SOLD - Unique Hand Engraved Aluminium topped & Headstock faced Guitar (1990 GS1)-Dragons

Bennyboy-UK

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Bennyboy-UK

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Bennyboy-UK

Bump...

Thank you very much for the trade offers chaps - the one that was most exciting was the R9 offer which sadly didn’t complete.

Please keep offers coming and feel free to try your luck with other stuff I’ve not listed as trade options - happy to talk about amps and combinations of kit for trade.

I’m not playing this guitar currently so it’s on my mind to get it out to someone else.

I’ve knocked £250 off my Reverb listing, so the same applies here for a bit longer than I offered the reduction there - sell price at £2,250 for now...

Added older EBMM guitars as trade options...

Cordite50

WOW !  .....looks like a top of the range  Zemaitis. Same look, and wonderful Gordon Smith playability. What a bargain at a tenth of the price of a real one. Good luck with the sale. I am surprised it is still for sale. It looks like a once in a lifetime opportunity for a discerning player.

Bennyboy-UK

Bump - also interested in amps and current AxeFX gear.

Bennyboy-UK

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Bennyboy-UK

Bump - £2,250 pricing for the week on the FB - it remains on at £2,500 on reverb.

Bennyboy-UK

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HarrySeven

Please excuse my incredulity - and this is in no way an attempt to talk down the asking/trade price - but, as:

a. A bit of a Gordon Smith aficionado and
b. Someone with zero interest in Zemaitis aesthetics (and/or fancy engraving)

I’m genuinely surprised by the discrepancy between the value of a S/H GS1 (there are plenty about in the £350-ish bracket, which I’d suggest is an average price*) and the addition of engraved metalwork - does it REALLY add that much value?



*I’ve owned loads, priced between £150-£375.

Bennyboy-UK

Hi there, not a problem at all - I wrote a big old post for you regards the above but somehow its gone, I rewrote it but that one didn't appear- if they don't reappear a bit later, I'll re-write again later.

(the short answer is yes - but I'll explain when I rewrite the response )
 
Cheers,
Ben.

McToot

Where are all the hunting/shooting/fishing gun collectors that play  in a rock band on their country estate? I'd have thought this forum would be awash with them.

  

Bennyboy-UK

McToot said:

Where are all the hunting/shooting/fishing gun collectors that play  in a rock band on their country estate? I'd have thought this forum would be awash with them.

  

Yeah, chop chop!

LoFi

HarrySeven said:

Please excuse my incredulity - and this is in no way an attempt to talk down the asking/trade price - but, as:

a. A bit of a Gordon Smith aficionado and
b. Someone with zero interest in Zemaitis aesthetics (and/or fancy engraving)

I’m genuinely surprised by the discrepancy between the value of a S/H GS1 (there are plenty about in the £350-ish bracket, which I’d suggest is an average price*) and the addition of engraved metalwork - does it REALLY add that much value?



*I’ve owned loads, priced between £150-£375.

It's not my thing either (neither are Zemaitis), but the engraving looks like an awful lot of work by a very talented person, so I can see where the price comes from.

Bennyboy-UK

Happy to field that question no problem at all - @HarrySeven - the value of this item is practically all in the engraving work rather than the guitar itself. 

To be fair, the fact that it's a guitar is almost incidental. The engraving work is main point of interest for this thing.

Its a very specialist field and one which is typically not that well known in the guitar world - exactly because the only engraved guitars that come up with any regularity are Zemaitis examples - and the quality of engraving work on those (I've heard it unsporting labelled as "airgun quality engraving!!!) is of a different class when compared to what the top exhibition engravers are capable of designing and producing.

There are probably around 12 top class engravers in the UK - something like that, and of those perhaps half of them who have a reputation that is known and in demand. One of which, who happens to have an interest in guitars and was up for this little project.

What you are looking at here is absolutely not machine produced laser/pantograph/dremmel/EDM work that you'll see in the more common embellished guitar part - pickup covers, truss rod covers etc.

There is a very appreciable difference - but if you don't have experience in that area, then its absolutely understandable if at first glance you don't get it.

I suppose the realised price will be the final arbiter of that question regarding if its really worth that much - and the buyer will likely be purchasing this less as a guitar and more for its artistic value. (Although it does play very well).

It may well sell to someone with an only passing interest in guitars at all.

To give you another example - you might have seen these written up in one of the UK magazines a year of so ago... Priced at £25,000 and £30,000 to you sir...

https://www.robsontuners.com/guitars/

Again, the guitar itself is very secondary when trying to appraise the value of these kind of items - for example if the guitar itself cost £2,000 to make in the above examples - or £350 to buy (as per any average Gordon Smith GS1 as you rightly point out) - you can see that the guitar cost is not really the main factor when appraising the value or price to charge for the finished article

Let me know if you'd like some more info about this stuff or any other queries I can help with.

Cheers,
Ben.

Bennyboy-UK

Not a problem at all @HarrySeven - and I'm sure lots of other FBers are thinking the same/similar thing.

Engraving is a very specialist field, and not one thats particularly well known about or understood outside of the gun trade, where you tend to see a range of quality and work - from factory machine rolled on and laser cut stuff, through to the range of hand engraving which ranges from awful to incredible, and everywhere in between.

The price of this particular item is practically all about the engraving work - and the guitar element is actually secondary - although it does play very well indeed - thats not really what this is about.

The fact that it's a Gordon Smith GS1 which can be purchased used for a low price doesn't matter in this case - the cost of the guitar itself doesn't really figure in appraising the price (let alone in comparison with the the cost for doing all the work - which is considerably above the selling prices I've listed).

If you are interested, the criteria for selecting this particular guitar for embellishment was as follows:

Solid and well built, great playing guitar, constructed of good quality materials, flat top for adding the plate as solidly as possible to the body, one pickup and stop tail in order to have the most space possible available for the engraving, British in origin, not a precious or irreplaceable guitar.

It has the right physical characteristics to make the project possible and is of a sufficient quality and playability to make it worth while doing at all.

There are maybe 12-15 top class Engravers in the UK, and maybe half of those have a name or reputation thats well known (in those spheres) regarding their work.

One of the latter above happens to have an interest in guitars and was up for the project.

This is absolutely not Pantograph/EDM/Laser/Dremel/masked and sandblasted (etc) work which is more often seen on guitar parts, like Truss rod covers, pickup covers there is a very appreciable difference.

I'm very aware that the eventual buyer may well only have a passing interest in guitars - or no interest in guitars at all.

To give an example of the metalwork/engravings bearing on guitar cost you might remember having seen these written up in a guitar magazine over the last couple of years - yours to buy for a mere £25,000 and £30,000 sir.

https://www.robsontuners.com/guitars/

As part of the overall proposition the cost of the guitar element itself is actually pretty incidental.

For example, if the cost of having the actual guitar builds above was £2,000 for example (for the guitars themselves), (or indeed £350 to buy a regular Gordon Smith GS1 as you rightly say) - its a very small part of the cost/value of the item.

I hope thats helpful information and helps to answer you queries - I'm happy to help as much as possible.

Cheers,
Ben.

Bennyboy-UK

deleted as massive duplication post.

Bennyboy-UK

Ah there they are arrived finally

Bennyboy-UK

Bum.

sawyer

Very nice! Is it worth offering to the shotgun fraternity if you haven't already? As you say,and I totally agree with you, the real value is the incredible engraving. There will be a marketplace for the high end shotgun collectors who would,I'm sure, go mental for this. Or what about specialist auction houses? They must have firearm auctions? Lot of money in the sporting gun world. Might do better with them? Looks awesome!