Those are great guitars. Are they 10x better than a modern reissue? Probably not empirically, but ultimately you have to decide. $15k can buy a lot of great gear.
Will wrote:I remember when those could be had for $600.
lol, are you sure?
eh, maybe it was more like $900. This was back in the late 90s - I'd say '98 or so. I'm certain it was under a grand for a normal condition, late-50s model on eBay. This is also back when even the best condition Mustangs were maybe $900, and a reasonable one was under $500. My Duo-Sonic II cost me $400 in 2001, and at that point it was the most expensive I had ever seen sell on eBay.
SRSLY I DON'T KNOW HOW PEOPLE HAVE MANAGED TO HOLD OFF BAGGING THIS ABSOLUTE BARGAIN WITH A SWEETENER LIKE HAVING THE ORIGINAL STRINGS ON IT. THERE IS NOTHING I LIKE MORE THAN A GUITAR WITH 50 YEAR OLD STRINGS ON IT. IT GIVES A VERY UNIQUE FEELING AND REALLY INFLUENCES THE SOUND I GET OUT OF IT.
SRSLY I DON'T KNOW HOW PEOPLE HAVE MANAGED TO HOLD OFF BAGGING THIS ABSOLUTE BARGAIN WITH A SWEETENER LIKE HAVING THE ORIGINAL STRINGS ON IT. THERE IS NOTHING I LIKE MORE THAN A GUITAR WITH 50 YEAR OLD STRINGS ON IT. IT GIVES A VERY UNIQUE FEELING AND REALLY INFLUENCES THE SOUND I GET OUT OF IT.
In the Hollywood Guitar Center they have two guitars like this. From memory one i sa 57 priced around $20k and the other a 58 for about $28k. I played both butt plugged in neither. They're nice to play but not really any nicer than a good $700 guitar that's quite worn in. The 57 was better for some reason, Probably some subtle thing about the neck that I didn't pick up on.
My friend had one just like in the backroom of his store. It was on consignment and originally the price was about $12,000 but more recently the price had dropped to $8500. Last time I was there I asked if he still had that guitar but he said the owner took it home because they hadn't been able to sell it for $8000 for it and he didn't what to sell it for less.
sure it's a great guitar, for for 15K money could be better spent elsewhere, holding 15K in the form of a guitar is kind of silly when you consider it's intrinsic value
the craiglist listing wrote:In the early years of television, the black and white images didn't show the darker bodied guitars very well. Gibson painted their Les Paul Specials a light yellow sort of Blond color to show up better on television, hence the"TV Special" name.
wrong. they didn't use that color because dark colors didn't show up well, it was because WHITE didn't show up well. In the black & white TV days all white props were actually yellow.
This is probably more in the 7000 range now. No way it is worth 15K. Maybe 3-4 years ago at the height of stupidity when vintage jags started hitting 4K plus (of course some people still think we are there still.... some douchebag keeps listing a mid 70's plain tele for $4700 on my local CL and I just keep laughing every time I see it... It's not even a deluxe or custom (which might be worth 2500 or so....) mid 70's standards maybe 2K...2500 tops in perfect mint with everything still original including case and candy...
They say great minds think alike....Sometimes we do too...