Guitars can really hit the right note as long term money makers.
Instruments made in the ‘golden era’ of the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s have soared as much as 1,000%.
According to guitar experts the best buy for the uninformed is to start at the top investing in already rare models like Gibson Les Pauls or Fender Stratocasters and Telecasters made in the 1950s and 1960. These guitars are the gold bullion of guitar collection, they have been strong over the decades and just grow in value year on year.
These guitars originally cost a couple of hundred pounds but can now be worth £200,000+, and guitars that can be proved to have been played by a star of the past or the present have extra value.
Guitar collectors have seen such good returns that in March 2008 Anchorage Capital Partners ("ACP") (a Mercantile Investment Group company) reported to the Financial Times that it is preparing to launch a closed-ended fund which will invest in the rare and vintage guitar market to the tune of US$100 million for a 10-year term.
The term Guitar Acquisition Syndrome was originally coined by Steely Dan front man Walter Becker, and there are many very wealthy businessmen who readily admit to this bug.
One of the most famous is Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. For example; his collection includes the white 1968 Stratocaster that Jimi Hendrix played at Woodstock in August 1969 which he bought from an Italian disk jockey for $1.3 million.
Also Frank De Fina, president of Panasonic Systems Solutions Company of America, conservatively numbers his guitar collection as "dozens." Its highlights include a 1939 Martin D-18 acoustic and three electric models lusted after by collectors worldwide: a 1953 Fender Esquire, a 1956 Fender Stratocaster and a 1959 Gibson Les Paul.
With such a large number of treasures on hand, storage became an issue. So a few years back, De Fina bought a flame proof bank vault to house his collection. "Bank vaults are more readily available than many kinds of vintage guitars," he quips, "and they're a lot cheaper, too."
In terms of new guitars, Paul Reed Smith guitars which start from around £2,000 are considered the new collectables and signature versions (which have the designers name on the body or head) are considered to rise in value in the short term as well as the long term.
But the market isn’t just around electric guitars, a 1924 signature Gibson mandolin recently sold for $1million and the price for pre war branded Ukuleles and Martin acoustic guitars from the early 1940’s has jumped 75% year on year since 2004.
So, old or new it would seem that you wont get strung along if you invest in a good quality limited edition guitar, and if you get lucky perhaps the next pop idol will be photographed with one round his neck.
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