Age as an asset in terms of valuation

M.S.

Hi All,

Newby to the forum so forgive me if I'm asking a stupid question here. 

For a while I've been on and off considering selling some of my gear and one of the things that's put me off is not really having any idea how to price things.  I get that the real value of anything is limited by what someone's prepared to pay for it, but I'd also like to think that anything I did move on was done at a price that was fair to everyone involved.

Case in point, many years ago I inherited a Squier Standard Jazz Bass from a mate of mine.  Its sat in my house largely unplayed for about 25 years now.  Its a nice bass and it's totally wasted on me.  I've checked the serial number and it looks to have been made in 1989 in Korea.  If I look up similar basses to see what they went for to try to get a feel for what a sensible asking price might be, they all seem to have been made much more recently, and I find it hard to understand whether mine being older makes it more or less valuable.

I know condition comes into it too, and this particular bass has a couple of chips in the finish that go down to the wood, but given it was never a "high end" instrument in the first place I don't know how much difference that makes.  Other than that, and it probably needing restringing, I think the condition is as you'd expect for a guitar of it's age.

I know some of it will depend on brand and what "it" is too, but it'd be good to hear what some of you think.

Or maybe it's impossible to have a vague/general conversation about this and it just comes down to looking at each bit of kit individually.

Ta!

Funkfingers

Welcome to the Fretboard.

One common way to establish the current market value of gear is to consult eBay, Reverb et cetera for their records of the sums of money for which items ACTUALLY SOLD.

Sometimes, values are confused by factors such as limited editions or uncommon finish colour schemes.

The Squier Standard series Jazz Bass is a case in point. You say yours is Korean. Later production shifted to Indonesia. The instrument morphed into the Vintage Modified series. After minor cosmetic changes, it is now the (Crafted in Indonesia) Classic Vibe. Unfortunately, buyers perceive each variant differently. This influences how much they are willing to pay.

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A turn of the century Squier Jazz Bass could very well have a rosewood fingerboard where more recent examples have Laurel or something. 

This forum has an endless supply of guitarists who fancy a bass guitar for home recording. Your Squier is a good candidate. It is also an excellent platform for modification.

prowla

In the eyes of some, old = vintage = valuable.

Same for rare = valuable.

OTOH, others might say that old = knackered and rare = they weren't very good and didn't sell well.

M.S.

Its defo useful to know the the various incarnations/evolution of that bass because I was never sure how what I had related to the newer models, so thanks for that, Funkfingers.  I'll check out eBay and Reverb because some of the prices might make more sense now.

Thanks for the tip about focussing on the sold for prices too.  That helps give a better idea than the asking prices, but its still semi puzzling when there's a bit of a range.  I've just been looking at the sold for prices for a little Marshall practice amp I have and there are examples from £30 up to around £150 albeit for slightly different variants of the same model depending on when it was built.  All of which only serves to deepen the mystery in some cases and brings me backto my opening point I suppose that anything is worth as much as someone is willing to pay for it.

I'll have a root around and mull over whether to hang onto things for a bit longer or get shot of them.

Cheers!

snowblind

Pot luck really. However nice that bass might be it has a Squier logo on it which automatically caps its value.
I've seen examples of Epiphone guitars playing and sounding better than Gibsons 10-20x the price but again, nobody will pay Gibson money for an Epiphone (ok so maybe new Epis are costing as much as an entry level Gibson these days but that is a separate conversation).

That said the Squier standard range is/was generally pretty good. I have a Squier standard strat and tele and both a perfectly decent instruments. Picked them both up for less than the cost of a new affinity and they are better guitars.

M.S.

I think you're right, Snowblind, it probably is just a case of pick a price based on what you want and how keen you are to get rid and take a punt.  

I've just been looking and have seen an almost identical bass in terms of model, age, condition, made in Korea, etc, on Reverb where the sellar is asking £580.  Whether they get that remains to be seen, of course.  It leaves you wondering whether that seller is living in dreamland though or whether they just know what the guitar is really worth.  Meanwhile I've seen other similar examples on Ebay, which aren't quite as close a match admittedly but which have actually sold, for around the £220 mark. 

Completely agree re the badge on the top though and that certain "prestige brands" will always have stronger resale value.

SPECTRUM001

Sadly, value is also somewhat disconnected to quality.

It is common knowledge there are good and bad examples in all ranges - even top end. And when you strike gold at the lower end, that guitar is quite possibly way better then others worth three or four times as much.

However convincing potential buyers as to what they are getting is almost impossible.

I was thinking about this very point this morning - I have a couple of mid range Mexican Fenders that have been modified and beautifully re-finished. One of them is the best guitar I have owned (it's going nowhere !) and I would probably value it at around £2,500 (these are circa £500 new). My logic being that if it were stolen, I would need to go either vintage or Custom Shop to achieve anything as good. 

Though I reckon I would be lucky to pick up £500 if selling...

snowblind

Given its a standard and assuming generally good nick apart from the scratches I'd say maybe £2-300 range. Try it and see what response you get. Maybe restring it and get a couple of audio clips of it being played. If buyers can hear it is capable of producing a good tone you'll get more interest.

robgilmo

The problem is a lot of them were laminate bodies, I dont know about bass guitars but its the gold logo as opposed to the silver that you want, or it could be the other way around.
For a while old Squier guitars were making good money, usually from people not old enough to remember them back in the day, it seems to have tailed off somewhat nowadays.