Post by Tony Ravenscroft on Dec 12, 2020 15:44:30 GMT -6
First, there is the single best source, used by shops and collectors alike for decades: Fjestad's Blue Book of Guitar Values series. Even the older volumes are invaluable.
Click on the above link. Enter the manufacturer name and hit Search. When that comes back, there's probably at least one blue line in all capital letters. Choose that and you'll get a page with some company history; at the bottom will be a bunch of categories. If you want to know actual values, you will have to subscribe, but the amount of free information is pretty amazing.
You can also use the site for info on acoustics, amps, and mandolins.
The books are published sporadically. The older volumes aren't super-helpful for current values, and are often clogged up with very obscure brands and tiny luthieries, but can also be rewarding with material dropped from later volumes, like articles, photos, and even color plates.
Some books deal with acoustic and electric guitars and amplifiers; some focus on only one model.
Always keep in mind, however, that the values provided are only a starting point. Like the stock market, demand can fluctuate, and this has only become more true since the rise of the Internet. Today's hard-to-locate $1,000 "must-have axe" can literally be part of tomorrow's $150 glut... and vice versa.
Right at hand, I have the Blue Book of Electric Guitars - 11th Edition (2007), which (including index) is a truly massive 1,168 pages.
Some fans have made their collections of catalogues and print available to the world. Check out Vintage Guitar & Bass, particularly for better-known brands.
Another source is VintAxe. For some of the more popular materials, you will need to pay for a subscription, but there is free info to be found. And they also sell catalogues and brochures, sometimes for quite obscure brands -- not inexpensive, but this is where I managed to find the full catalogue for the full Switch Music v.1 line ($20 + $6). Their collection includes Japanese brands you may know only as legend, and even-less-common European names.
A very few brands support collectors. One is Washburn Guitars. Unfortunately, some of the info went away around 2006, and the company that bought it in 2010 cost us some price lists dating back to the late '90s, but there are still two dozen catalogues accessible, in downloadable PDF. Be warned, though, that a couple of them are quite chunky -- the 1997-1998 runs 173 mb!! -- so will bog your browser; if you're going to refer to these often, you should definitely save a copy.
Guitar-List.com is a great source for many brands; it's sort of a curated wiki. You can join their forum, or search for info by brand, or check out their small archive of scanned advertising material.
If you are a true guitar fanatic (rather than just trying to buy or sell a guitar or two), you should spend a few hours a week tracking the market.
Music-Go-Round
Guitar Center used gear
Reverb
Sam Ash
Elderly Instruments
Bills Music
The Music Zoo
Click on the above link. Enter the manufacturer name and hit Search. When that comes back, there's probably at least one blue line in all capital letters. Choose that and you'll get a page with some company history; at the bottom will be a bunch of categories. If you want to know actual values, you will have to subscribe, but the amount of free information is pretty amazing.
You can also use the site for info on acoustics, amps, and mandolins.
The books are published sporadically. The older volumes aren't super-helpful for current values, and are often clogged up with very obscure brands and tiny luthieries, but can also be rewarding with material dropped from later volumes, like articles, photos, and even color plates.
Some books deal with acoustic and electric guitars and amplifiers; some focus on only one model. Always keep in mind, however, that the values provided are only a starting point. Like the stock market, demand can fluctuate, and this has only become more true since the rise of the Internet. Today's hard-to-locate $1,000 "must-have axe" can literally be part of tomorrow's $150 glut... and vice versa.
Right at hand, I have the Blue Book of Electric Guitars - 11th Edition (2007), which (including index) is a truly massive 1,168 pages.
Some fans have made their collections of catalogues and print available to the world. Check out Vintage Guitar & Bass, particularly for better-known brands.
Another source is VintAxe. For some of the more popular materials, you will need to pay for a subscription, but there is free info to be found. And they also sell catalogues and brochures, sometimes for quite obscure brands -- not inexpensive, but this is where I managed to find the full catalogue for the full Switch Music v.1 line ($20 + $6). Their collection includes Japanese brands you may know only as legend, and even-less-common European names.
A very few brands support collectors. One is Washburn Guitars. Unfortunately, some of the info went away around 2006, and the company that bought it in 2010 cost us some price lists dating back to the late '90s, but there are still two dozen catalogues accessible, in downloadable PDF. Be warned, though, that a couple of them are quite chunky -- the 1997-1998 runs 173 mb!! -- so will bog your browser; if you're going to refer to these often, you should definitely save a copy.
Guitar-List.com is a great source for many brands; it's sort of a curated wiki. You can join their forum, or search for info by brand, or check out their small archive of scanned advertising material.
If you are a true guitar fanatic (rather than just trying to buy or sell a guitar or two), you should spend a few hours a week tracking the market.
Music-Go-Round
Guitar Center used gear
Reverb
Sam Ash
Elderly Instruments
Bills Music
The Music Zoo