Discussion in guitars in general started by josephpnorman, jan. To a lesser extent, gibson also makes banjos, dobro resonator guitars, electronics, and basses. I agree that odds are that its not worth trading for the early 70s lp. Gibson guitars resale value ed roman king of guitars. Here are some useful tips and resources to help you find out the value of your guitar. Trying to get an idea about the value of the guitar for insurance purposes. Before mid1950, most gibson headstocks were thinner at the top when looked at from a side profile. Had the guitar been a vintage gibson, or a more expensive guitar, it would matter.
This will give you a good base approximation of what your guitar is worth. Collectors who grew up in the 1950s often want different guitars to those that grew up in the 1980s. Gibson guitars have been played by rock n roll and blues legends that include jimmy page and b. Use this site for a pricing guide and source of information on all guitars. We are the trusted guitar price guide for providing guitar blue book values. Transparent colors, violet sunburst, natural, black, transparent red, blue. Gibson acoustic guitar descriptions from the blue book of guitars.
Gibson electric guitar descriptions from the blue book of guitars. Within the past 20 years or so i can think of only one gibson that has increased in value. Gibson and epiphone guitars serial number guide the. The blue book of electric guitars features comprehensive information and uptodate pricing. The blue book of acoustic guitars and blue book of electric guitars are the. Vintage guitar collecting, like anything else is subject to fashion. Ive had a gibson sg 90 double for many years and never really used it. Sg body style with pointed horns, white pickup covers, enlarged white pickguard that covers most of body, knobs mounted into top, vibrato standard, fire engine red or pelham blue finish. Have an old les paul, stratocaster, gibson flying v or other electric guitar to sell. We enlisted the help of chicago music exchanges daniel escauriza and the association of stringed music appraisers brian wolfe and leonard wyeth to find out how much electric guitars are worth and where to. Refer to publications such as the blue book of guitars blue book publications.
Discussion in gibson sg started by syrjosh, nov 23, 2006. Gibson acoustic guitar descriptions from the blue book of. For more details on gibson serialization prior to 1975 and historical product specs, use your gruhns guide or view the following pdf files. New 14th editions of blue book of acoustic guitars and blue book. There are always exceptions to these rules, the two listed below are worth noting.
How to find out the age and value of a guitar with pictures. The gibson serial number decoder currently supports 6 formats from 4 factories. Enjoy the lowest prices and best selection of gibson guitars at guitar center. Its been so successful that its spawned a whole series of more specialist books, such as the paul reed smith pocket guide, and a special edition book on marshalls legendary bluesbreaker amp. Read about guitar history and find out how much your guitar is worth at the reverb price guide. Hello, this is just to see people opinions on which guitar would perform better when playing blues. Your electric guitar could be worth thousands where to. This model features an ink stamped serial number with no made in usa just as we used on the.
Musical instruments blue book used musical instruments product. For information on fon numbers a copy of the blue book of electric guitars by zachary r. Vintage guitars info gibson solidbody vintage guitar. They are known for their acoustic and electric stringed instruments, primarily in guitars and mandolins. What is the value of a 1974 gibson les paul custom 20th. For example, this guitar does not have origonal pickups in it. Its in good shape, but the case is a little used looking. For instruments older than 1975, youll need to consult a gruhn guide or one of the blue book pdfs available through gibsons site. If you know a little bit about fancy guitars or about joe bonamassa, you probably already know that the 1959 gibson les paul standard is the most coveted guitar on the marketplace. The company was formerly known as gibson guitar corporation and renamed gibson brands, inc. Gibson made the first electric guitar in 1935 and has pioneered famous guitars such as the les paul, the flying v, the explorer, the firebird, and sg. Get the best prices on our vintage gibson guitars both instore and online.
Right a highly customized 1960 es350td with a bespoke dark blue finish. If you would like to see more information about specific brand of guitars,you may be interested in these pages. Dating a gibson by factory order number fon gibson has historically used two different alphanumerical formats to catalog its instruments. Carlos santana, robby krieger, and pete townshend were among the early champions of the gibson sg special shown here in its first incarnation. Read about guitar history and find out how much your guitar is worth at the. The blue book of guitars to give it its proper name, has become the go to place for anyone buying or selling a second hand guitar in order to figure out what said guitar is worth.
Orville also pioneered the use of the arch top in guitar and mandolin design, taking inspiration from. If you want a completely accurate evaluation of your gibson, my advice would be to go to the experts at blue book of guitar values. Finding the value in a gibson acoustic guitar can be done in a number of common sense ways. I have an old gibson sg that ive been playing for about 15. Major trademarks including fender, gibson, martin, paul reed smith. The official vintage guitar price guide vintage guitar. Whether you are looking for a fender guitar value, a gibson guitar value or a. Les paul models sg models esstyle models basses designer models. For updates on what gibson is doing about covid19, click here. Carolyn manis background includes twenty years of experience in both live and online auctions, as well as an extensive background in appraising and vetting furniture and decorative arts, fine art, collectibles, musical instruments and entertainment memorabilia. You can also consult the blue book of guitar values to see what it is worth. How to date a gibson using serial numbers, fons and.
On this page, you will find questions and answers about the value of specific gibson guitars. Les paul models sg models esstyle models basses designer models gibson custom shop. The blue book of guitar values, aka the guitar blue book, is an indispensable guide. The best way to determine a real cash value would be a blue book. If youve ever encountered a 1959 gibson les paul standard, odds are you will know your answer immediately. The following are a summary of fons as documented by joe spann in his great book of gibson fon numbers. The following is what i found out from the blue book of electric. Gibsons have serial numbers and there is a site called kelly blue book.
Its a great time to upgrade your home music studio gear with the largest selection at. Find the current blue book value and worth of your new and used guitars, both acoustic, electric and amplifier. Orvilles guitars were often made of the wood from old furniture, to get the tonal quality of aged wood. When appraising your guitar, the first place to begin is the average market value of the guitar. By 1960, diminishing sales for gibsons original les paul solidbody guitar line compelled the company to gradually drop the thencurrent models and replace them with an entirely newly redesigned set. The blue book is one of several respected pricing guides that can help you determine the general value of your guitar, depending on its overall condition and playability. The number one source of guitar and amplifier pricing and information so you can find the price and value of your used guitars and amplifier. It is made by mostly dealers with info from actual sales. Find blue book values and fair market prices on used guns, computers, stereos and more with online price guides and the most accurate used equipment data online. Fjestad1952 1960 solidbodieswhen gibson start the production of solidbody guitars in 1952, a new serial number system was developed. Vintage guitars info gibson collecting vintage gibson.
If you can not grade your guitar or amplifier please submit some close up pictures for my assessment top. Home forums the solid guitar gibson sg gibson sg custom 1976. Gibson is a wellknown musical instrument company in the united states, with origins dating back to the 1890s. The blue book of acoustic guitars and blue book of electric guitars are the two leading reference and value guides in the guitar industry, along with the blue. The guitar dater project gibson serial number decoder. These price ranges utilize a combination of expert research, external market data, and realtime reverb transactions to estimate the current value of items in used but original condition.
Mm12 string version available with 2 pickups and no vibrato. Solidbody double neck sg style guitars are not nearly as desirable, though popularized by bands such as led zeppelin in the 1970s. Reverb transactions to estimate the current value of items in used but original. Used equipment blue book values and online fair market. The gibson guitar corporation in nashville, tennessee, was founded in 1902 in kalamazoo, michigan by orville gibson. How to find the value of a gibson acoustic guitar our. You can find the blue book online and search it for free at. What is the value of a 1965 gibson les paul sg guitar. Im generalizing, but from my gatherings concerning most gibsons but especially lps and sgs, 60s thru like 7071 seem to have the best luck in terms.
This new function will try to match the serial number against older formats, details required for an exact match are listed in yellow. If you already own an older edition of this book, you can not get a current price, simply by adjusting for inflation. So, if you had, say, a mid1990s koreanmade epiphone les paul with a. For guitars made prior to 1977 use the extended search function. Valuation reports for used electric guitar products. I use the blue book for all of my evaluation needs and i have found it to be accurate and extremely useful. The guitar dater project gibson serial number decoder when was your gibson made. Hi all, i inheriting a gibson 1962 sg special painted offwhite color with a gibson falcon amp from my uncle. I think its one of the signature ones i cant remember who it was, but i remember they had a pelham blue sg for some artist.
The new 14th editions of the blue book of acoustic guitars and blue book of electric. Another great resource is vintage guitar magazines price guide, which is regularly updated and available at amazon. In the early years gibson also used factory order numbers f o n to track batches of instruments being produced at the time. Welcome to the reverb price guide, the ultimate resource for music gear pricing and information.
This is very important as the blue book provides values based upon the guitars condition as indicated above. How to find the value of an epiphone guitar our pastimes. Do you have a gibson guitar and would like to know how much it is worth. Cadillacs pelham blue metallic became one of gibsons most common custom colors in the 60s. Anyway, like you said, they made the sg melody maker in pelham blue, in 63 i think, pretty cool guitar.
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