It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Subscribe to our Patreon, and get image uploads with no ads on the site!
Base theme by DesignModo & ported to Powered by Vanilla by Chris Ireland, modified by the "theFB" team.
Comments
Never heard of them. That's your answer - selling into a tiny market. Secondly, past a certain point, you're paying emotionally (because you want to) not because you have to to get a good instrument.
all this said, I’ve been looking at buying a HX Effect pedal - £399 new but people paying £350ish on eBay. That doesn’t make sense to me at all!!!
This seems to work seamlessly with mainstream gear, but in practice it's less reliable with more "niche" products as fashion, mythology and the explosion thereof plays a huge part.
In your particular example of Atkin guitars my personal knowledge of them reputation-wise over the last six months has transitioned from "never heard of them" through "only an Atkin is good enough" to "sounds ok I suppose, unconvincing aged finish"
This is purely hearsay obviously, but don't expect used prices to be unaffected.
I personally have a talent for buying at peaks and selling at troughs, fighting off fellow enthusiasts to get my hands on something then wondering where they all went when I'm selling it.
Paying what something is 'worth' based on the sound and build is a nice idea but it's totally subjective so one individual will value something differently to the next. You don't even have a consensus in the new market and it's why there is this constant friction between, for example, high end Epiphone owners who swear that their guitar is better than a Gibson costing multiple times the price and Gibson owners who insist they are not. (that's just one example there are many others). Just look at the PRS thread active at the moment for an example of totally different opinions on the same guitars.
About the only thing I've learned about guitars in the few months I've been a member here is that they are not like a computer where you can pretty easily compare specs and decide on the relative worth. They are musical instruments and as such there is a whole host of things, some purely emotional, that matter personally to the individual that change their 'worth' to each person.
If we pick on me as an example. I have an illogical like for the mythical 'Gibson' name so that matters to me in some way (although not that much, see later point). I have a similar illogical dislike of the 'Fender' look so I'm never going to value them objectively. I have a very limited budget so it doesn't matter how good a guitar might be if it's more than £500 I'm never going to buy it, I could never justify the expense. I don't like the idea of 'relic' guitars so I'll never buy one where as people that do will value them above a brand new guitar that may well sound the same. My playing ability at this stage certainly doesn't warrant anything more than the 'beginner' guitar I have anyway. If I had something much better it might be slightly 'easier' to play (maybe) but I'm not going to get any massive talent increase just by using it. I do have my eye on my 'next' guitar but the colour I want isn't available at the moment so I won't buy one in another colour. I mean musically that makes no sense but it's stopping me buying anything. Which basically means I 'value' one guitar at it's market price and an identical guitar just in a different colour as 'worth' nothing.
*Sometimes you can even negotiate on new prices but it's much more common in the second hand market.
I’ve bought a used CS (from a dealer) and a used PRS DGT (privately) in the last couple of years. I could easily get my money back if I wanted to sell.
Something is only worth what someone is prepared to pay.
Generally on about higher end stuff here tho.
Add to that the fact that we are culturally condition to consider new to be superior to secondhand - up until the point another factor comes into play (vintage, celebrity association, scarcity, other 'mojo' enhancers). Even in the face of knowing that generally e.g. acoustic guitars often benefit from "playing in" and such like.
So if we're talking a current model, why would I pay the new price, or fairly close to the new price, to a private individual where there is risk (has it really been looked after properly? Am I going to find damage or abuse down the line? what recourse will I have (none)?) when I could walk into a shop, play a few of the same model and choose exactly the one I want, use a credit card, get some strings/picks/strap/stand/goodies thrown in, get a warranty and the opportunity to have any minor niggles addressed at the time of purchase etc.
It does, however, make sense that there are basically two prices for an instrument: the new price, and the secondhand price, and it doesn't really matter how much 'more secondhand' it becomes, as long as the condition remains the same, the re-sale price is unlikely to fluctuate much (all other things being equal).