender 400 starting at 1495. Just as I was paying 200 for the same. Ok, it has pedals, but the point is on ebay, you better know your prices.

bleat

Gentlemen, might we consider that, since no one person can drive the price up on eBay (it takes two or more), and since the number of potential bidders is close to infinite, that this DEFINES the market value? Is the market value of an instrument not what you can sell it for on the open market? Is eBay not the most "open" market on earth? I would think that if it sells for $2750 on eBay that it is, by definition, worth $2750. The fact that you might be able to find one somewhere for less does not mean that it is not worth the eBay high bid. Furthermore, the fact that we would all LIKE for the instrument to be "worth" less so that we could all afford to buy them ourselves also does not change the fact that, given the opportunity, the bidders on eBay have spoken with their wallets, sad as it may be.

In my opinion, the regular Vintage Guitar market lost its innocence in the late 1980s. In the early 1980s, I used to supplement my income by buying '62 Strats for $850 in the US and reselling them in Europe for $1500. At the same time, I bought a number of '55 Gold-Top Les Pauls for $800 - $1000 and resold them in Europe for $2000. Those days are gone and the market is now truly globally self-aware. Also, the amounts that these guitars are now fetching are well beyond the realm of what I would consider "fun". It is serious business.

It seems that the lap-steel market is fast approaching this mark as well. Good-bye innocence and $150- Bakelite Ricks, hello investors and collectors who do not even play the things.

- Andy