A number of months ago, Fender Guitars introduced a limited edition guitar that was meticulously hand crafted and aged to be as close as possible to an exact replica of what is possibly the most famous guitar in the world - Eric Clapton’s “Blackie”.
A similar replica of Stevie Ray Vaughn’s guitar made by Fender is now worth several times its initial price (originally about $10,000 I think). I’ve searched around the internet and eBay, but I can’t find any of the Blackie model in the secondary market - I was wondering whether it would have been a good investment to buy one of these.
…to people who will either hang them on the wall as trophies, or sit on them for the appreciation in value. :rolleyes: <— at the guitar collector culture, not the OP.
Yep - and Fender is producing something like 300 copies of Eddie Van Halen’s Frankenstein guitar - a guitar he built from parts for about $300 - for $30,000 apiece.
This is all over guitar message boards. It truly enrages some folks - it is the equivalent of a Franklin Mint collectible or something in their mind. I had a friend who knows I am into guitars and know collecting (I have a couple of vintage guitars and collect first edition books; my parents are antique dealers) - he has access to an EVH replica, should he buy it?
People are going nuts - but right now they are like Beanie Babies - there is a ton of interest and folks buying them purely for speculative purposes, in the hopes that they go up in value and can be flipped for profit. And things get macabre when folks discuss the likelihood of Clapton or EVH dying as SRV did and the implications of the value of these guitars. Ick.
Bottom line is that there is no such thing as a sure thing - there is a lot of frenzy right now, but let’s see what happens in about 20 years - that is usually the window when you can tell what may happen. Muscle car values started going through the roof after 20 - 25 years, same with vintage guitars.
If I had to guess, I would say that I could see these guitars only holding a bit of value - they may not decrease to the price of the equivalent guitar that isnt’ a celeb replica, but I don’t see them climbing like true, vintage guitars have been over the past decade. Also, if the guitar collectibles market does take a hit, these replicas will likely suffer much early than the true vintage guitars. Same with vintage guitars - there are “tiers” of desirability, and if the market takes a hit, lower-tier guitars will see their value drop (e.g., a Fender Jaguar or a Gibson Melody Maker or a Mosrite Ventures guitar) well before a top-tier guitar (e.g., 50’s Les Pauls or Strats and Teles, etc…).
My $.02
PS: oh, and by they way, those Clapton replicas are pretty easily available if you know who to talk with - same with vintage Fenders and Gibsons - you just have to know who’s who in the guitar market, as with any top-shelf collectible…
I remember reading a feature about the EVH signature model from Ernie Ball, or somebody. They changed the headstock and body shape, but the neck and pickup were carefully copied from his favorite ax. After several tries, the neck didn’t feel just right to Eddie, so they computer-measure the original. Then they copied the worn down places, and that felt just right. The tough part was the pickup, because one of the coils was broken.