Particularly on eBay! My Other Sites: My eBay UK Store: www.ebay.co.uk... My Music Projects on Bandcamp: lunatrick.band... My Music Video Channel: / danielstaniforth
It's an interesting phenomenon. I appreciate your observations on this topic. For a while along with the various guitars I bought and repaired or modded, I was also able to regularly source so-called b-stock Squier necks and bodies at reasonable prices, do whatever (mostly cosmetic) repairs were needed, wire together some pots, capacitors, treble bleeds, pickups, give them a nice set-up, crown and polish the frets and so on, and then sell them at a modest profit. I even kept one of them. A shell pink telecaster (it says Squier on the headstock but it's basically a tricked out custom guitar) with a humbucker in the neck position, and to this day it's one of my favorites. I guess for me it wasn't crucial to turn a profit because that simply wasn't my prime objective. I was learning how to do setups, repairs, mods, wiring, anything that was called for basically and eventually turning out a well-crafted, highly playable instruments (and not just reclamation projects, but also custom builds from scratch) that I could sell at fair and reasonable prices. All the while, I was gaining all kinds of useful luthier skills. It just kind of became an obsession and I can't really remember the last time I didn't have various projects in various stages strewn about my room. But you're right. It has grown to be a much more expensive proposition over time. There was at least a vague notion at one point about somehow making it into a profitable enough endeavor to quit my proverbial day job and transform it into a profession, but crunching the numbers as costs have risen has thrown a damper on that thinking. So for now at least it remains an odd, some would say eccentric pastime. I've sunk a rather large investment both in terms of time along with the financial cost of acquiring and upgrading tools and so on, and I don't really see suddenly deciding to just not do it any longer. But the landscape in terms of finding cheap and ready projects to tackle is definitely becoming more challenging. Curious to read others' observations and thoughts.
I think opening a shop selling instruments and repairing them is the way to go if you have those skills. Also a great way to flip projects and even sell your own CDs! Small music stores where I live have to turn down business as they are really in demand. My luthier has to book repairs months in advance as he's the only luthier in his shop.
Good idea in theory - but in a lot of areas people strugge to cover high business rents and upkeep. A lot of these types of shops have also gone under. A lot of luthiers now work from home.
Part of the problem is that cheaper guitars these days are of a much higher build quality than they were a decade ago. They tend to last longer and don't have as many issues, other than the usual setup needing a tweak out of the box. Also, there is an awareness now about the value of guitars that wasn't there years ago. Many sellers are asking prices that are so near retail that it just isn't worth considering as a potential project. I am always on the lookout for guitars but I have not bought one for over a year. I just have not come across anything that is realistically priced.
In Canada prices for the used guitar market also increased significantly.. However it seems recently like more are getting down to earth and they are sort of getting closer than they were prior to the pandemic..
As a retired guy, I agree with you. I have a load of Gretsch Jim Dandy guitars...that I modified and cannot flip except for a loss. The guitar project work is just a big loss for me. I guess I need to try some other hobby.
I agree. Even pawn shops want too much for their stuff anymore. Auctions likewise. As an observation and not being political- as a world mired in unsustainable debt continues on borrowing and spending, the economic fallout from it will cause a lot of folks to unload many of the personal items like instruments they have to survive. It may be sooner that later IMHO.
It's an interesting phenomenon. I appreciate your observations on this topic. For a while along with the various guitars I bought and repaired or modded, I was also able to regularly source so-called b-stock Squier necks and bodies at reasonable prices, do whatever (mostly cosmetic) repairs were needed, wire together some pots, capacitors, treble bleeds, pickups, give them a nice set-up, crown and polish the frets and so on, and then sell them at a modest profit. I even kept one of them. A shell pink telecaster (it says Squier on the headstock but it's basically a tricked out custom guitar) with a humbucker in the neck position, and to this day it's one of my favorites.
I guess for me it wasn't crucial to turn a profit because that simply wasn't my prime objective. I was learning how to do setups, repairs, mods, wiring, anything that was called for basically and eventually turning out a well-crafted, highly playable instruments (and not just reclamation projects, but also custom builds from scratch) that I could sell at fair and reasonable prices. All the while, I was gaining all kinds of useful luthier skills. It just kind of became an obsession and I can't really remember the last time I didn't have various projects in various stages strewn about my room. But you're right. It has grown to be a much more expensive proposition over time.
There was at least a vague notion at one point about somehow making it into a profitable enough endeavor to quit my proverbial day job and transform it into a profession, but crunching the numbers as costs have risen has thrown a damper on that thinking. So for now at least it remains an odd, some would say eccentric pastime. I've sunk a rather large investment both in terms of time along with the financial cost of acquiring and upgrading tools and so on, and I don't really see suddenly deciding to just not do it any longer. But the landscape in terms of finding cheap and ready projects to tackle is definitely becoming more challenging. Curious to read others' observations and thoughts.
Loved reading this! Yes, it's different if you're a hobbyist with means to support such endeavours. Don't worry, I'm not giving up either.
I think opening a shop selling instruments and repairing them is the way to go if you have those skills. Also a great way to flip projects and even sell your own CDs! Small music stores where I live have to turn down business as they are really in demand. My luthier has to book repairs months in advance as he's the only luthier in his shop.
Good idea in theory - but in a lot of areas people strugge to cover high business rents and upkeep. A lot of these types of shops have also gone under. A lot of luthiers now work from home.
Part of the problem is that cheaper guitars these days are of a much higher build quality than they were a decade ago. They tend to last longer and don't have as many issues, other than the usual setup needing a tweak out of the box. Also, there is an awareness now about the value of guitars that wasn't there years ago. Many sellers are asking prices that are so near retail that it just isn't worth considering as a potential project. I am always on the lookout for guitars but I have not bought one for over a year. I just have not come across anything that is realistically priced.
All very good points!
In Canada prices for the used guitar market also increased significantly.. However it seems recently like more are getting down to earth and they are sort of getting closer than they were prior to the pandemic..
Very true!
As a retired guy, I agree with you. I have a load of Gretsch Jim Dandy guitars...that I modified and cannot flip except for a loss. The guitar project work is just a big loss for me. I guess I need to try some other hobby.
I'm hearing this from a lot of older repair guys. I've also started dabbling with watches!
I think that between 2 and 10 years many guitars will come onto the market andthe price will quickly fall.
Let us hope!
I agree. Even pawn shops want too much for their stuff anymore.
Auctions likewise.
As an observation and not being political- as a world mired in unsustainable debt continues on borrowing and spending, the economic fallout from it will cause a lot of folks to unload many of the personal items like instruments they have to survive. It may be sooner that later IMHO.
Great points - the debt society will always crash.