Caveat, I am drawing all my evidence of the state of the market for higher end acoustics solely and purely on tFB and I am aware that there may be a whole other world out there beyond the confines of our little fishbowl.
So, it appears to me that the market for higher end boxes seems a little dead. Looking at the classifieds here, I've seen some fantastic guitars almost being given away and still not getting snapped up. Some guy was selling a stunning Atkin and got no takers, another forumite is trying to shift a really nice UK handmade box, no takers and I seem to recall someone trying to sell a larry at a pretty fair price and no takers.
This got me thinking, while the market for mod range electrics seems buoyant, there doesn't seem to be the same activity in higher end acoustics, or it this just my perception?
I'm not locked in here with you, you are locked in here with me.
Comments
I'm not locked in here with you, you are locked in here with me.
It's not dead but it's always been a niche thing. 20 or 25 years ago the majority of people I saw playing live would have been using a Takamine or a Yamaha. You saw a handful of Lowdens and other high end stuff but they were a real minority.
Today it might be brands like Faith, or the Sheeran type budget Martins but guitars at slightly lower prices are always the mainstream. The high end stuff has always been niche.
The fact that Sheeran plays Wembley with £600 guitar shows how good some of that stuff is these days.
My impression is that acoustics of all price ranges are more popular than ever out there in retail land.
When I started my "I want a good one" quest some while back I got offers of loads of wonderful high end stuff - the majority of which is still for sale (either overtly or gets offered as swap suggestions)
I think as @Moe_Zambeek says we just don't have a critical mass of acoustic-first types on t'forum currently to form a decent sized market.
Anyway, that just equates to more possible buyers I guess...
If you think it's bad for acoustics, try classicals...
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
I'm not locked in here with you, you are locked in here with me.
Over supply: most of the top end makers have increased production over the last 20 years. You only have to look at Martin to see the number of 'Vintage' this and 'Authentic' that they have been churning out.
Most of these have been aimed at an affluent demographic, that is getting on in years. To be blunt, lots of them are either dying or becoming too infirmed to play. This means there are a lot of second hand instruments coming on the market.
Competition: There are an increasing number of 'second' tier makers with growing reputations who are producing quality instruments, people like Eastman, Furch etc. Maybe consumers are choosing new models from these makers rather than used from tradutional high end makers.
That's my take on it anyway.
I'm not locked in here with you, you are locked in here with me.
I'd also add PRICING....which (in the UK) has leapt recently...
Somebody buys a £4/5/6k guitar new - it's a person who is not so price sensitive but who wants THAT guitar.
Come time to sell, they expect to get back 60 - 75% of the new price. That means they expect to get £2 - 4k. But that next tier of buyers ARE perhaps significantly more price sensitive (perhaps working pros as opposed to wealthy hobbyists who buy new). They've seen that used Collings (or whatever) go from £1.5k to over £2k and that's a big jump for them, so they hold off or buy Eastman/Furch instead as @Kilgore says.
It's not only price. Based on my experience of how they sound, I'd rather have a Furch than a Collings anyway.
I've not played Eastman, but there are some very skilled craftsmen in Eastern Europe, and guitars like Furch are very good. With Furch, the price difference isn't so much about the quality as about the fact that wages are lower in Eastern Europe. The fact that there is no import duty helps a bit as well.
Partscasters: The summarised advice to those considering partscasters is that it gets you exactly the guitar you want but don’t expect to get too much for it if you sell it. This seems to apply similarly to higher end acoustics from what I have seen and experienced.
It’s been reported on the FB that there is a dwindling interest in guitars among younger folk and, as mentioned above by @Kilgore, the older well-heeled players are dying off or having to give up playing. Over time this may adversely affect used guitar values, particularly higher end ones. An American vintage guitar dealer who I know says there is a worry that the whole inflated vintage guitar bubble could burst within the next decade. I wonder what our dealers on here think about that?
As for selling higher-end acoustics on the FB, I’d say it’s hardly worth trying. Some really nice guitars have been offered here at bargain prices without selling. It’s a great place to buy/sell FX and sub-£1,000 guitars/amps but even then there’s a lot of trading without money changing hands.
My Santa Cruz OM was sold on commission by a dealer specialising in that market and I would probably take the same route if I ever wanted to sell my Atkin. They target the right buyer and it can actually result in a better return than selling privately (with all the hassle that can involve).
Plus mid-priced electrics are much better than mid priced acoustics, so people might have a mexi strat, an epi les paul, an ibanez jazz box and another strat as a backup, whereas people don't tend to have a faith, a tanglewood, a yamaha and a takamine - they move up through the price range until most of us settle on one or two (or maybe three!) nice pieces but ti takes a while...